Akple
Akple (maize staple of the Ewe)
Usage
The traditional maize staple of the Ewe, usually served with okra soup (fetri detsi), herring stew (abɔbitadi) or pepper sauces
Grammar Note
Akple is the Ewe name. The same dish is described as akoumé in Gen (Togo) and banku in Ga (English Wikipedia). An old English-Ewe dictionary lists akplé under "porridge".
Fetri detsi
Fetri detsi (okra soup)
Usage
An okra soup, the classic partner of akple. In Togo the same dish is called fétri déssi and is cooked with palm oil, beef, shrimp, crab and smoked fish
Grammar Note
Fetri means "okra" and detsi means "soup". Fetri appears in Ewe lists of vegetables, and a description of Togolese food also gives fétri as okra. Dictionaries give detsi as "soup".
Abɔbitadi
Abɔbitadi (herring stew)
Usage
A herring stew, one of the dishes eaten with akple
Grammar Note
The spelling follows English Wikipedia (abɔbitadi). The letter ɔ is a separate vowel, an open "o".
Abolo
Abolo (steamed fermented-maize dough)
Usage
A steamed mixture of maize dough and sugar made by the Ewe, eaten with soups and sauces
Grammar Note
An Ewe dictionary describes it as a traditional cornflour bread, fermented and steamed in fist-sized loaves, and also gives the meaning "Western-style bread".
Yakayake
Yakayake (steamed grated cassava)
Usage
An Ewe dish of steamed grated cassava, eaten with various stews and soups
Grammar Note
English Wikipedia gives two spellings, yakayake and yakeyake. Cassava is agbeli in Ewe (dictionaries).
Kom
Kom (steamed fermented-maize balls)
Usage
Balls of precooked, fermented whole-grain maize dough wrapped in corn husks and steamed, served with fried fish and a roasted chilli sauce. It is widely eaten by the Ewe in Ghana
Grammar Note
Descriptions of Togolese food write kom (also dokounou). In the Ga language the same food is called kenkey.
Banku
Banku (fermented corn-and-cassava dough balls)
Usage
Balls of slightly fermented corn and cassava flour boiled in hot water. It began as a Ga dish and is eaten with pepper sauces, stews or soups
Grammar Note
Banku is the Ga name, a close relative of the Ewe akple under a different name. It appears under this name on menus all over Ghana.
Fufu
Fufu (pounded starchy staple)
Usage
A pounded staple made from boiled cassava, plantain or yam. In Togo the version made from pounded boiled yam is common, served with broth or palm nut sauce
Grammar Note
Fufu is originally a Twi (Akan) word, but an Ewe dictionary also lists it as an entry.
Kokonte
Kokonte (dried-cassava dough staple)
Usage
A brown staple made from dried cassava flour, also called "brown fufu" in English. It is eaten in Togo and Ghana, usually with palm nut or groundnut soup
Grammar Note
Ghanaian menus write it kokonte or konkonte.
Gari
Gari (dried cassava flour)
Usage
Dried, roasted cassava flour. It is eaten dry with beans, kneaded with water, or served with red red, or shito and fish. Gari soakings mix it with sugar, groundnuts and milk
Grammar Note
In Ghana it is spelled gari or garri.
Red red
Red red (bean-and-fish stew in palm oil)
Usage
A popular Ghanaian stew of beans and fish cooked in palm oil, served with fried ripe plantain. The name comes from the red of the palm oil and the bright colour of the fried plantain
Grammar Note
Red red is the English-based name used on stalls and menus all over Ghana.
Waakye
Waakye (rice and beans cooked together)
Usage
A Ghanaian dish of rice and beans cooked together, eaten for breakfast or lunch. Roadside vendors sell it wrapped in banana leaf, with boiled egg, gari, shito or salad
Grammar Note
The word waakye comes from the Dagbani language and refers to a particular kind of bean.
Jollof rice
Jollof rice (West African tomato rice dish)
Usage
A West African dish of rice cooked in one pot with tomato, chilli, onion and spices. It began in Senegal, and Ghana and Nigeria playfully argue over whose version is best
Grammar Note
The English name Jollof rice is used directly on menus. In French-speaking West Africa a version is also called riz au gras.
Groundnut soup
Groundnut soup (peanut soup)
Usage
A soup made by cooking ground peanuts, often very spicy in Ghana and eaten with fufu, omo tuo or banku
Grammar Note
The English name groundnut soup is used directly on menus. Groundnut means peanut.
Ampesi
Ampesi (boiled yam or plantain dish)
Usage
A dish of boiled yam, which can also be made with plantain, cocoyam, potato or cassava. Traditionally it is eaten with a fish stew of tomato, oil and spices
Grammar Note
Descriptions of Ghanaian food also spell it ampesie.
Shito
Shito (hot black pepper sauce)
Usage
A hot black sauce of fish, prawns, chilli and ginger cooked in oil. It goes with kenkey, rice, gari, waakye and banku and works as Ghana's everyday ketchup
Grammar Note
Shito is the Ga name.
Akoumé
Akoumé (Togolese maize staple)
Usage
The staple of Togo, maize flour cooked in boiling water and worked into a firm dough, eaten with various sauces. It is the same dish as the Ewe akple
Grammar Note
Akoumé is the French-style spelling used in Togo and is described as the Gen name. It is the spelling you will see on menus and signs in Lomé.
Djenkoumé
Djenkoumé (salted maize dough)
Usage
A dough of maize cooked in salted water or meat broth and eaten plain with meat
Grammar Note
In Benin it is called amiwɔ (from a description of Togolese food).
Egblin
Egblin (steamed maize-cream ball)
Usage
A ball of well-fermented maize cream steamed in cassava leaves (Togo)
Grammar Note
The dish name is written as it appears on menus and street stalls.
Gboma déssi
Gboma déssi (leafy-green sauce)
Usage
A sauce based on the leafy vegetable gboma, with meat, smoked fish or seafood (Togo). The Ewe in Ghana also make soups with gboma
Grammar Note
Déssi means "sauce" and corresponds to Ewe detsi (soup). Gboma also appears in Ewe lists of vegetables.
Egoussi déssi
Egoussi déssi (ground egusi-seed sauce)
Usage
A thick sauce of ground egusi seeds with gboma leaves, tomato, onion, spices, beef and seafood (Togo)
Grammar Note
The dish name is written as it appears on menus and street stalls.
Dékou déssi
Dékou déssi (palm nut sauce)
Usage
A palm nut sauce with offal, beef and fish (Togo), eaten with the Togolese fufu
Grammar Note
The dish name is written as it appears on menus and street stalls.
Koklo meme
Koklo meme (grilled chicken with chilli sauce)
Usage
Grilled chicken with a chilli sauce (Togo)
Grammar Note
Koklo is Ewe for "chicken" (dictionary). The meaning of meme could not be confirmed, so the card gives only the dish name.
Sakomi
Sakomi (baguette sandwich with stuffing)
Usage
A southern Togolese sandwich of baguette stuffed with shredded cabbage, carrot, beetroot, herbs, spaghetti, boiled egg, sausage, mayonnaise and chilli sauce
Grammar Note
It is written both sakomi and sakome.
Koko
Koko (porridge of soaked corn dough)
Usage
A porridge made from soaked maize dough. Ghanaian breakfasts include porridge as well as bread, fruit and koose
Grammar Note
An Ewe dictionary lists koko as a porridge made from soaked corn dough. Another word for porridge is akatsa.
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