Ghana is a mother- no two ways- and she feeds her young. She is blessed with multiculturalism, an indication of a chance to discover and uncover what each tribe has got to offer, especially lifestyle and food. Being endowed with fertile soil and a great tropical climate, Ghana offers an assortment of tastes that give nationals a chance to explore the pleasures that life has to offer.
Ghanaian foods are mainly carbohydrates served with a sizeable portion of protein, vitamins and minerals. Thus, a person may eat a high-carb main meal with a vitamin-packed sauce, stew or soup, engulfed with sizeable portions of meat or fish.
Rice and gari are staples within the country which are processed and cooked in different ways to attain a diverse variety of delicacies served as main meals. Major foods in Ghana include round foods made from milled or pounded tubers and cereals such as fufu, a popular Akan delicacy made from pounded cassava and plantain; tuozaafi which originates from Northern Ghana; banku which traces its origin to the Ga tribe; kokonte; gari eba; omotuo (rice balls) and kenkey from both the Ga and Fante tribes.
These round foods are best served with soups such as groundnut soup, ebunuebunu, chicken light soup, dry fish light soup, beef light soup, palm nut soup, fisherman’s soup, okro soup, ayoyo soup among others. Among these, tuozaafi is best taken with ayoyo sauce. Kenkey and banku may also be eaten with hot grinded red, black or green pepper sauce accompanied with meat, fish or fried egg.
Other main dishes include boiled or fried yam, rice, cassava, cocoyam and plantain (ampesi). These may be eaten with stews and sauces. Such stews include kontomire, a nutritious delicacy rumoured to possess healing properties to diseases such as 
anaemia; tomato stew with meat, fish or mushroom; agushie stew; assorted vegetable stew; garden egg stew; meat stew or even fante- fante, which is a fresh fish stew by the Fante tribe. One pot dishes such as the nation’s favourite jollof rice, garifortor, acherker and mpotompoto are also delicious main meals that cannot be overlooked. Another meal enjoyed by Ghanaians is boiled beans with fried ripe plantain glazed with palm oil and sprinkled with crisp sweet-scented gari, a pocket-friendly meal available in every region.
Ghanaian folks are generally known for their hospitality and friendliness. It is easy to walk into neighbour’s house and get served with a portion of any of the above-mentioned meals. The trick is to be a nice person; the opposite works for people who are trying to lose weight too (just saying). But if your aim is to eat, try keeping up a smile.
By: Juliet Agyapong