Kenkey? Or an imposter?

I was recently asked on Facebook, following a post I made about millet kenkey, on what basis Ghanaian foods are called by their given names. My friend who posed the question was wondering if foods were named based on their ingredients, preparation methods, or packaging.  In other words, what made food like kenkey distinct from say banku, two products traditionally made with corn. And if alternative cereals besides corn, like millet or sorghum, are used for any of these, do the end products still qualify to be called banku or kenkey?

Well, the answer to this question is not straightforward! One must adopt a nuanced approach that takes into consideration history, socio-cultural food practices, language, as well as recent innovations in food processing and technology, to understanding the origins of our local foods and their evolution. Because this would result in a rather long blog post, I will be engaging the topic with a series of 3 blog posts chronicling Ghanaian “swallows” – I am borrowing the term swallow from Nigeria to refer to dumplings, pap- and porridge-like dishes that are usually eaten by swallowing morsels, with little to no chewing. In today’s post, I will introduce the basis for which foods are named in general, and also introduce some common Ghanaian swallows. In the second blog post, I will briefly talk about the main starchy staples used to prepare most “traditional” swallows, highlighting their origins, nutritional composition, and their main uses in Ghanaian cuisine. I will delve into specific swallows (Tuo zaafi, kenkey, banku, kokonte and fufu) in the third blog post, providing more detailed descriptions of their preparation and the common modifications being made to them in recent times.

Kenkey from any other cereal will taste as heavenly…

Corn is one of the main staples in Africa (and around the world, really), even though it historically did not originate from the continent (more in part 2 of this series). Popular Ghanaian swallows like kenkey, banku, and T.Z are prepared using corn, either in the form of a powder or dough. Other cereals with similar properties could be substituted for corn in these dishes to yield similar results in terms of texture and flavor, to some extent.

This works because, while the main ingredients of a particular food can sometimes be viewed as the basis of its given name, the preparation method or processing technique (i.e. what other ingredients are added to the recipe? Is it fermented or not? how is it packaged? what cooking method is used? etc) largely determines the physical and chemical properties, the flavor of the food, and what we ultimately call the final product. Take for example baking, one of my favorite past times. Wheat flour can be considered the basic ingredient in traditional baking, but depending on the protein content of the flour; the mixing/kneading technique and what other ingredients are added (like sugar, fat and water); whether the dough is leavened or unleavened, flat or rolled etc, we would end up with either bread (loaves, rolls, doughnuts, pizzas etc), cake, biscuits, cookies, pies etc. And within these categories there can be further categorizations like whether the flour was whole wheat or refined. Also, due to diet trends, like the rise in the preference in gluten-free baked goods for example, we are observing a variety of cakes and breads prepared with gluten-free alternatives like rice flour, almond flour, coconut flour, potato starch etc. As long as the desired shape, texture and overall appearance of the final product meet the sensory expectations of cake and bread – and as long as the psychosocial needs of the consumer are met – the main ingredients seem irrelevant.

The same can be said about our traditional swallows.  Kenkey (known as kome in Ga and dokono in Akan) is prepared in a very distinct way from other swallows: partially cooked fermented corn dough is mixed with a portion of raw fermented corn dough to form a mixture known traditionally as aflata, which is then shaped into balls, wrapped with corn husks or leaves, and steamed until cooked (I will talk about the differences between Ga kenkey and Fante kenkey in the third installment of this series). What makes kenkey distinct from banku is that for banku, the total portion of fermented corn dough is stirred over a heat source, with or without cassava, and kneaded until it is cooked. In addition, banku is usually not packaged in leaves or husks. Substituting a cereal like millet for either process will yield millet kenkey or millet banku respectively because the process is what will ultimately give it the major properties of kenkey or banku (millet does have a distinct taste, so there will be similarities in flavor in terms of sourness due to fermentation of the dough, but observable differences in overall taste).

Of course, in our “modern” context, even more nuance is required when using preparation method as a basis for naming food. For example, fufu is usually pounded with a pestle in a large wooden mortar, but due to advances in food processing we can now stir fufu flour on the stove like we do for kokonte or banku (although I must add that for the longest time my mom always believed that “Neat Fufu” felt closer to kokonte than “real fufu”).

Language and culture also determine the given name of a food. Foods that share very similar characteristics may have different names across geographical regions, while foods that are significantly different may have the same names. For instance, Tuo zaafi or T.Z for short (also known as saabo in my local dialect Buili), and ugali are very similar meals made from corn in Western and Eastern/Southern Africa respectively. However, in describing ugali I hear some non-Ghanaian groups refer to it as Fufu (corn paps are referred to as fufu in Sierra Leone). Fufu however is an entirely different product in Ghana made from pounding starchy roots and tubers (cassava, yam or cocoyam) with or without plantain into a firm or soft swallow. Yet, I wouldn’t say Sierra Leoneans are wrong in calling a cornmeal based product “fufu” because culturally, they view food of that texture and consistency fufu irrespective of ingredient. Another example is pounded yam in Nigeria, which can be made traditionally by pounding boiled yam into a swallow, or in recent times stirring yam powder and water, over a heat source into a pap (or blending boiled yam in a processer). This is closer to the Ghanaian idea of fufu than ugali is because the base ingredient is a starchy root/tuber instead of a cereal.  

Akple is another example of the cultural differences that determine the names of foods even within a country. Akple in Ewe is an umbrella term for several dumplings and pap-like swallows. It is subdivided into different categories depending on main ingredient, processing technique or additional ingredients. My brother-in-law gave me a detailed breakdown of the different types of akple and what they are traditionally called in other Ghanaian languages as follows:

• Ewor kple – same as T.Z (made with unfermented or minimally fermented corn flour)
• Gari kple – same as Gariba, or eba (made with Gari from cassava)
• Dzen kple – same as apapransa (Corn flour cooked in palmnut soup)
• Amor kple – same as banku (made with fermented corn dough and cassava dough)
• Ewor dermi- banku without cassava dough. Also called ɛtsew in Fante
• Ayi kple – akple with beans added.

So, with this understanding, banku in theory is a subcategory of akple (although some other Ewes I know swear that amor kple is different than banku in practice). Tuo in Hausa, like akple in Ewe, is another umbrella term for foods prepared into paps or balls by stirring cereals in hot water. Tuo translates to saabo in my language Buili. When tuo or saabo is mentioned without a qualifier, it is safe to assume that the speaker is referring to corn or millet T.Z. But other cereals are cooked in similar fashion. This is the reason why rice balls for instance, a dish made by cooking rice into a mush and shaping it into balls, is referred to as omo tuo (or mu saabo in Buili).

Given all this, I think it is safe to say that the name millet kenkey is in order; who knows? In the next 10 years we may have even bolder versions of kenkey!

Below is a table of major Ghanian swallows, their ethnic origins and their analogues in and outside Ghana:

Food	Typical Ingredient(s)	Ethnic Origin	Similar To
Kome/Dokono (Kenkey)	Corn	Ga/Akan (specifically the Fante)	Kenkey is in a league of its own in my opinion 😊
Akple	Corn with or without cassava	Ewe	Banku; T.Z; Ugali (Eastern/Southern Africa); Corn “Fufu” (Sierra Leone)
Tuo Zaafi/Saabo	Corn or millet/sorghum	Several ethnicities in the North of Ghana (Dagbani, Frafra, Builsa, Kasena-Nankana only to name a few)	Ewor kple; Ugali (Eastern/Southern Africa); Corn “Fufu” (Sierra Leone)
Banku	Corn with or without cassava	Ga-Adangbe	Amor kple; Ewor dermi; ɛtsew
Kotonte	Cassava or yam	Akan	Amala (Nigeria)
Fufu	Cassava, or cocoyam, or yam, with or without plantain	Akan	Pounded yam (Nigeria)

To be continued…

Acknowledgements: My mom Agnes Abolimpoh, and my brother-in law Kofi Setor were very useful resources in helping decipher the origins of the names akple and tuo zaafi (more in future posts). My friend Benjamin Bandowe posed this very important question on Facebook. I am glad he did because I believe there is so much history about our local foods that is worth revisiting, learning about, and re-learning, and I hope we continue to ask even more questions about our local foods!

Upcoming: In the next post, I will delve into the main starchy staples consumed in Ghana, their origins, nutritional composition, and main uses in Ghanaian cuisine.