More Ghanaian Culture and Wachee Recipe
Give with your left or right, which, in Ghana, IS a matter of right and wrong! “Raise your right hand,” a teacher corrected the preschool student who raised his left hand to indicate he knew the answer to the question just asked at our school. Ghanaians train their children from an early age to differentiate between right and left hands. Our parents all taught us manners when we were growing up, for example: “say ‘please’ and ‘thank you,’ address elders with respect, wait for your turn in line, never use your left hand to give or take….” Um, yeah, somehow my parents neglected to pass that rule on to me.
There are a number of different instances in Ghana which you can’t use your right hand, however, and the intricacies of right-hand/left-hand etiquette has been hard for me to learn (ugh!). For example, always carry items in your right hand…unless the item is rubbish, in which case the left hand is the appropriate choice. Here are some further guidelines for specific situations:
* If your right hand is full or dirty, you may give or take with your left hand if you place your right wrist under your left wrist. This rule is frequently used in the marketplace, where you take your purchase from the seller’s right hand with your right hand, then use your left hand to give his right hand your money.
* If your right wrist is unavailable in the above situation, you may give or take with your left hand if you say, “Sorry for left.”
* If your right hand is full and your mouth is full (guess how I learned the manners for this situation?), don’t wave your left hand at a friend! Simply nod your head to acknowledge you’ve seen and are greeting him.
* If you are driving, you may wave with your left hand – particularly if you are driving a motorbike, since taking your right hand away will cut the power to the engine. This rule I learned from observation, not from personal experience.
Oh, how I have suffered to meet this simple task. Yes, I got much better at it; right in time before I leave! “Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Ghanaians I became like a Ghanaian, to win the Ghanaians….I do this all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.” ~ Leah’s paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 to me.
More culture or mundane information:
* Electricity, internet, and coolness aren’t the only things in short supply these days. We’re months into the dry season, so the water supply is iffy as well. If I turn on the tap, will anything flow out of the faucet? There can be water at 7 p.m., no water at 8 p.m., and water again at 9 p.m. It’s entirely unpredictable: what an adventure! I’ve learned to keep a bucket full of water in my bathroom so I can wash hands and bathe regardless of the supply.
* Ghana is the land of relationships and it so evident by the names we call each other. Everyone at my workplace is my brother, my sister, my uncle, or my auntie; and I am everyone’s “Uncle or Papa Joe.” Rev. Asare is affectionately addressed “Daddy” during church services and at work.
* Ghanaians don’t normally use utensils. I love the food (Banku, fufu, tezit, and Kenkey) which is served mostly in soup or with stews, which I eat with my hands. Yes, I can now actually finish the soup using just my hands and the starch.
* Ghanaians’ rule of thumb with twins seems to be that their names HAVE to pair up. The twins I’ve seen have had the following names – and I’m not making any of them up!
- Boy/Boy: Elijah/Elisha
- Boy/Girl: Patrick/Patricia; Jesse/Jessie; Wonder/Miracle (yes, they are from a Pentecostal family)
- Girl/Girl: Rosemary/Rosemond; Deborah Sr./Deborah Jr.
* Ghanaians like to eat their beef tough. They normally fry it in oil first, then cook it for a while in the stew or soup. The texture and toughness matters as people are really into chewing their meat! They serve willy, which is the skin (leather) of a cow or goat used in soups after burning and scraping the remaining hair off of it. When willy is bitten it sorta pops or snaps in two. It’s like rubbing and scrubbing your teeth while you eat!
* Americans are big on bottled water, but Ghanaians drink “sachet water” – two-cup servings of filtered water that come in sealed plastic bags. The sachets sell for five pesewas each, or about 3-½ cents. Ghanaians call the water filtered, but online sources beg to differ. I drink it anyway as all of my friends do and I just don’t remember to bring water everywhere.
* Africans can carry amazing loads on their heads. Abba, for instance, can carry 50 kilograms (110 pounds) on his head. “You could learn to carry on your head too,” many say; but the problem is that no one can teach me how. Africans learn so young that they can’t tell me how to balance. They’ve just always known how: hasn’t everyone?
Little girl casually carrying breakfast drinks on her head in a market strewn with empty water sachets
GHANAIAN RECIPE: WACHEE
This particular dish isn’t as involved as most Ghanaian meals. It is eaten in the morning and afternoons, but I get laughed at when I take it for supper. If you serve wachee with a nice herb-ed roasted chicken or fish, you’ll have an awesome meal!
Wachee ~ serves 6
2 cups black-eyed peas, cleaned
4 cups rice, uncooked cleaned
1½ cups oil
2 medium onions, chopped into small pieces
2 cloves garlic, minced
10 medium tomatoes, quartered
2-3 small hot peppers
1 green pepper, chopped into small pieces
½ tsp curry powder
1½ tbsp salt (to taste)
3 small carrots, chopped (optional, really?)
½ head cabbage, shredded (optional, really?)
Cooked thin spaghetti (optional, not really!)
1. Place beans in large pot; cover with water plus one inch. Cook over medium heat until partially cooked.
2. Add rice; cover with water plus one inch and cook on medium heat until beans and rice are soft and water is absorbed.
3. Meanwhile, sauté onions and garlic in oil in separate pot. Blend tomatoes with a small amount of water and add to oil. Blend hot peppers with a small amount of water and add to oil. Add green pepper, curry powder, and salt. Cook until everything is soft and flavors are blended.
4. Serve beans and rice with stew and with either spaghetti or cabbage and carrots.