Sandra's Journey | 4. Street food vibes

Sandra's journey. Filmmaker Sandra Korse journeyed with us in The Rhythms of Africa. She captured the creation process and her inner journey in short video's and writings. 

Street food vibes
This week's episode is all about local street food as I thoroughly enjoy tasting the huge variety of dishes that are on offer in the streets of Wa. We have tried so many that I have been able to identify some of my favourites. One of them is koosey ning janjaga, but more about that later.

What's on offer varies from watché (beans with rice), plantain (which resembles fried banana), baked or fried yam (a carrot type of vegetable that tastes like potato) or fufu or banku which looks like sticky dough. You pick a piece with your hands, dip into the soup and then you are meant to just swallow it without chewing…. Well, that takes some practice to get used to :-).

You are invited
The nice thing about moving around with a local like Carole are the introductions to local customs. I heard the words "you are invited" a few times when I walked down the street, but I had no idea what I would be invited to. Until Carole explains to me that it's customary here to invite people to eat together. "You are invited" means that you can join in and they will share their food with you. A typical example of "optimal sharing: what is mine, is yours" as Carole puts it nicely.

Finger-lickin good
Ánd we can eat with our hands here in Ghana! Well, with our right hand. The left one is your 'toilet hand'... At the food stalls they offer water and soap, so you can clean your hands and dig in. I have to admit that eating with your hands does require a bit of guidance and practice on how to best get the food in your mouth without losing half of it on the way. But as with everything: practice makes perfect.

Koosey ning janjaga
Last week 'we were invited' by Pobee Mwintombo to have a meal at the women "under the big tree". The women there make a dish called koosey ning janjaga. It consists of grounded beans fried in shea butter and served with baobab leaves, tomato and onion. And yes, this is absolutely one of my favourite dishes already! It simply is finger-lickin good and as you will understand, we take that very literally here...