hat are these?" Just as I was checking out from my favourite grocer at Brixton Market, I noticed a big basket with corn husk bundles on the counter. The lovely Somalian check-out lady, wrapped in beautifully coloured kerchiefs very much like the bundles in the basket, shrugged: "I don't know, must be Jamaican." "Very well, I'll have one." "But you don't know what it is, do you?" "So much the more, I'll have one!"This time culinary serendipity has brought me face to face with kenkey, a Ghanaian staple. It is also known as dokonu or komi. To make it, dampened cornmeal is wrapped in corn husks and left to ferment for a couple of days. According to the Reading University Home Economics and Agricultural research station, the resulting sourdough contains more protein and in a more digestible and available form than the original cornmeal that was used to make it.
"Are you Ghanaian or what?!" When I came home I fixed hkantenkwan, Ghanaian groundnut stew, spiced up more than usual and took it to my Nigerian neighbours. Their suprise was boundless. Two hours of cooking were well worth it.
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Hi!
ReplyDeleteI work for the Institute for Family Health, and we would love to use the photo of kenkey that you have above for our West African diabetes health education materials. We are a non-profit network of health centers that provides healthcare at low or no cost. Is there any chance we could persuade you to let us use this photo, or get us in touch with the photographer (if it is not yourself)? I could send you a copy of the materials that we would be putting this on. Your response is greatly appreciated!
I can be contacted at nzan [at] institute2000.org.
Many thanks!
Best,
Nancy