Women of Brɛmawuo house, most of whom no longer live in the house, have come together for an interview sparked by a 1986 photo of them gathered around hearths in the compound's courtyard preparing food. As they talk, several of the women are processing calabash seeds (fnumu in Nafaanra), cracking the hull to extract the seed. An audio recorder sits on a low wooden stool with a lidded iron pot nearby. The binder of photos that has sparked the conversation sits on the veranda to the right. Enoch Mensah of the Banda Heritage Local Committee (interviewer, on left) sits on a blue plastic chair as he listens to the women talk about changes in foodways. L-R the women are Ama Mensah (black head scarf), Ama Nwotwenwaa (orange dress), Adwoa Hana, Yaa Yaa Dankwa and Abena Kuma. A video of the full interview can be accessed through through the "iaff_works" link below. Sabiye, 13 November, 2018.
Two women (Ama Nwotwenwaa and Yaa Yaa Dankwa) view a binder of photos during an interview in the house of Brɛmawuo about cooking practices. The interview was sparked by a 1986 photo of these and other women in the household preparing food. Two youngsters look on. Sabiye, 13 November, 2018.
Women in the house of Brɛmawuo work together to prepare the main meal of the day. The wives of the house sit on low wooden stools as they prepare food at clustered hearths. Each hearth is made of three laterite stones which hold the cooking pot above the fire. The women use an array of metal cooking vessels, calabash bowls (chrԑgbͻͻ in Nafaanra) and a clay pot (on the front hearth). The clay pot was likely purchased from one of the potting villages on the west of the Banda hills. Beneath the thatched roof behind the women are hearths used during rainy weather. This house was revisited in November 2018 and several of the women pictured here were interviewed about how foodways have changed over the three decades since this photo was taken. Among the women pictured are (L-R) Adwoa Hana (stirring), Yaa Yaa Dankwa (Stirring), Ama Nwotwenwaa (holding a calabash), Abena Kuma, (standing in blue cloth) and Ama Mensah (standing in red cloth). Sabiye, 15 August 1986.
T.Z. (short for "tuo zafi," which means hot porridge in Hausa) is a staple food made from milled grain and served with soup. This short video shows how T.Z. and cassava leaf soup are prepared, following Abena Kuma as she makes her family's evening meal. The video is excerpted from a longer interview with women of Sulɔɔ Katoo, who shared information on changing practices of food preparation and sharing over recent decades. The full video is available at a link shown below. Sabiye, 13 November, 2018. Length: 00:04:27 minutes.