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 of Kafͻnͻ Katoo gather around multiple hearths in the compound's courtyard preparing the day's main meal. Kitchen equipment ranging from locally made pottery, metal pots, sieving baskets and headpans are visible. The women sit on low stools, some carved and others made from sawn boards. Posts surrounding several hearths create a rack for storing items. Thatch - and metal-roofed rooms surround the courtyard. Ahenkro, July-August, 1986.
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.
A woman prepares soup over a a coal pot. In her left had she holds a metal grinding bowl and by her right hand is a commercially made ceramic grinding bowl. The blue plastic barrel (rear) holds water for the household. Ahenkro, June, 2016.
Rights:
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial
Publisher:
University of Victoria Libraries
Location(s) Facet:
Ahenkro
Subjects:
Metal pots; Grinding bowl; Water barrels; Ahenkro; Coal pot; Women's work; Plastic containers
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 the skilled stirring technique used in the final stages of preparing T.Z. as Abena Kuma prepares her family's evening meal over a stone hearth. Sabiye, 13 November, 2018. Length: 00:00:17 minutes.
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.
Ama Georgina cooks on a wood fire in the old settlement of Bui. She stirs soup in a cast aluminum pot over a hearth comprised of three large laterite stones. Ama has placed small stones between the pot and hearth stones to hold the pot in place as she cooks. A young boy reaches into a small aluminum pot containing peppers as other small children look on. To the left, the edge of a second hearth is visible. Bui, 3 August, 2009.
A youngster (Mamee) uses a wooden paddle to stir a pot as a woman (Afiriye) tests the texture of its contents with her right hand. They are cooking T.Z. in an aluminum pot resting on three laterite hearth stones. T.Z. is short for "tuo zafi," which means hot porridge in Hausa. Surrounding the hearth are a series of plastic and metal containers used in food preparation. A large blue plastic barrel, used to store water, stands in a corner by the house wall. Partially obscured by Mamee's right hand and her paddle is a portable "coal pot" on which an aluminum pot with two handles sits. Unlike the stone hearth, which is fueled with wood, this portable hearth is fueled with charcoal and may be used to prepare soup while starchy staple foods cook over the wood fire. Ahenkro, 28 October, 2009.
Rights:
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial
Publisher:
University of Victoria Libraries
Location(s) Facet:
Ahenkro
Subjects:
Women's work; Metal pots; Water barrels; Plastic containers
An adolescent girl (Mamee) uses a wooden paddle to stir T.Z. cooking in an aluminum pot over a wood fire. T.Z. is short for "tuo zafi," which means hot porridge in Hausa. The pot sits on a hearth made of three laterite stones. Surrounding the hearth are aluminum and plastic pots and bowls used in preparation. A proper stirring technique is needed to achieve the springy texture of this starchy staple, which is served with a soup. Aluminum sheets in the background enclose a bathing area, behind which a raised platform holding firewood can be seen. Ahenkro, 28 October, 2009.