Young women in the household of Sampson Attah pound cooked yam tubers in a deep mortar to make fufu. Mamee (left) and two other young women use round-ended pestles. Working together, they use the pestles to pound and turn the fufu in a pounding technique typical of food preparation in the Banda area. The pestles create a rhythmic accompaniment to the work as they strike the sides of the mortar. Household of Sampson Attah, Ahenkro, 27 May, 2009. Length: 00:00:54 minutes.
Beyaa (standing) and Afirye (seated) process fufu in a shallow "Asante" style mortar. The heavy wooden pestle is frayed at the base. This helps to break down the fiber in cassava tubers and make a softer, smoother fufu. Afiriye periodically turns the fufu with a moistened hand as Beyaa pounds using a technique more characteristic of southern Ghana where cassava is a typical ingredient in fufu. The preference in Banda is to make fufu using only yam (Dioscorea sp., finyjie in Nafaanra). Heard in the background is the rhythmic sound of young women pounding in a deep mortar nearby. See the related video at the link below. Household of Sampson Attah, Ahenkro, 27 May, 2009. Length: 00:00:53 minutes.
The New Yam Festival (Finjie Lie in Nafaanra) marks the day when people can begin to eat the new crop of yams (finyjie in Nafaanra). Here women gather round a wooden mortar to pound cooked yam tubers to make fufu. Women pound with heavy, round-ended pestles. Working together, they use their pestles to pound and turn the fufu. Pestles hit the mortar's edge as they pound, creating a rhythmic accompaniment to their work. The musical sound of women and their helpers pounding fufu or grain was an integral part of the soundscape of village life in the earlier times. To the rear (right) calabashes (gourds, chrԑ in Nafaanra) wrapped in netting are ready to be sent to market. To the front sits a pottery grinding bowl (left), a calabash (center) and metal cooking pots (right). Ahenkro, 30 August, 1982.
Adjua Anane (seated left) and Akosua, her young relative, prepare fufu by pounding cooked yams in a wooden mortar. Sister Yaa Yable Wo looks on. In the foreground is a metal grinding bowl styled after the locally made pottery grinding bowls that are found at archaeological sites dating back to the 1800s and earlier. Ahenkro, July-August, 1986.
Magdalene Attah uses a small wooden mortar and pestle to process cassava flour while two goats forage in the background. The large wood pile to the rear (left) is associated with the tobacco drying barns that line the south edge of Ahenkro. Ahenkro, May, 1995.
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.
Three women (L-R, Ama Mensah, Ama Nwotwenwaa and Adwoa Hana) remove the kernels from calabash seeds by bending the individual seed to crack it open. The dried kernels are a valued ingredient (fnumu in Nafaanra) used to flavor soups and stews. Sabiye, 11 November, 2018. Length: 00:00:20.
Part 2 of a four-part video, based on an interview with Adjua Tini of Habaa Katoo. Adjua Tini describes the process of making pito (local beer) from maize. Some people brewed pito for sale, but Adjua Tini describes the social and ceremonial occasions for which families brewed pito, including funerals, marriages, and to thank people for helping with communal tasks like farming. Length: 00:17:14 minutes.
A woman uses a calabash bowl ( chrɛgbɔɔ in Nafaanra) to form a ball of fuura. The food is made from fermented pearl millet, which is ground and mixed together with ground spices and water. The mixture is formed into balls which are boiled. Here some of the boiled, pounded dough is being shaped into a ball, which will be rolled in ground millet before serving. This dish was prepared and served at the Olden Times Food Fair held at the Banda Cultural Centre with sponsorship from Amanda L. Logan. Ahenkro, 30 July, 2014.