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.
A woman and two men in Wewa thresh dried cowpea pods in an open area in front of houses. Men relax under a nearby mango tree in the background. Cowpeas (Vigna unguiculata; chibi in Nafaanra)--also known as black-eyed peas--are a valued legume with a long history in West Africa. They are grown inter-cropped in fields with other foodstuffs where they aid soil fertility by fixing nitrogen. Early West African farmers domesticated cowpeas, and they are found at some of the earliest archaeological sites excavated in the Banda area. They are a valued and nutritious staple used in making stews and soups. Two photos. Wewa, September, 1982.
A woman sifts flour in the foreground as two women in the background pound maize (corn, bledju in Nafaanra) in wooden mortars. The women are sheltered from the sun by the thatched roof that covers this entrance to the house compound. View to the street beyond. Makala, July, 1994.
Calabash (gourd) seeds (fnumu in Nafaanra) are a prized ingredient used to prepare a much-valued soup (fnumu chiin; calabash seed soup). The pulp is set aside to decay, making it easier to remove the seeds, which are then cleaned, dried, and cracked by hand to remove the seed coat. Here women on Nduo Wulo Kwadwo's farm outside Banda-Ahenkro prepare to carry seeds home for processing. Outskirts of Banda-Ahenkro, August, 1982.
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.
Young boys (Kofi and Isaac, sons of James Anane) pound calabash seeds in preparation for making calabash seed soup (fnumu chiin in Nafaanra). They use a deep wooden mortar and pestles rounded at the base. A metal roof shelters the hearth in the background. A chicken searches for food as the boys work. Ahenkro, July-August, 1986.
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.
Afua Nimena demonstrates the use of a grindstone to grind grain. She holds a small grinder stone in her right hand, bracing it with her left as she grinds the grain on a well-worn grindstone. Dompofie, 10 September, 2009.
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.
A partially covered ball of fuura rests in a bowl of millet flour. 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. The cooked, pounded dough has been shaped into a ball and is being 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.
A woman uses her hand to mix water into a flour made from ground dawadawa (Parkia biglobosa) beans and cassava flour held in a calabash bowl (chrɛgbɔɔ in Nafaanra). The moistened mixture will be steamed in a pot to make wehan. The cooked cake is eaten with a sauce made from shea oil, pepper, garden eggs and salt. 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, 31 July, 2014.
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.
An adolescent girl (Mamee) sifts grain flour into a plastic bucket in preparation for making T.Z. (short for "tuo zafa," which means hot porridge in Hausa). T.Z. The fine flour will be added to boiling water to make a thin porridge, which is gradually thickened by adding more flour. Ahenkro, 28 October, 2009.
Women work together to shape (foreground) and coat (center) fuura balls in preparation for an Olden Times Food Fair held at the Banda Cultural Centre with sponsorship from Amanda L. Logan. The cooked and pounded dough rests in an aluminum headpan, from which women take handfuls of dough that they will form into balls using a calabash bowl (chrɛgbɔɔ in Nafaanra). A smaller pan holds millet flour in which the finished balls are rolled before serving. Ahenkro, 30 July, 2014.
A container of fish covered by leaves sits near a smoking over, awaiting processing. A plastic hanger and a Guiness carton site nearby in the resettled Ewe village of Akanyakrom. Akanyakrom, 16 July, 2022.
An aluminum headpan holds fish known as Asentewe (Alestes baremoze) that are ready for smoking. The fish have been scaled and gutted, and a bamboo skewer placed through their tail and head to hold them as they smoke. The pan sits on the edge of a smoking oven, next to two wooden and mesh smoking trays in the resettled Ewe village of Akanyakrom. Akanyakrom, 16 July, 2022.
Rights:
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial
Publisher:
University of Victoria Libraries
Location(s) Facet:
Akanyakrom (resettled)
Subjects:
Women's work; Headpans
Subjects Facet:
Fishing villages; Food processing; Smoking of food
An Ewe woman removes fish from an aluminum headpan and places them on a wooden and mesh tray placed over a rectangular earthen smoking oven. Other trays sit behind the oven. These will be added to the stack as lower trays are filled with fish known as Asentewe (Alestes baremoze). In the background are houses built by Bui Power Authority when this Ewe fishing community was displaced by construction of Bui Dam. Akanyakrom, 16 July, 2022.
Rights:
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial
Publisher:
University of Victoria Libraries
Location(s) Facet:
Akanyakrom
Subjects:
Women's work
Subjects Facet:
Fishing villages; Food processing; Smoking of food
Fish known as Asentewe (Alestes baremoze) have been laid on their backs in a wood and mesh smoking tray. The fish are oriented on their backs to retain the fat in their belly. Multiple trays will be stacked and covered while smoking for up to four days. Trays are periodically rotated in the stack to ensure even smoking of all the fish. Two aluminum headpans used to carry the fish sit nearby. Akanyakrom, 16 July, 2022.
Rights:
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial
Publisher:
University of Victoria Libraries
Location(s) Facet:
Akanyakrom (resettled)
Subjects:
Women's work; Headpans
Subjects Facet:
Fishing villages; Food processing; Smoking of food
Five wooden racks containing fish sit on top of a rectangular earthen smoking oven in the resettled Ewe village of Akanyakrom. A metal roofing sheet covers the stack. The metal-sided shed behind the oven is where women scale and gut the fish in preparation for smoking. A deep wooden mortar and five pestals of varying size and shape rest against a nearby house. Akanyakrom, 16 July, 2022.
Rights:
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial
Publisher:
University of Victoria Libraries
Location(s) Facet:
Akanyakrom (Resettled)
Subjects:
Women's work
Subjects Facet:
Fishing villages; Food processing; Smoking of food; Mortars & pestles
Five stacked racks containing fish sit on top of a rectangular earthen smoking oven in the resettled Ewe village of Akanyakrom. The wood racks have a metal mesh base on which the fish are placed. A metal roofing sheet covers the stack. Leafy boughs used in smoking lie in front of the furnace to the right of an aluminum headpan. A blue plastic drum used to store water sits against the wall of a nearby house. Akanyakrom, 16 July, 2022.
Rights:
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial
Publisher:
University of Victoria Libraries
Location(s) Facet:
Akanyakrom (Resettled)
Subjects:
Women's work; Water barrels; Plastic containers; Headpans
Subjects Facet:
Fishing villages; Food processing; Smoking of food; Mortars & pestles