The interior of a courtyard house surrounded by thatch-roofed rooms. Houses like this were often built over time, with rooms added as needed, gradually enclosing the interior courtyard. The compound in this photo is fully enclosed, with a doorway to the exterior visible in the center, back. Four hearths are visible in the courtyard, surrounded by a variety of metal vessels used in food preparation and other daily activities. Left, a pestle lies on the ground surrounded by groundnut (peanut, boŋgrɛ in Nafaanra) shells. Makala, July, 1994.
Fired clay stands like these were made by potters for use in the kitchen area of houses. Grouped together in threes like hearthstones, the stands supported pots over an open fire during cooking. Some of these fired clay stands had an opening, allowing pieces of meat to be placed inside where it slow-cooked and dried as other parts of the meal were cooking. Dorbour, 1994.
A partially enclosed courtyard area of a house, with wall stubs of a collapsed room (right). One set of rooms was built with sun-dried blocks, then plastered and roofed with metal sheets. The other building is also plastered, but roofed with thatch. Two hearths are located in the courtyard and each building has a metal barrel used to store water. A headpan filled calabash bowls (chrԑgbͻͻ in Nafaanra) sits near one water barrel. A wooden mortar (left) is turned upside down, likely to protect it from foraging goats. Ahenkro, July-August, 1986.
The courtyard of a long-established compound in Ahenkro. The main room has a columned verandah and its walls are plastered. A metal roof covers it and the courtyard entrance. A hearth occupies the central courtyard. Two metal water barrels (right and left), headpans and a bucket speak to the daily activity of fetching water. Ahenkro, July-August, 1986.
Rights:
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial
Publisher:
University of Victoria Libraries
Location(s) Facet:
Ahenkro
Subjects:
Metal pots; Headpans; Water barrels
Subjects Facet:
Plastering; Building; Metal roofing; Courtyards; Water; Housing; Hearths
The courtyard kitchen area of a partially enclosed compound has two hearths with cooking equipment placed around. Several low stools and a wooden chair sit among metal pots, calabashes (gourds) and other kitchen items. A mortar and a basket sit to the right. A stack of dried blocks (right, rear) suggests that an addition to the compound is planned. More blocks are stored inside the open room whose wooden door has been removed. Ahenkro, July-August, 1986.
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.
Unfinished clay grinding bowls dry on the palettes (kpankpa in Nafaanra) on which they were formed. After they have dried to a leather-hard state, the potter will remove them from their palettes and score their interiors. The scoring creates a grinding surface used to process vegetables which are added to soups. These bowls may also serve as men's eating bowls (pԑԑ in Nafaanra). Immediately behind the drying bowls is a hearth, swept clean of ashes. Pottery jars can be seen drying in background, right. A chicken forages nearby. Bondakile, October, 1982.
A view across a compound courtyard toward the courtyard of a neighboring house. Several hearths have clay pots resting on their hearth stones (gbunu in Nafaanra). Two wooden mortars are nearby. The house in the distance is made of sun-dried blocks, with one side of the house roofed with metal and the other side thatch. The ground is clear of plants and clean swept. Adadiem, 1994.
Kitchen area in the center of a courtyard house, with a large wooden mortar visible in the foreground. Women and youngsters are seated near hearths with a variety of serving and cooking vessels made of basketry, metal, calabash and plastic placed around the courtyard. The large metal drum in the background is used for water storage. Makala, June-July, 1990.
Rights:
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial
Publisher:
University of Victoria Libraries
Location(s) Facet:
Makala
Subjects:
Metal pots; Water barrels; Plastic containers; Headpans
In some of the area's potting villages, women make hearths using clay pots rather than stones (gbunu in Nafaanra). Three pots are placed close to one another, with their rims turned down. A clay jar tipped on its side sits to the right and metal pots are stacked to the left. Adadiem, 1994.
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.
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.
Yaa Yable Wo carries firewood on her return from farm. Until recent years, meals were most often prepared over hearths fueled by firewood. Women and children collected downed tree limbs and other dry wood from farmlands surrounding the villages. Wood was headloaded back home and stacked on platforms raised above the ground to be stored until needed. Cooking over charcoal in fabricated metal coalpots became more common in the late 20th-early 21st century as charcoal burners moved into the Banda area and charcoal production increased. Recently, gas cookers have begun to be used by people able to afford industrial cookers and the bottled gas need to fuel them. Ahenkro, December, 1982.
Women in the central courtyard of a house compound in Ahenkro prepare the evening meal. A woman seated in the foreground readies dishes while women in the background cook over clustered hearths. A number of low stools are placed amidst a variety of metal, plastic and fired clay containers including buckets and pots. Calabash bowls (chrԑgbͻͻ in Nafaanra) are among the containers being used. A repurposed metal drum (center, back) holds water for household purposes. A raised platform is stacked with firewood brought by the women from farm and stored until needed. Thatch- and metal-roofed rooms surround the courtyard. Ahenkro, July-August, 1986.
Rights:
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial
Publisher:
University of Victoria Libraries
Location(s) Facet:
Ahenkro
Subjects:
Metal pots; Plastic containers; Water barrels; Women's work
Hearths in a Dorbour household. One of three visible hearths is in use, a metal cooking pot suspended over a fire fueled by firewood. A wooden mortar and several pestles are at ready in the background. In the foreground (right) a clay cooking pot rests on top of a metal basin that has been re-purposed as a pot stand. A large metal pot, a calabash bowl (chrԑgbͻͻ in Nafaanra) and a plastic cup sit behind the clay pot. Dorbour, 1994.
A courtyard hearth in a Dorbour household. The hearth "stones" are clay pots turned upside down and embedded in the ground. A pottery cooking jar rests on the hearth, the firewood pulled away from the hearth while it is not in use. A metal cooking pot and headpan have caught the interest of a foraging goat. Dorbour, 1994.
Kitchen area of a household in Dorbour. Several hearths are clustered in the center of the open courtyard surrounded by low wooden stools. Several wooden mortars of varying sizes and a number of pestles are clustered along a porch. Pottery and metal pots used in cooking are near the hearth. A goat forages for food amid the hearths. Large vessels to the far left store liquid (water, or possibly pito, locally made beer). The courtyard is surrounded by thatch- and metal-roofed rooms. Dorbour, 1994.
A large cast-metal pot rests on a raised, semi-circular hearth structure. A long piece of wood used for fuel rests in the hearth's mouth, covered over by another piece of wood. Charcoal from previous fires is strewn about outside the hearth. As seen in its cross-section, the hearth is made from laterite stones covered in clay. The hearth's interior is blackened from use. The special purpose hearth is used by Adjua Tini to make beer (pito) from maize. Ahenkro, 1 Sept 2018.
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.