Etor Recipe and Its Cultural Significance

When we talk about food and culture, one of the main dishes that comes to mind is Etor/Otor: a popular Ghanaian dish made with yam or plantain and mixed with palm oil and other ingredients. As a lover of Etor, I can talk about this meal all day.

Cultural Significance of Etor

Etor was mostly made with yam in the Asante culture in the olden days. However, it is mostly made with plantain these days. According to some elderly people I know and my mom, who all of you know is a caterer, it can also be made with roasted cocoyam. But the thing is, I am more biased towards plantain Etor because I’ve never had yam Etor but I hear it’s just as delicious.

This meal is deeply rooted in many Ghanaian activities and rituals and is considered a sacred food in many Ghanaian cultures like the Asantes and Ga’s. For example: Etor/Otor is served to the gods during some festivals in Ghana like the twin festival created in celebration of twins who are believed to bring good luck.

In many traditional ceremonies like festivals, weddings, puberty rites, and naming ceremonies, Ɛto is a meal that is significantly used.

The mixture of yam or plantain and pepper, onions, groundnut paste, roasted cured fish, or “momone” just makes so much sense and whoever came up with it is pure genius because talk about flavours! It’s sweet, it’s spicy and, everything in the meal just works together.

I always wonder, who woke up one day and said, let’s mix these ingredients and see what we can develop. The process of coming up with recipes is something that has always fascinated me. Anyway, we, the etor lovers are grateful to whoever came up with it.

How is Etor served?

A lot of Ghanaians serve etor with hard-boiled eggs, groundnuts, and avocado also called “pear”  in Ghana. Bitter turkey berries also known as “Nsusuaa” can be used as a garnish or eaten with it in traditional Asante settings. These are very bitter berries, known for their medicinal purposes. Refer to the images above.

Eggs are also of great importance in Ghanaian culture. The oval shape of the eggs symbolizes fertility. For example, women are made to swallow an egg whole during puberty rites as a sign of fertility. And If you don’t know, Ghanaians are obsessed with eggs.

The eggs, avocado and Etor work so well together. When eating it, I’d recommend you start by just eating the Etor to get the flavours before you combine everything.

What Do You Love About Etor?

There’s a full video of how Etor is made on my YouTube page. You can also click on the link below to visit the recipe page for my Etor recipe.