Promoting Ghanaian Culture through Food

Promoting Ghanaian Culture through Food

I can vividly remember my social studies teacher in class 5 on that fateful day we learned about culture. “Culture is the way of life of a group of people, he said”. These words have never left my mind. I had no idea that several years later, this would be the very pillar of my career. ” Promoting Ghanaian culture through food is a slogan I picked up along the way on my food blogging journey. When I think about the direction of my blog, my experiences, and the things I have learned, It makes the most sense.

I am more interested in learning and documenting every aspect of our food; techniques, stories, processes, ingredients, etc. A lot of our cultural heritage and practices especially about our food have been passed on by word of mouth. This has been done from generation to generation.  And we all know this process may not be the most effective because a lot can be lost in translation.

There are a million questions in my mind about how things were done, why it is the way it is, and how it came to be. There is so much I want to show the world about our beautiful Heritage with promoting Ghanaian culture through food as the cornerstone.

Food and Culture

Promoting Ghanaian culture through food is very key in our Country. Food is culture and Culture is food. Culture is inherently the way a group of people live and eating for pleasure or survival is a part of living. Unless you want to die, you need to eat. Food tells stories of survival, experiences, ceremonies, cultural identities, bravery, and remembrance. There are so many beautiful stories of how food plays a major role in culture and the lives of people in past and present times. 

The Food Heritage of Ghana is rich, diverse and deeply rooted in tradition and culture. Our food has so many stories, techniques and values passed down from generation to generation. Let’s take a look at one of the most popular cultural foods in Ghana: Etor/ Otor.

The presence of Etor in almost all major Ghanaian celebrations speaks to the fact that food can never be separated from culture. It’s not just about the way it tastes or how it’s eaten. It transcends more into the meaning of the food and how it impacts the people who eat it. In many traditional ceremonies like festivals, weddings, puberty rites,  and naming ceremonies, Etor is a meal significantly used as the meal itself, and the symbolic addition of eggs. 

The Beauty in our Stories

I remember when I started food blogging, I would not post certain videos because they did not look appealing. There was nothing inherently wrong with those videos. But I was trying to appeal to a certain aesthetic but I slowly realized that the beauty of our story is how it looks. Yes, we eat with our hands, yes we buy food from street stalls and sometimes eat them in public, yes we eat in earthenware bowls and enjoy eating raw pepper, yes we love our eggs.

The beauty in all of this is that no one is like us and we aren’t like anyone else. We need to celebrate and showcase this uniqueness by promoting Ghanaian culture through food. There is a reason why everything is the way it is. Instead of trying to hide who we are and wanting to be like someone else, we need to find the answers to why we are the way we are; our culture.

By embracing and celebrating our culture, we can preserve and celebrate our traditions and values and ensure that they continue to be passed down to future generations. Let us tell our stories as they are, authentically and without diluting them to fit an audience. We are better storytellers of our own stories because this is an experience we are living.

My Overall Goal

My goal is to show first to Ghanaians and the world the beauty of Ghanaian culture and food. This is possible by promoting Ghanaian culture through food. Our unique stories and perspectives. I also want to find answers to questions, like “Who did what, who came up with what, why are things the way they are, can we not modify traditional recipes to our preference?”. “Why were certain ingredients used in certain places and others in different locations?” Call me a curious cat if you will, I will gladly accept the title.

If my curiosity leads to more documentation and uncovering of mysteries, I will gladly be the curious cat. Join me as I embark on this journey of learning more about my heritage, and traveling to different destinations. And sharing more promoting Ghanaian culture through food. I will feature a lot of my findings on this website so do make sure to subscribe to our newsletter so you don’t miss anything.

I am open to collaborating and interviewing any person or establishment that has more information about our food systems and culture. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me via the channels below.

I have a YouTube channels which will serve as a video library of all my findings so do check it out here.

Here are the links to my other social media Channels

Instagram: Click here 

Facebook : Click here 

Tiktok : Click Here 

Get in touch via email: info@cheflifestylegh.com