Ghana to the World
Recipes and Stories That Look Forward While Honoring the Past
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- $18.99
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- $18.99
Publisher Description
A transportive, highly personal cookbook of 100 West African-influenced recipes and stories from Top Chef finalist Eric Adjepong.
A BON APPÉTIT AND WASHINGTON POST BEST COOKBOOK OF THE YEAR
“Sankofa” is a Ghanaian Twi word that roughly translates to the idea that we must look back in order to move forward. In his moving debut cookbook, chef Eric Adjepong practices sankofa by showcasing the beauty and depth of West African food through the lens of his own culinary journey.
With 100 soul-satisfying recipes and narrative essays, Ghana to the World reflects Eric’s journey to understand his identity and unique culinary perspective as a first-generation Ghanaian American. The recipes in this book look forward and backward in time, balancing the traditional and the modern and exploring the lineage of West African cooking while embracing new elements. Eric includes traditional home-cooked meals from his mother, like a deeply flavorful jollof rice and a smoky, savory kontomire stew thick with leafy greens, alongside creative dishes influenced by his culinary education, like a sweet summer curried corn bisque and sticky tamarind-glazed duck legs.
Full of stunning photography shot in Ghana and remembrances rooted in family, tradition, and love, Ghana to the World shows readers how the unsung story of a continent’s cuisine can shine a powerful light on one person’s exploration of who he is as a chef and a man.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Chef Adjepong (Sankofa), who is a first-generation Ghanaian American, presents an enticing mix of traditional and modernized West African recipes in this heartfelt volume. Groundnut soup with guinea fowl, jollof rice, banana fritters, and other family recipes Adjepong grew up enjoying are presented alongside his own creations, including eggs Benedict with scallops and piri piri Hollandaise, mango tart with rum marshmallow, and pan-seared grouper with fried peanut salsa. Acknowledging West Africa's global impact on culinary history, Adjepong also showcases food of the African diaspora: the American Southern classic of baked red peas, he notes, "has strong ties to West Africa, where cowpeas are from," and the origins of the Caribbean staple salted cod fritters can be traced back to West African practices of curing seafood. Though sourcing some of the ingredients may be challenging, Adjepong's instructions are clear and he offers some handy substitution suggestions (cassava can be used instead of puna yam for the puna yam chips). Charming autobiographical anecdotes chronicle Adjepong's exciting culinary journey, from his first trip to Ghana as a toddler when he fell in love with bofrot (fried doughnuts) to his time competing on Top Chef. Anyone looking to incorporate West African flavors into their repertoire will be inspired.
