Zoe Adjonyoh

Zoe Adjonyoh · Zoe's Ghana Kitchen

In the Caribbean they have rice and beans, while in Ghana we have waakye (pronounced ‘waa-che’) rice — an incredibly popular breakfast and brunch. You can see people hurrying to work in the bustle of a steamy Accra morning firmly gripping a polythene bag of waakye. My Uncle Ernest dashes across the road every morning to get his before his household is even awake. While waakye rice is simple enough to prepare, the dish is layered with a variety of sometimes complicated accompaniments, including the infamous Waakye Stew; Simple Fried Plantain; Shito (Hot Pepper Sauce); spaghetti (or ‘ta-lia’, as it’s commonly called roadside); small chop (salad); gari (fermented, dried and ground cassava); and an assortment of meat or fish. The dried millet or sorghum leaves used to give waakye its characteristic reddish colour are reputed to offer considerable nutritional benefits and are gluten-free.