Fante kenkey: Food that must be protected

It's a great companion of all types of stews, and soups. It accompanies good fried fish and shito (black pepper sauce) and grinded peppers well.

It is present in many Ghanaian homes and served at many occasions too.

Hotels and restaurants serve it too.

When mashed into a pudding with sugar, milk and roasted groundnuts, it is heavenly.

                  Fante kenkey served with accompaniments

It is present in many Ghanaian homes and served at many occasions too.

Hotels and restaurants serve it too.

When mashed into a pudding with sugar, milk and roasted groundnuts, it is heavenly.

Its acclaim transcends the boundaries of the nation into other countries where Ghanaians live.

It is popular in La Côte d'Ivoire, some parts of Nigeria and other countries in the sub region where Ghanaians live.

Others travel all over the world with it as gifts from home.

It's nicknamed "wonadeokyeawo" in Fante meaning "your mother sends her greetings".

     

  When mashed into a pudding with sugar, milk and roasted groundnuts, it is heavenly

Its acclaim transcends the boundaries of the nation into other countries where Ghanaians live.

It is popular in La Côte d'Ivoire, some parts of Nigeria and other countries in the sub region where Ghanaians live.

Others travel all over the world with it as gifts from home.

It's nicknamed "wonadeokyeawo" in Fante meaning "your mother sends her greetings".

Mfantse dokon, (Fante kenkey)

I am writing about Fante kenkey.

Kenkey is a staple in the country.

There are different types, the Nsewho dokon common with the people of the Western and Western North regions, the Ga Kenkey (Nkran dokon) which originates from the Ga people and commonly eaten in the Greater Accra Region and then there is the Fante kenkey.

The Fantes are a tribe.

     

                 A kitchen where Fante kenkey is prepared

So Fante kenkey is just the kenkey made by the Fantes.

Though eaten throughout the country, it is mostly common among the Central and Western Regions.

It is however the people of the Central Region who have mastery in its making.

The smoother and stickier it is when kneaded between the fingers, the better.

There are two types of  fante kenkey.

The one cooked in plantian leaves and the other known as Akonkro Dokon cooked in the Asofuo leaves.

In the Central Region, the communities of Yamonransa, Amosima, Abura Dunkwa, Moree Junction, Nkanfoa and Akroma are noted for their skill of making the kenkey.

Women in these communities have passed on the skills from one generation of women to the next and many household livelihoods depend on this age old skill.

For many, it's more than just food; it's income and their life.

Maame Appiawa makes and sells fante kenkey around the Moree Junction near Cape Coast.

She has been doing it for more than a decade and works with three other people in the preparation.

"I work with these people because they have been in the kenkey cooking business for many years and are very skilled.

I want my kenkey to be the best," she explained.

           

    Our reporter, Shirley Asiedu-Addo (right) tastes fresh kenkey made by Maame Appiawa

Preparation

Preparing fante kenkey is not an activity for the impatient and weak.

First you get maize soaked in water for a day.

Then it is milled.

It is kneaded and kept for a day.

Before cooking, the dough is divided into three portions.

One portion is put on fire and stirred continuously to get a consistent and smooth texture.

Then the two portions are added on slowly with water to get an even smooth texture.

It is then taken in fist-sized portions and cooked in dried plantain leaves or the Asofuo leaves.

Maame Appiawa has one person who does the cooking of the dough, another who helps with preparing the leaves and another who helps her cook the kenkey.

“Usually, the process from milling to getting the kenkey would take four days.

I will usually start on Wednesday morning to soak maize in water if I want to have kenkey ready to sell on Saturday morning," she said.

Cooking

The kenkey is cooked in barrels covered with jute sacks over high heat for about six hours.

Maame Appiawa said during this period, water is checked and added without taking off the sacks.

"You can't open up the barrel or the kenkey will go bad.

This is important.

So water is poured on the sacks into the barrels,' she explained.

The smell of the kenkey tells the cook the kenkey is ready.

Polythene on kenkey

In recent years, there is the phenomenon of covering the dough with transparent polythene before covering them with plantain leaves.

              Ready for the market

Maame Appiawa explained that apart from the fact that use of the polythene made the kenkey look cleaner, it enabled it to stay longer on the shelf.

"I have heard that health wise, the use of the polythene is not good.

I don't know about that.

I know that it keeps it clean and it takes a longer time to spoil if it is in the polythene.”

She said she sold it to customers depending on the customer’s preference.

"Some specifically ask for the one in the polythene, others ask for the ones without the polythene so I do both," she said.

Meanwhile, the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), the national regulatory body for food and medicine, has cautioned Ghanaians, particularly, cooks, against the use of polyethylene to wrap fante kenkey before cooking.

This is because the temperature at which the kenkey is cooked with wrapped polyethylene (which contains bisphenol A, BPA), could release some harmful chemicals and toxins in the plastics into the food.

Appiawa said education on that had already began in the communities.

“A few weeks ago, I heard officials were at Yamonransa to speak to us against the use of the plastics in wraping the kenkey.”

   

           The kenkey is cooked in dried plantain leaves 

Sales

On a good day, Appiawa sells about GH ₵1000 of kenkey.

Month endings are usually good times, she said.

"When there is a major programme around this area and especially on weekends, sales are also good," she added.

On other days Appiawa can sell less than a GH₵ 100.

Increase in prices

She said the rise in the price of maize was making the trade less attractive.

A bag of maize which was sold at GH₵250 a few years back is now about GH₵ 1000.

"It has made the trade less profitable but we are happy at least we have something to do to put food on the table," she said.

"Now the trade has to be sustained.

It's a tradition.

It's a way of life.

One of my workers can't stay a day without eating kenkey.”

She said the making of kenkey should be promoted and sales and marketing of the product taken seriously.

For Appiawa, her children are male and are not interested in continuing with sale of the kenkey which is seen as a job for women.

The economic impact on the households in communities where it is prepared is enormous.

As the Ministry of Tourism and the Ghana Tourism Authority works on promoting Ghanaian foods, the ever popular Fante kenkey should not be ignored.

There should be ways of engaging those involved in the trade to make it heathier and safer for patrons.