Dining the traditional way, with Asanka earthenware
It's all good times
Eating with your hand is not some retrogression in culinary practices, on the contrary, this is common all over the world and I decided that today I was going to go full blown traditional style at the restaurant. It's not exactly a super expensive restaurant but it's fancy.
As far as Ghana is concerned, people can drink soup with meat using their hand, usually the right hand if you're right handed and vice versa.
I didn't just deny the spoon I also asked that the food is put in Asanka which is an earthenware made using clay. It does not get anymore traditional than this. A delicious meal and I felt good after.
It's nothing special, but that's it that's what I was going for, no fancy fork and no spoon only my your hand. Of course I had to vigorously wash my hands afterwards because and use some hand cream and perfume so the smell of soup is not stuck on it. Since at that time my hands was wet I couldn't get a picture of that.
The asanka will carry the soup. This black clay bowl has the power to keep everything inside hot during your dinner and it's not going to leak chemicals into the food. There really is nothing sophisticated or modern about it, otherwise, this tool could not have stayed the same for many years as it has.
Speaking about the soup, it has all those tomatoes, peppers, onions, and ginger mix. I went to speak to one of the chefs and I got the recipe, lucky me. I'll prepare it myself next week.
I was already drinking the soup so I didn't order juice, that'll be too much liquid for one meal. It's simple ingredients too.
This is the main difference between the eating food the traditional Ghanaian way and that of the Western society, when we eat with our bare hand, we participate in the process actively but with a spoon which looks more sophisticated, you actually become relatively passive because all you have to do is to put a spoon in your mouth. It might be subjective but I feel that dish more with my hands than a spoon.
But well it is more civilized using the culinary set.