Learning To Cook The Ghana Way

 I really love the food in Ghana as you can tell from past posts. I have learned to cook a little of it but I wanted to get more recipes as Daughters 1 & 3 will be visiting this summer and have asked if I could cook something up. My young participants mostly love to cook and are happy to give me instructions on how to make 'local food' (their term). However, getting instructions from them is a little like getting instructions from your immigrant Grandmother...a little lacking in precision. Here is an example. I have highlighted the things that were written down exactly as they were given.

Making Jollof Sauce for Making Jollof Rice:

1.     Make Ghana Blend (Onion, Garlic, Ginger)

2.     Dice Onion

3.     Sautee Onion in Oil

4.     Add Tomato Paste until Caramelized

5.     Add your Ghana Blend

6.     Cook for 5 to 10 minutes

7.     Add cooked diced meat and a little water to make a thick stew consistency

8.     Add Stock Base & Hot Pepper

9.     Cover and let cook until your stew feels cooking (this is a direct quotation)

10.  Add Rice

11.  Add enough water measuring with your eyes to be sure the proportion of water is enough to cook the rice (good luck figuring this out)

12.  Cover and lower heat

13.  Check and make sure there is enough water. Stir two or three times

 

I will let you know how this turns out when I give it a try.

A Bumpy Takeoff

 I wouldn't exactly call it the return of the Magical Unicorn Pony God of Travel but the start of my flight back to Albuquerque was not exactly what I would call seamless either.

I was picked up at my rental apartment as usual by my long-time driver. It was raining and when it rains in Accra things can grind to a halt. We are not far from the airport but after about 5 minutes of driving, his car stops...an overheating problem. But he calls another vehicle from the airport taxi firm for which he works and it gets me to the airport. (Please understand that this is Ghana so when he calls his compatriot there are about 5 phone calls with all kinds of highly emotional descriptions of where the hell we are and why the hell can't he find us. This is pretty much the way directions for everything are given and received in Ghana).

I get to the airport a little later than I would have preferred and it is crowded. All my Covid required paperwork is in order but when I go through security they see this tiny scissors I use for my eyebrows. This is a significant security risk and must be confiscated (they were actually very apologetic about it). I'd already gone through passport control but because of the 'security violation' they checked my passport again. The guy checking it says, "You like Ghana a lot?" I don't think much about the question and say "Yes." He then asks why I was coming. Ah, now I get it. So I tell him I do charitable work. That seems to mollify him. However, it is a red flag that I'd better have my story straight for the next time. There is not particular category for charitable work on their entry form. I am on a tourist visa (with 5 years!) so I hope I don't have to change that.

Finally, I am getting onboard the plane and they stop me because when I checked in they failed to ask for one of the Covid required papers. 

After than things were fine. I'm in New York now. I have three more flights and 12 hours to go!

Serendipity Or Delusion?

I have mentioned more than once on this forum the rather unlikely trajectory that the Theodora Project has been taken. I mean seriously, I have been doing business deals and projects my whole life and nothing, nothing I have ever worked on has either 1) seemed to potentially do more good for more people and 2) taken off as fast. Every time an obstacle comes up, a solution appears. Every time we need a particular skill, a person appears even if just for handling that one issue. The more and more we refine our service offering and pitch it, the more and more those to whom we talk get excited about it. The more and more we ask of our participants, the more and more they grow and expand their capabilities (doing far more now than I would have dreamed when we started a year ago. 

This feeling of destiny (or delusion?) has only been reinforced over the couple of months since we made the decision to seek social impact capital investment. I have been participating in a new virtual networking platform, Lunchclub. It has allowed me to contact with those interested in social impact around the country and the world. These people's reaction to Theodora is more than just showing interest. They are enthusiastically applauding and encouraging its double bottom line (We transform disadvantaged women in Africa while we transform small business owners in the U.S.), its sustainability (we have the potential to be a solidly profitable business) and its scalability (tens of thousands of woman in Africa in our target demographic; millions of small businesses in the U.S.). 

The cynic in me keeps saying this just can't be happening...this just doesn't happen in the real world. But I will keep riding this wave until it proves otherwise.

Cranking Out The Work

 While it may seem that all I have been doing here in Ghana this trip is eating, that is far from the truth. The purpose of this trip has been to get all of the input required to create the case for social impact investment for Theodora. So I have been meeting with various members of team getting them focused on the information I need and then collecting that information. For those of you who might not have tried to grow a business before or who have not had to pitch an investment to investors, here are some of the types of information we are collecting.

• The cost of recruiting new participants
• The time it takes to recruit a new participant
• What initial training will a new participant need?
• How will that be delivered?
• What will that cost per participant?
• Once a new participant has been given basic training, how much job specific training will they need?
• How long will it take for a new addition to the virtual assistant business to become fully billable?
• What utilization rate (hours billed compared to total hours worked) can we expect?
• What effective billing rate (the price per hour for services to clients) can we expect?
• As we grow, how much space will we need?
• Where will we find that and how much will it cost?
• What will be the cost of critical services (power, internet)?
• How many managers do we need to oversee the projected growth in work?
• How do we create a sales/marketing system that will produce the volume of new clients we require for growth and what will it cost?
• What other indirect costs will we have?
• What payroll burden (think social security and unemployment taxes) do we need to use?

I don't think that was everything but you get the idea. I am ecstatic to say, I am coming home with the vast majority of this information. This will lead to using that information to build a growth plan and a set of financial projections. 

While I was here we also secured a significant new client that offers Theodora the chance to learn skills that could be sold to a host of similar businesses. 

So all in all a very productive trip.

TwEnglish

 I have become infected with TwEnglish. The most common tribal/local language here in Accra is Twi (pronounced tch-wee). I know exactly five words/phrases in Twi - which evidently puts me ahead of about 90% of other Obroni. Locals, especially my team of lovely Theodora participants, speak English with a certain Twi features. They text the same way. I have made it a point as their mentor try to speak proper 'The President's English' (the King's English being for Britons). To my horror, on this trip I have found myself sliding into extensive use of TwEnglish. 

A hallmark of TwEnglish is the disposal of articles as they don't exist in Twi. Examples:

• I am getting car...not I am getting the car
• Here have soup...not here have some soup
• Go get shoes...not go get your shoes

Another example is the use of the word 'small' to indicate the quality of not a lot of something or something abbreviated. For example:

• I am going to nap small...not I am going to take a short nap
• I am eating small...not I am just going to have a snack

Then there is the use of the suffix "oo" (pronounced O though drawn out) to indicate emphasis to adjectives. Like:

• That soup was really tasty-oo...for that soup tasted really good
• That train was so late-oo...for that train was very, very late 

And like, like all languages, there are lots of distinctive 'fillers' to fit into conversations while you think of the next thing to say such as:

• 'Ehn' this is done in an extended, nasal tone, dropping of at the end. It is often used at the end of a sentence to indicate the other can talk though it is also used by the person you are talking to to affirm what they've heard
• Speaker One - I have to go to the Golden Tulip for a meeting ehhhnnn
• Speaker Two - Ehhhnnn
  

I will try to clean my act up by the time I get back to New Mexico

More Ghana Food

It might seem from my posts that all I am doing is culinary stuff this trip. Actually, the work on getting us primed to raise capital is going hot and heavy. I have just determined that I need to do some personal stuff too this trip. Two more dishes to report on.

 Kokonte with Groundnut Soup with Chicken and Smoked Catfish

The Kokonte is one of the many carbohydrate rich dishes of the region. It is made from dried cassava and is pounded until smooth.

 Groundnut Soup is flavored with a combination of tomato and peanut paste along with the usual onion, garlic and ginger

Jollof Rice is served all through West Africa and is one of those dishes that evokes passion and controversy with each family, cook, region, country claiming their's is the best.

 

Jollof, at least as made by my teacher, is a flavorful stew of tomato, meat, onion, garlic and ginger that has rice cooked it it until it becomes a rice dish.

There is a lot of mediocre Jollof served in restaurants. But this version was packed with flavor and I ate seconds. Only great will power kept me for thirds.

What Constitues 'Food'

I had a couple of my Ghanaian cohorts working on a presentation at my apartment and offered to serve up lunch. I had some things already cooked up - meatballs and sauteed mushrooms - so I heated them up and served them. One of the feistier of the group made a sarcastic remark (all in fun mind you) that where was the meal? I looked a bit bewildered and then I realized where I had fallen short. I had not included any carbohydrate. I was given a quick education that if you don't have a starch with the meal, it is not a meal, it is a snack. (I seem to remember this being true in Asia now that I think about it.)

When you go to a local restaurant in Ghana and ask what is on the menu, the first thing they will announce is the available Carbs. "Oh today we have fu fu, banku, kenke, yam, rice ball, jollof (a type of rice). Then you will be told the soups or sauces that are available. "Light soup, groundnut soup, okra stew, egg stew, palava sauce, etc." Lastly they will ask you what protein you want with the dish. "Goat, cow (not beef), lamb, chicken, smoked fish, tilapia, etc.

This of course is totally opposite what we do in the U.S. where if you ask what's on the menu you are told all the meats, then maybe the pastas and salads. The side carbs are secondary.

Ode To The Tough Bird

 Some of the iconic preparations of poultry were designed to take a tough old bird and render it into something sumptuous. For example Coq au Vin, which was supposed to tenderize a rangy, tough cock into tender goodness. Sadly today, in civilized America it is very, very difficult to find an old bird. Chicken are raised to be uber tender things that go to maturity in months rather than years which sadly as an effect on its flavor.

Fast forward to Accra, Ghana June 2021. Your trusty blogger and aspiring gastronome (can one still be aspiring in one's 70's?) however has noted over the years coming to Ghana that the meat here has a distinct NON-western feel...as in tough leather. I think I may have commented on my few forays out of town on how the little goats and sheep of the area more resemble street thugs than cute animals. So I theorized, if I could put my hands on one of these 'authentic' type birds, what would some of my classic preparations such as said coq au vin or chicken fricassee. 

The women who are the participants in my program have taken a while to learn that I am pretty serious about my statements when it comes to food. So it is only this trip that I got one of them to bring me some honest to goodness, 'local' chickens from the market. These are live birds that are killed and prepared on the spot. (I was actually spared the going to the market and seeing this). However I did get two fresh killed local birds, still warm, complete with feet, heads, unborn eggs (just like my Grandmother had in her chicken soup!). One of these was put in the freezer, the other was prepared via Chicken Fricassee method.

As might be expected, the cooking transpired differently. It took two and a half times longer for the chicken to cook to tenderness. It had much less liquid in it so I had to add some during cooking which is never the case with production chicken. I cooked it the day before (always a good thing to do with braises and stews) and there was hardly any fat on top compared to the thick layer that would have come from a grocery store bird.

But the final test, the taste...was fantastic. I had my shopping benefactor over to share the results. She was quite impressed. Especially with how tender it came out. In Ghana, time is short and cooking is often done with one temperature/speed - high and fast - leading to not so tender result. 

I am very anxious to try the second one in a Coq au Vin...and I will try to remember to take some pictures.

Update on Joy of International Travel Pandemic Version

After the ordeal of getting the mandated African CDC QR code for my uploaded Covid test, said code was now checked exactly...

            ...Zero times!

Getting on the plane to go to Ghana...Nope...they said you needed it when you get there.

When I arrived in Ghana?...Nope...could have cared less. They are testing you when you arrive and they assume the airline did all the checking of the pre-arrival test checking.

YET...

...There was no way they were going to let me check-in without it. So there you go.

The Joys Of International Travel In The Pandemic Era

 I am again headed off to Ghana. We have a lot to do...a lot of exciting things to do if we are to get our act together for our financing search. 

Getting to Ghana requires Covid testing before you go, when you arrive and to return to the U.S. before you return. You have to show you have paid for your arrival Covid test in advance or you can't board the plane. You are supposed to input your personal health data ahead of time too for when you arrive in Ghana. For my trip in April, I had everything together the way it should have been and I sailed through with no problems.

I figured it was the same for this trip and again, I had done all that was required. I arrive at Chicago O'Hare to check into Delta for the first of my two flights to get to Ghana and I am pretty confident. But NO! There is something new. Evidently you are supposed to upload your Covid test to a site run by the African CDC and get a QR code that your test is 'official'. Only trying to get to that site and figure out exactly how to do that upload is insanely difficult. 

The powers that be had mercy on this poor Covid protocol sinner's soul. The Delta counter was deserted so the young lady manning my session spent a good 20 minutes with me figuring out where the website was and helping me navigate it on my phone until we were finally able to upload the test result and get the QR code. After which she checked me into my flight. What a lovely young woman to have such patience with me!

I still have to show this code one more time here in New York where I am changing to the final plane to Ghana. Hopefully no more problems.

Pumped

 It is a strange feeling at this late stage in life to feel so pumped, excited, jacked, you choose the term, about a venture. However, the shift described in my last post in the direction of Theodora and our decision to seek serious investment to grow it has caused my state of mind to shift as well.  

It has brought back a lot of the emotions from my very early days in investment banking when a good part of the work enjoyment was the thrill of the chase and the excitement of working with big numbers (of money). Only this time, it is not for someone else, it is for me...well not exactly but for my concept that will benefit the (hopefully) large number of women. I don't know if this is going to work but it won't be for lack of trying. I talk to a lot of people who I was approaching a year ago when we were just starting. They can't believe the progress our little group of test subjects has made in such a short time period. That gets me pumped too. 

Then there is the new Rotary Club I moved to, The Rotary Club to End Human Trafficking. Don't remember if I've talked about this before. But, it is a virtual and cause based club (an innovation in the Rotary world) with members from 11 states and 6 countries (including two of my participants in Ghana!). It has a very ambitious strategic plan and a lot of very capable motivated people. And I am getting in on the ground floor. That's exciting too.

Who'd have thunk this would be happening in my mid-70's. Truly a statement of not retiring but transitioning one's life.