Tropiway Plantain Fufu Flour is now sold in Tesco Stores [nationwide]

I live just outside north London -and usually have to travel into London [Tottenham, Edmonton etc] to buy African ingredients, –so image my surprise when I stumbled across Tropiway Plantain Fufu Flour [Cocoyam and Plantain] -£2.99 in my local Tesco! I don’t do Fufu but I know a lot of you do, -and will be pleased to know Tesco's now sell a large array of minority food stuff at most of their flagship stores. It also turns out that Tropiway Plantain Fufu Flour can also be used to coat: meats, fish and poultry -for frying; -as well as thickening gravy, soup or stew –so I bought their Cocoyam Fufu Flour and will be using it this coming weekend to fry some snappers [fish]...

"Tropiway® is the official registered trademark that belongs to Tropical Foods Co, Inc., the manufacturers of Tropiway Fufu Flour and other food items. In 1987, Edward Ofori, a food science researcher and a native of Ghana invented "FUFU FLOUR", and coined the word "TROPIWAY". He established a company as Tropical Foods in the State of South Carolina in the United States of America, to carry on further research, product development and manufacturing.


Tropiway® Fufu Flour products are so uniquely formulated and manufactured under strict U.S. government health code making them the consumer's favorite in all specialty food markets around the world.

Tropical Foods Co., Inc. has modern production facilities with state of the art, hi-tech equipment to cater for an ever increasing demand and also has the capability to undertake contract packaging of other powdered food products for human consumption for other companies. Our premises are inspected and approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (Reg# 3003742974) and South Carolina Department of Agriculture." www.tropiway.com

For more information about Tropiway please visit: http://www.tropiway.com/ 
For availability please call Tesco Customer Services on: 0904 2562193

Anthony Bourdain No Reservations – Ghana

*I have always said, –if you hate Ghana and Ghanaians –then you hate God .....xx

Food: Fran Osseo-Asare (BETUMI)

"The "Tom Brown" porridge recipe is quite simple. The hardest part is getting the right corn flour. In Ghana they lightly toast the corn before grinding it. For years I tried unsuccessfully to duplicate the process. The corn in Ghana is not sweet corn, it is hard like Indian corn. One recipe said to use ground popcorn, toasted lightly in a dry frying pan. It's much simpler to check with an African market that specializes in West African ingredients and get it from them. This is a favorite student breakfast food I remember fondly from my days teaching at a boarding school in Nungua, along the coast of Ghana..................To make enough for 2 people, one simply brings 1/2 cup of water to a boil in a pan. While it is heating, add 1/2 cup of the flour to 1/2 cup of water in a bowl, and a little salt to taste and mix thoroughly (I use a whisk). When the water in the pan comes to a boil, reduce the heat and slowly stir in the flour/water mixture. It will cook in just a couple of minutes. I ate mine with some honey, evaporated milk (the way I learned to eat it in Ghana), and chopped peanuts on top. If you like a thinner porridge, just add more water." Fran Osseo-Asare

Check out: www.betumi.com -it's a fantastic culinary website founded by ,Fran Osseo-Asare -a North American sociologist and writer who is married to a Ghanaian. BETUMI website grew out of Fran's love of sub-Saharan African food and the lack of; -knowledge or - interest; and the failure of others to take sub-Saharan African food, -seriously. Accompanied by a must subscribe blog -BETUMI -celebrates [all] culinary delights of African origin, -especially Ghanaian. You can also order Fran's cook book, 'A Good Soup Attracts Chairs' and a host of other culinary books at BETUMI. www.betumi.com

Food: Ghanaian Coconuts and more at Waitrose

Blue Skies' workers




Blue Skies Ghana was founded in 1997 and started production early in 1998 with only 35 employees. The company now employs over 1000 people and supports a wide network of farmers and their communities. The factory is located at Dobro near to the town of Nsawam and specialises in cutting and packing fresh fruit which it exports to Europe..................Blue Skies is built upon a culture of fairness in business, respect for each other and trust. The company believes that care for its people breeds care for its fruit which in turn fosters a natural respect for the environment and the communities where it operates. In 2008 Blue Skies was awarded with a Queens Award for Enterprise for its approach to Sustainable Development and became the first company in the world to receive LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming) accreditation for a group of farmers. www.caretrace.com

I love shopping at Waitrose. It's not just the whole, 'chichi lifestyle' thing they have going on at Waitrose, but just how supportive they are of farmers from around the world. I buy their Fairtrade certified -Ghanaian coconuts, pineapples and mangoes -and they are delicious. Along with many items like Kenyan coffee and butter beans from China, -Waitrose are leading the way in fair and ethical trading -and helping third world farmers. And via their, Caretrace website -I know more about the the people who prepare these yummy fruits -like, Daniel Amaadi -a farm manager at Anamo Farms. He supplies pineapples from his 110 acre farm -situated near to the village of Dumpong. He is married with 8 children. Or, Yaw Issaka from Abor in Ghana. He has been farming for 20 years. He grows sugarloaf pineapple for the Blue Skies Organic Collective (BSOC), which is a Fairtrade association of more than 78 farmers who work in the Central Region of Ghana. Yaw is 47 years old and is married with 6 children. You can find out more about the farmers and workers -who supply Waitrose at: http://www.caretrace.com.

Food: Clarke Peters loves Akara

“I'd start with a salad from Whole foods and then I'd move on to akara, an African dish that's like falafel but with with black peas”.

“The Whole Food salad bar on Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica, LA, is also one of my favourites. For breakfast, I love the vegetarian omelette at Café Flour-de-Lis in New Orleans, and they also do a good blueberry waffle on Thursday afternoons, meditation centre Global Co-operation house in NW10 does divine lunches. And I have to mention my in-laws in Ghana: Uncle Jimmy and his wife Rachel. She makes akara like no other.”

The American actor Clarke Peters (best known for his role as Lester Freamon in The Wire and the author of Jazz Musical -Five Guys Named Moe) on his last super -and his favourite places to eat around the world...

Food: Divine Chocolate

“Divine Chocolate Ltd is co-owned by Kuapa Kokoo – a smallholder cocoa farmers’ cooperative with 45000 members in Ghana. Kuapa Kokoo has two representatives on Divine’s Board which meets four times a year, once in Ghana. The decision to launch the first Fairtrade chocolate company in the UK was made at the Kuapa Kokoo AGM in 1997. With the help of NGO Twin Trading, and Body Shop International, plus the support of Comic Relief and Christian Aid, and DFID, Divine Chocolate Ltd (formerly The Day Chocolate Company) was launched in UK in 1998. In 2006 Body Shop international transferred its entire interest in Divine Chocolate to Kuapa Kokoo, making the co-operative the single largest shareholder with 45%. Today the balance is held by NGO Twin Trading (43%), and by Dutch international development finance institution Oikocredit (12%).” Divine Chocolate

If you didn't known that the good people at, Divine Chocolate use only chocolate from, Kuapa Kokoo, a farm in Ghana -you know now. So, next time you take a chocolate break -make it a Divine break. Available nationwide, from all good supermarkets. www.divinechocolate.com/