Popular breakfast foods eaten in Ghana

Talk to any health expert on maintaining a healthy eating habit and the first advice you’re likely to hear is to not miss breakfast because it’s the most important meal of the day.

Foods consumed in Ghana are predominantly centred around starchy staple foods accompanied with soups or stews.

It’s, therefore, no surprise that majority of foods consumed by the citizenry are staple. The choice of food, however, is usually dependent on the sector or type of work one is involved in.

www.ghanaweb.com compiles a list of foods commonly eaten as breakfast by Ghanaians.

Spicy millet porridge (Hausa koko)

Arguably the most commonly eaten breakfast in the country, the spicy millet porridge, commonly known as Hausa kooko is consumed by all classes of the citizenry. The name is derived from its popularity in the northern areas. It is prepared from millet mixed with some local spices to give it a desired taste and colour. The food is usually consumed with bread or koose/akara or maasa (rice, ripe plantain and maize meal fritters)

Fermented maize/white porridge (moore koko)

Also referred to as white porridge, ‘moore koko’ is prepared from milled corn with some spices to give it colour. It is a common practice to see it being eaten with groundnut and milk as accoutrement as well as bread.

It is largely eaten in several homes across the country.



Oatmeal

Oatmeal is common breakfast food among the working class due to its high protein and fibre content. It is prepared by slightly cooking it and taken with milk and bread or biscuits. Others add fruits to give it taste as well.

Tom brown (roasted maize porridge)

The local name tom brown is culled from its look after the various combinations are milled into powder. Its constituents include millet, groundnut, roasted maize, and soybean.

It can be cooked or consumed just by adding hot water.



Rice pudding/porridge

It is not uncommon to see broken or wholesome rice being blended and cooked as porridge. Popularly referred to as rice water, it is widely eaten in several parts of the country by all classes of people. Actually, a favourite due to the various combinations that people adopt for the satisfying effect.



Waakye

Individuals who do a lot of manual labour also adopt eating a heavy meal to compensate for their hunger. Made from rice, beans and some local spices, waakye is also a national favourite by the working class. A typical meal will most likely be topped with fish, egg, wele (cooked animal hide), gari, spaghetti, mixed vegetable leaves, fried plantain and avocado.



Kenkey

Another meal largely consumed by the working class is kenkey. It is made from cooked milled fermented corn moulded into balls. The perfect accoutrement for this dish is fried fish, chicken or pork with gravy and or grounded pepper (either red or black). Although it originated from Ghana’s capital, it has become widely consumed across the country.