Abstract
Members of the Asante ethnic group in Ghana single out foodways as condensed reference features of the culture they value so fiercely. Outsiders or visitors are asked at once ‘Do you eat fufu?’, and positive answers usually merit a beaming smile. The challenging texture of this heavy dish1 tests the sincerity and depth of their acculturation, while the same texture makes fufu so uniquely satisfying to Asante that the saying ‘if you haven’t eaten fufu, you haven’t eaten’ is often repeated next. One Kumasi acquaintance ventured to say that just eating fufu would teach a foreigner much about the culture. A real Asante loves fufu and fasts for funerals by abstaining from it.
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© 2014 Gracia Clark
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Clark, G. (2014). From Fasting to Fast Food in Kumasi, Ghana. In: Klein, J.A., Murcott, A. (eds) Food Consumption in Global Perspective. Consumption and Public Life. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137326416_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137326416_3
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