Many years ago, when I was quite young, I overheard a conversation between my father and one of his friends. His friend, whom I will call Mr. B, was in a gloomy mood. He was telling his troubles to my father. He said that he had done something to offend his wife and as a result he had not eaten all week. He was afraid that he would not get anything to eat for another week.

That puzzled me. Mr. B did not look like he was starving, quite the contrary actually. I had also served him some water and biscuits when he had arrived and I had clearly seen him eat some of the biscuits. I didn’t want to think that Mr. B was a liar. I liked him. He always gave me a gift of a few cedis whenever he visited.

I waited until he was gone and then asked my father why Mr. B had lied about eating. My father laughed a little. Then, he explained what Mr. B meant. Fufuo (sometimes spelled fufu), was Mr. B’s favorite food. He liked it so much that no other food counted if he had not had fufuo on any given day.

A generous serving of fufuo and soup.

Once I knew this, I found that this attitude was typical of many Ghanaians. There is food and there is real food. Usually, real food is a heavy meal such as jollof rice, fufuo and soup or banku and okro stew. The preparation of such meals take quite a bit of time and skill. So, if someone says that they have not eaten that day, they may not necessarily mean that they have had nothing to eat. It may mean that they have not had what they consider to be real food to eat.

I’m too lazy to look it up right now but I wonder if there are surveys on how well Ghanaians eat and if those surveys account for such cultural attitudes about food.

Chop bar sign.

Poor Mr. B did not have to “starve.” There are many chop bars (restaurants) in Ghana that cater to those who cannot or do not want to cook or just want extra helpings of food for the day. Given the way many chop bars advertise their services though, maybe Mr. B was simply a wise man who did not want to give his wife more reasons to be annoyed with him.

Ga kenkey with fried fish and scrimps, fresh ground pepper sauce and shito

So, have you eaten today? So far this year, I have not had any kenkey with pepper and fried fish. Ah ah, I have not eaten all year!