Abstract
People in Ghana accept various dishes as national foods that originally, were consumed in particular regions and among particular ethnic groups. These foods form part of the national culture and are developed through several processes. National food cultures are developed through a simultaneous process of ethnic specialization and the advancement of national cuisines, which bring into focus the local as well as the national aspects of foods. The approach to this study was case study methodology with different data collecting tools in three cities: Accra, Kumasi and Tamale in Ghana. We developed literature on transformation of food-cultures and showed how the process of migration of people produced cuisines in contemporary Ghana and transformed ethnic dishes into national ones. Through the memories and narratives of female vendors’ knowledge on the preparation and vending skills, these cuisines were transferred to other people. The results showed how local foods continued to exist, how some aspects of local foods had changed, and the underlying cultural migration and the producing food vendors and consumers that influenced food transformation. We concluded that several factors mediated this dynamism in Ghanaian foods.
Highlights
In Ghana, people accept dishes associated with particular ethnic groups as national foods
street vended local foods (SVLFs) are defined as specific local foods associated with some particular ethnic groups in Ghana, which are prepared and sold as ready-to eat meals in the streets (Haleegoah et al, 2015)
Food dynamism in the three studied foods is shown from their preparation to consumption in terms of ingredients used, cooking methods, packaging and serving practices
Summary
In Ghana, people accept dishes associated with particular ethnic groups as national foods National foods are those that people of different ethnic backgrounds and nationalities accept and are produced and consumed nationwide. SVLFs are defined as specific local foods associated with some particular ethnic groups in Ghana, which are prepared and sold as ready-to eat meals in the streets (Haleegoah et al, 2015). The processes these ethnic specific foods go through into being accepted nationwide are under studied. The paper posits that these processes lead to transformations but the local dishes maintain their local identities despite their nationwide acceptance
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