the: Have you ever had an accident in the kitchen? Are there any recipes that have gotten a bit messy?
AT: Oh yes, of course. I guess I would say some of my biggest challenges are actually on the chocolate side. Chocolate is absolutely adorable. And a degree or two can change everything. So I had tempering problems because the room was too warm and the chocolate swelled and you had to redo everything. I really wanted to collect fruit with chocolate. And so because we have wonderful fruit here, and I’ve had to learn to play and be more intentional about my water content. Fruit obviously has a lot of liquid. And so chocolate doesn’t like humidity, it doesn’t like water. So those are some of the things that have happened in the kitchen that have gone terribly wrong. But I think, as always, with all failures comes success.
the: Before we started recording, I was talking about how desperate I was to go to Ghana. I would like to go to Accra. What should I eat when I get there?
AT: Well, I would say that my favorite street food is Kelewale. It’s a spicy fried plantain, and I’m obsessed with everything. So that is one of the street food items. It is basically a ripe bira with ginger, chillies and some local spices. And another plantain dish that I absolutely love is called tatale and aboboi. This is an overripe banana. So when it’s turning black and someone is thinking about throwing it away, we definitely don’t. You mash it, you add some flour to it, and then some onions and some spices. It is fried and served with bambara beans. Bambara beans are a beautiful bean that comes from the Sahelian parts of West Africa. They grow underground like peanuts or almonds. And I’ve had birthdays where I go and have that and a glass of champagne.
the: I’m curious for more intel like where to go and what to do in Accra, but also in Ghana in general?
AT: There are wonderful contemporary African artists from Al Anantri. We have galleries, we have artists that are all based in Accra as far as Ibrahim Muhammad in Red Clay in Tamale. So that’s definitely fun to work on. There are beautiful nature walks, bird watching, beautiful waterfalls in the Volta region, lots to do if you walk, you love nature. That’s a lot outside of our crop.
the: Selassie This has been such a beautiful conversation. You make me so hungry. You have made me desperate to visit Ghana and many other places in Africa, a continent I have barely scratched the surface of. If people want to follow your work, your chocolate, your cooking, everything else, where can they find you on the Internet?
AT: On Instagram, I’m SATADIKA. And then you can also find our dining experiences on Instagram at MIDUNU, MIDUNU. And for chocolates, it’s @MIDUNU-CHOCOLATES with an S.
the: If you’re planning a trip to Ghana or you just feel inspired by this episode, obviously the way to plan your trip is around the breadth of its cuisine. Thanks for listening ladies who travel. I’m Lale Arikoglu and you can find me on Instagram at @Lalehannah. Our engineers are Jake Lummus, James Yost, Vince Fairchild and Pran Bandi. The program is mixed by Ammar Lau at Macrosound. Jude Kampfner of the Corporation for Independent Media is our producer. Stephanie Kariuki is our executive producer, and Chris Bannon is Conde Nast’s, head of global audio.