Last summer I had the incredible fortune of spending three weeks in Ghana, West Africa, on a work-related trip.
A few weeks after I got back to NYC, I found myself craving, as you often do after trips to new places, some of the culinary delights I had discovered there like
fufu
and
groundnut soup.
I live in Kensington, so I was excited to find that I would only have to travel as far as Meytex Cafe (
543 Flatbush Ave) to satisfy my craving. I dragged my husband and our good friend and fellow food adventurer over there one sunny and warm
Saturday afternoon. The three of us emerged a couple of hours later, stuffed, a little buzzed from large Ghanaian Star beers, and very happy that we had found this place.
The great thing about Meytex is how through-and-through Ghanaian it is. When you walk in, you are greeted by the owner/cook/server who seats you and presents you with a menu that features all sorts of typical fare from Ghana. Here’s where having been in Ghana came in handy – I learned there that food preparation takes very long time and it is not uncommon for most items on the menu to be unavailable that day. Typically, only selected dishes are prepared and available to patrons. As I discovered in Ghana, and the same applies at Meytex, rather than attempt to order off the menu, it’s better ask what they have prepared that day (or maybe phrase it to ask what’s good that day) and then choose from that more limited list of options. You’ll be happy because you won’t hear that the dish you want isn’t available, and you’ll be guaranteed the freshest food they have.
The staple of a Ghanaian meal is a starch, such as
fufu (cassava and plantain paste) (
at right, the traditional
fufu preparation method),
banku (fermented corn and cassava
dough), and/or boiled cassava (or yucca, as it is commonly know in the Americas). Meytex serves all of these, as well as fried plantains, deliciously and authentically prepared. The starch is typically served alongside a soup or stew. I’ve had the fantastic groundnut (peanut) soup with goat meat, and on one lucky visit we got a bonus dish of snail soup, on the house. In Ghana, there is no lack of giant (around 4-inch diameter) snails that come out after it rains and are prepared in soups and stews. Since they can’t be found here, Meytex has them flown in at $500 a bagful (about the size of a small garbage bag).
One snail cut into pieces and served in a spinach soup makes a decent-sized main dish.
Another typical dish that Meytex usually offers is grilled whole tilapia. During my most recent visit, the fish had been seasoned with hot spices, tomatoes, and onion. You need to have some skill navigating the bones, spine and head of the whole fish, and be prepared to experiment, but to me, this is one of the best ways to eat a fish.
Ghanaian vegetable dishes, such as spinach or okra, are usually stewed in palm oil with onions, spices, and sometimes peanut butter. In fact, palm oil is used in almost all Ghanaian cooking, and is likely to be found in anything you order at Meytex. The abundance of this dark red oil, which is high in saturated fat, is pretty much the only thing I don’t like about Ghanian cuisine. A typical dish in Ghana is often swimming in it. While Meytex makes authentically liberal use of the stuff, they keep it at an acceptable level for my taste, so the food is flavorful and rich, rather than too oily.
If you’re unfamiliar with Ghanaian or other West African cuisines, I recommend getting together with a few friends and/or family members for an afternoon or evening meal at Meytex, and sharing a spread that includes a variety of dishes. Try a couple of the starches, a soup, a vegetable stew or two, and maybe the fish. Also, although I haven’t tried it at Meytex, it’s hard to go wrong with
jollof rice, a common dish throughout West Africa, which is cooked in tomatoes and flavored with chili pepper and other spices.
Once your orders are placed, the wait for the food can still be a little long. The best thing to do is order a few Star beers or palm wine (a sweet alcoholic beverage made from palm tree sap) for your table, relax, and watch some soccer (Ghanaians are
huge fans) on the flat screen in the back, or check out the pictures that line
the walls of famous Ghanaians, like first president Kwame Nkrumah, Chelsea FC
midfielder Michael Essien, and former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. Within a few minutes you’ll probably find yourself chatting with a few of the other patrons about sports or politics. Once you’re comfortable with your surroundings and new friends, your food will come out and cover the entire table. Take your time and enjoy it. In the end, after you are warmed by the food and the kindness, you’ll find yourself smiling at the bill. For all that food, it's a fantastic deal.
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