GHANAIAN TASTING MENU ~ FIVE COURSES
- £35 per person -
* Friday 20th July & Saturday 21st July - 7pm-9.30pm
* Hackney ~ exact address shared upon booking
* Vegetarian (v) options
* Served with rustic bread & butter
**THIS RESTAURANT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED**
MENU
5-course tasting menu
SET MENU 1 (MEAT-BASED)
Palmnut soup shot with fresh Ghana Bread
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Fried ripe plantain, smoked mackerel, shito & dill
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‘Ntroba fro’ stewed yellow eggplant with confit duck and steamed cassava cake
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Slow cooked ‘Akonfem’ guinea fowl, scotch bonnet and tomato sauce served with Jollof rice and steamed greens
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Koko’ brule, fermented maize meal porridge with baked gingered guava
SET MENU 2 (PLANT-BASED)
Suya seasoned chargrilled vegetables and vegetable shito
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‘Nkatenkwan’ groundnut soup with charred cauliflower and Ghanaian bread croutons
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‘Spinach and Agushi’ crushed melon seeds with spinach crisped mushroom & cocoyam
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‘Red Red’ spiced coconut black eyed beans served with ripe plantain
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Koko’ brule, fermented maize meal porridge with baked gingered guava
Born in Ghana in 1979 as one of five sisters, Adwoa's formative years were spent in Ghana, Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda. "My style of cooking is very much influenced by my mother. Some of my earliest memories were watching all my other siblings through the kitchen window playing hopscotch in the garden whilst my mother explained to me, an 8 year old, about the intricacies of making Kenkey (fermented maize meal dough)". Sent to boarding schools in Kenya, Reading and Bath in the UK, Adwoa only returned to Ghana during school holidays which she mostly spent with my mother alone in the kitchen, bonding. It was during this time that she learnt about flavours, textures and beautiful West African smells. The main weekly activities involved accompanying her mother to traditional markets, talking to friendly traders and seeking out the freshest, plumpest produce, which they would carry home in soft round baskets on their heads. "Back then it was all an adventure, but now I realise just how impactful my mother's culinary wisdom has been on my career and life."
Adwoa's first foray into cooking for the public was as a student in the UK, when she set up a meal delivery service, initially cooking British favourites but occasionally throwing in some West African staples. After witnessing the growing appetite for West African delicacies among British diners, Adwoa proceeded, alongside her husband, to set up Jollof Pot, the UK's first Ghanaian street food stall, based on Broadway Market almost 15 years ago. On the cusp of the street food revolution, Adwoa recognised that her food needed to be adapted: "We had many African customers baffled by the reasons why we had not cooked beans stew with lashings of palm oil or why there was no giant African snails or meat in the spinach and agushi stew. The answers from me were simple - to be able to cater to the mass market and the western palate our food had to evolve similarly to that of the the Chinese and Indian cuisine." Their street food offering is now named aptly by Ghana's much-loved dish ‘Spinach & Agushi’ and has street stands at Portobello Road (Notting Hill), Exmouth Market (Farringdon) and Broadway Market (Hackney).
In addition to Spinach & Agushi, Adwoa head chefs for a variety of dining events and catering projects, continuing to innovate and refine her menus whilst staying faithful to West African roots.
