1 1/2 cup corn/maize meal
1/2 cup soy flour
1 1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp chili powder (optional)
1 sugar to taste
1 cup water
1 oil
1 salt and pepper
Directions
Corn/maize was introduced to Africa from Latin America by the
Portuguese, mainly to provision their slave ships. The grain was
quickly accepted because it grew rapidly and undemanding in
cultivation. The name 'maize' comes from 'mahiz', the word used by
the Caribbean Taino Indians from whom the Europeans probably first
learned about the crop. in North American the English settlers were
shown it by local Indians. 'Corn' was a general name given to any
grain, so they called it simply 'Indian corn'.
Columbus noted that maize was "most tasty boiled, roasted or ground
into flour". And in southern Ghana today a common food is 'kenkey',
fermented corn/maize flour balls, wrapped in corn/maize leaves and
steamed. Akpith, this recipe, is more straightforward.
DIRECTIONS: =========== In a large saucepan, boil the water and then
in half of the corn/maize meal and all the soy flour to make a thick
porridge. Add the baking powder, chili powder if using and sugar;
season.
Cook this for 10 minutes over a low heat, stirring constantly. Then
remove the pan and set aside to cool for 10 minutes or so.
At this point, mix in the remaining corn/maize meal and combine
thoroughly, adding water to produce a stiff dough.
Now pour enough oil into a pan or wok to give a depth of around 2
inches (5 cms), and heat up. While it is warming mould the dough
into balls about 1 inch (2.5 cms) in diameter.
With the oil sizzling hot, slide 4 or 5 balls carefully into the pan
and cook for 2-3 minutes until they are golden brown.
* Source: The World in Your Kitchen - by Troth Wells * Typed for you
by Karen Mintzias
Servings: 6 servings
Akpith (Corn/Maize & Bean Flour Snack) Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Appetizer; Bean
The History of Recipes
It is possible to trace the history of meal recipes far back into history, at least as far back into history as early Egypt, and maybe further still. Interesting though that is, generally, these ancient cookbooks were just basic hieroglyphic recipes for food preparation.
The truth of the matter is, the most ancient recipe discovered so far, according to Professor Solomon Katz, is a series of tablets in Sumerian which show the preparation of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making drinkers feel wonderful. Later on, in The time of the roman empire around 25BC a man called Apicius compiled a number of scripts showing how to cook the recipes cooked by wealthy roman citizens. In his publication, Apicius recounts how the meals were split into appetizers, main meal and afters, known in latin as `Gustatio, Primae Mensae and Secundae Mensae`. Aspicius describes how the cooks of his times made use of a wide range of spices and herbs, including some familiar names for example bay, rue and parsley. As we move on, there are some interesting books from the 1300s ; one book called `Forme of Cury`, and another, similary named `Curye on Inglish`. Amusingly, these two books are unconnected to the curry that is served today, but rather recipes for the types of food on the menues of the rich and wealthy people of the time. Later, in the fifteenth century, knights returning from the crusades brought us a variety of foods, spices and herbs from middle-east cuisine, such as parsley and basil. These new spices and herbs led to an eruption in manuscripts on cooking, the majority of which still exist in private collections. During the following few hundred years, the wealthy families of Wesstern Europe strove to offer the best banquets, and because of this cooks and their recipe collections were greatly in demand. Even so, it was during the 19th century that cooking and cookery books really came of age. The Famous Mrs Beeton in the UK, and the equally famous Fannie Farmer in the US, dedicated years of their lives to assembling, testing, and writing down recipes of the day. By the advent of the 20th century, recipe publications are greatly in demand due to higher levels of literacy, more free time and being a little richer. The revolution that is television brought us TV chefs and the spin-off recipe books. And that brings us to the present day and the invention of computers and the internet, allowing everyone to search through massive numbers of recipes just like those on this recipe site. |
We hope you enjoy this Akpith (Corn_Maize & Bean Flour Snack) recipe.
