“I prefer eating the diet with pounded pepper sauce, matched with slice tomatoes, onions, and fried fish”.
“In fact, that combination is unbeatable”, Madam Yaa Mana, a food vendor in Sunyani stated, describing ‘Akyeke’ a local cuisine as one of her favourite traditional diets.
She said that: “I love how the spicy pepper sauce complements the slightly sour taste of Akyeke”, urging many to try the diet, as the nation marks the Ghana Month also known as the heritage month.
Akyeke
Akyeke, originally known as (Attiéké) a Ghanaian-adopted traditional Ivorian dish has gained popularity now with many Ghanaians developing the taste for the diet.
The cuisine is now one of the locally prepared traditional dishes very common on the streets and creating job opportunities for some young women in the country.
Akyeke is delicious and versatile diet, made from fermented cassava dough, often served with plenty flavorful sauces, stews, or grilled meats.
Checks show that meaning of the name of the staple food in the Côte D’Ivoire Baoulé dialect is to be “pressed or squeezed”.
That reflect the traditional method of preparing the diet of pressing the cassava dough to remove and managed with the excess water before the dough is steamed.
Preparation
The preparation of Akyeke is quite involving, however the end result is worthwhile to the body system.
Firstly, cassava roots are harvested, peeled and washed thoroughly and grounded into a pulp.
Cooks then mixed the pulp manageably with water and left to be fermented for some days as the fermentation process breaks down and managed the starch, and thereby developing the characteristic flavour of the diet.
After fermentation, the cassava mixture is well pressed or squeezed to remove excess water, and then grated or pounded again into a fine texture before steaming.
The mixture is steamed to  become lighter and fluffy, releasing a sweet aroma that teases the senses.
Nutrition
Akyeke isn’t only delicious, but packed with complex carbs from cassava fiber with high Vitamin’s ‘C’ and Vitamin ‘B’ contents.
Further checks reveal that the diet contain rich minerals like potassium and magnesium with the fermentation boosting its nutritional value and it’s gluten-free and when is good for the body system when eaten with veggies, proteins and healthy sauces.
Vendor/consumer experience
As cooks and vendors learn the preparation of the diet, they deviate from its originality, adding up more ingredients like fries, groundnuts, and ripe plantain.
However, the authentic cassava flour Akyeke remains a luxury due to its high price.
Kwadwo Maame a popular and native of Drobo, near Sampa, a town along the Ghana-Cote D’Ivoire border in the Bono Region and an Akyeke vendor in Sunyani is pushing to popularize the diet.
However, some consumers of the dish said the taste of Kwadwo Maaame’s Akyeke slightly differs from the original Ivorian Akyeke.
According to them the difference could partly be due to the quantities of ingredients adding up and the preparation processes.
Conclusion
The local Akyeke diet is now trending on the streets, as many Ghanaians opted for, and are enjoying the dish as either a snack or lunch.
Cooks and vendors have modernized the recipe with varieties like grilled fish Akyeke and Akyeke jollof trending on streets.
Varieties gaining popularity are the grilled fish Akyeke normally served with grilled tilapia or sardines, sliced onions, tomatoes and cabbage or salad.
Other consumers also prefer the Akyeke Jollof mixed with tomato sauce, veggies, grilled chicken and peanuts, carrots and soy sauce.
“It is a must-try, join the Akekye trend and experience the flavours and rich nutritional value”, a consumer advised.