Compendium of Fufu Eating Sociology in Ghana By Kwesi Atta Sakyi 4 th March 2017 Since the Man of God, Pastor Mensah Otabil, made his pronouncement about the ill-effects of eating fufu, the media has known no peace. For some weeks now it is fufu this, fufu that, and fufu, fufu on the news ad nauseum. Fufu has gained a grandstand media attention and has perhaps reached number one spot as the most searched word or most trending and streaming word in Ghana. Fufu’s popularity as the most cherished Ghanaian dish is incontestable and it is sad indeed that the Man of God chose a delicate topic to pontificate on without confining himself to theological and eschatological admonitions. What is fufu? Fufu is a kind of starchy carbohydrate food eaten with the fingers, and with different soups. It is made from sources such as cassava (manihot utilissima), plantain (musa paradisiaca/plantaginaceae), cocoyam (xanthosoma/colocasia esculenta), and yam (dioscorea alata/oxalis tuberosa). It is a delicacy in the West African countries which are to the forested areas to the south of West Africa in countries such as Ghana, Nigeria, Togo, Ivory Coast, and Benin, among others. Because of trading, travelling and inter-mingling, people in the Sahel zone to the north have also caught on with eating fufu. All the ingredients earlier mentioned above are peeled, boiled, and pounded in large wooden mortars with wooden pestles. The pounding is a tough and demanding exercise which puts off many from eating fufu because they cannot put up with it. Some Akwapim people of Ghana prefer only cocoyam fufu while Akyems and Ashantis prefer fufu made from a mixture of cassava and plantain, with the plantain (plantaginaceae/musa paradisiaca) preferably the type of big species called locally as ‘Apentu’. The Krobos of the Eastern Region of Ghana are very hardworking farmers. They cherish fufu so much so that stale fufu which has stayed more than a day is still eaten by warming it in palm-nut soup. It is locally referred to as fufu nkusa/nkisa which other tribes normally throw away. Cultures differ a lot. Fufu is swallowed, not chewed so the softer it is pounded into soft fluffy stuff, the better it is on the tummy. However, some people like their fufu hard.