Source: Wikipedia (Waakye)
I was born and raised in Philadelphia, so American food and the food I grew up eating are naturally a part of who I am. My husband, on the other hand, is Ghanaian, and through our relationship and marriage, Ghanaian food and culture have become an important part of my life too. Somewhere between the two, our family has created a food culture of our own.
Food has always been my bridge to memory, love, family, and culture. I have never just eaten; I have explored. From smoky Caribbean jerk chicken and rich, slow-cooked oxtails to fragrant Indian dishes like chicken tikka masala, I have always been drawn to bold flavors and the stories behind them. Like many people in the world, food brings me joy and enjoying food from different cultures has always been an experience I can look forward to, no matter where I am or who I am with.
When I think about it, almost every person I am closest to has a memory connected to food. I think about my grandfather’s garden and my grandmother’s impeccable Southern soul food at every major holiday. I think about my mom introducing me to Jamaican “flavas” for the first time. I’ll never forget my first taste of Ethiopian lamb tips over rice or the way my face turned red the first time I tried Liberian pepper soup at a close friend’s house.
Another core food memory is going to an Indian restaurant with my best friend’s family and trying chicken tikka masala and vegetable samosas for the first time. I was hooked. I introduced it to my mom, and it quickly became a favorite meal for us to have while catching up.
It’s funny, I never would have imagined that the same Indian restaurant I already loved would become part of my love story. Before we started dating, my now-husband was living in Virginia and would come to Philadelphia on weekends to visit friends. That restaurant was already one of his favorites.
When we started dating, we discovered that we loved the exact same order. Out of everything on the menu, we had somehow chosen the same favorite meal. At the time, it felt like a sweet little coincidence and maybe a sign that we had something special.
Almost eight years later, every Sunday after church, we go back to that restaurant and order the same thing. After all these years, they know our order by heart. What started as something my then-boyfriend and I happened to have in common has turned into a family tradition. We still love that meal just as much as we did when we first started dating, and we have passed that love down to our children. Now, it is something we all enjoy together.
It’s funny how food can become woven into the story of a family without you even realizing it.
While I have always been adventurous with food, there were still certain foods I was convinced I didn’t like. Black-eyed peas were one of them. If you had asked me years ago if I would ever willingly eat them, I probably would have laughed.
Then my Ghanaian husband introduced me to bean stew.
Source: Sasun (Groundnut soup)
Somehow, the same woman who wanted absolutely nothing to do with black-eyed peas fell in love with bean stew served with sweet fried plantains or, occasionally, over white rice. The seasoning, the texture, and the way the flavors came together completely changed my perspective. It taught me something I would eventually learn over and over again: sometimes you don’t hate the food; you just haven’t had it prepared in a way that speaks to you.
Corned beef was another food I had already written off. I never really cared for it and could not understand why anyone was so excited about it. But then I had it prepared as a stew and served over white rice.
Suddenly, corned beef made sense.
Marrying into a Ghanaian family introduced me to much more than new recipes. It introduced me to a different relationship with food.
I began to understand that Ghanaian food is not simply about what is on the plate. Food is connected to family, hospitality, tradition, and community. There is love in the preparation and pride in sharing dishes enjoyed for generations. Meals can bring everyone into the same room and create a space for conversation, laughter, and connection.
At first, some of the dishes and flavors were unfamiliar to me. But over time, unfamiliar became familiar. Familiarity became comforting. And eventually, Ghanaian food became part of my life.
There are now Ghanaian dishes that feel just as much like home to me as the foods I grew up eating. Honestly, I cannot imagine how boring my life would be without waakye. That is the beautiful thing about food, it can become part of you without replacing where you came from.
American food remains an important part of who I am, from the meals that remind me of childhood and family gatherings to the traditions I grew up with. I did not have to give up any of that when I welcomed Ghanaian culture into my life. Instead, my relationship with food expanded. My table got bigger, and so did my appreciation for the flavors, traditions, and stories that come with it. And perhaps one of my greatest joys now is watching my own children experience that same openness to food.
Read also: Black Holiday Harmony: The Beauty of a Blended Home
Source: African foods (Liberian peppersoup and fufu)
My 2 and 4 year-olds are growing up with a menu that reflects the many cultures that make up our family and our lives. I love watching their little faces light up when they see foods from different cultures on the table. They enjoy American favorites, but they are just as comfortable eating African dishes like potato greens and groundnut soup. And that means so much to me.
They are growing up understanding that food doesn’t have to fit into one box. They can appreciate the food their mother grew up with, the food connected to their father’s Ghanaian heritage, and the foods they discover along the way. I love that their palates are becoming as culturally diverse as their lives.
When I look at our table now, I see more than food. I see my childhood, my marriage, my husband’s heritage, my children, and all the cultures that have found a place in our family.
Food has given me a way to travel without leaving Philadelphia, to connect with the people I love, and to create traditions that my children can carry with them.
What started as a love for trying new foods has become something much bigger: a way of understanding where we come from, celebrating where we are, and sharing it all with the next generation.
Diamond Jones joined the FunTimes family as an intern while earning her Bachelor’s degree from Temple University. After graduating in 2018, Diamond decided to stay with FunTimes continuing her role as a writer and content creator for social media. In addition to writing, she also enjoys reading, traveling, and art. Working at a magazine has always been a dream. As a child, she would collect and study popular entertainment publications such as Word Up and Teen Vogue. Diamond hopes to continue to create content that will inspire and entertain.
