Hi everyone,

Haven't been on the board for a few weeks. We've been happily settling in, working, working, and working.

O found a carpentry job on a construction site which he is happy about but has him outside in the snow and cold all day. The cold and snow is still a fun novelty for him. Hope it stays that way until April!!!

We lived together for a long time in Ghana, so it's been easier for us to adjust. But what turns out to be the most difficult thing is FOOD. O ate lots of non-African food when I cooked in Accra, so he wasn't worried. But then again he also had a daily dose of fufu, banku, light soup, etc. He is really missing that food. I found palm oil in Albuquerque (we're in New Mexico where there isn't much of a West African immigrant community, especially in Santa Fe) but that's about it. And it's not really easy to prepare West African food quickly and well enough to satisfy his homesickness for that food. (He tried and couldn't cook it right either!)

So what I'm wondering is: what are some of the foods available in the U.S. (and I don't mean NYC or LA or Chicago: we'd know just where to get palavar sauce in those places) that West Africans really love and I'm not thinking of? (I know this is a generalization...but I'm getting desparate and O is just plain HUNGRY.) I thought tamales would be an easy stand-in for banku, but nope. Rejected. And salsa is too sweet, apparently. Ugh!

Thanks!

Have you googled for African stores or restaurants in your area ? You may have to drive
farther but you can stock up on some things, like fufu mix etc.
Fiance not here yet but there are stores and restaurants about an hours drive from where
I live.
I hope others can give some cooking tips ! What about greens with hot peppers over rice ?
Add dried fish or meat.

Have you googled for African stores or restaurants in your area ? You may have to drive
farther but you can stock up on some things, like fufu mix etc.
Fiance not here yet but there are stores and restaurants about an hours drive from where
I live.
I hope others can give some cooking tips ! What about greens with hot peppers over rice ?
Add dried fish or meat.

I have never tried these folks as there are local shops in my area but try this website http://www.africanchop.com/
Good Luck!

If you try a mexican food market like a fruiteria or carniceria I am sure you will find ethnic things there like peppers or chiles as the hispanic culture calls it. Michael and I shop there and we get plantains, peppers, tomatos, onions and all kinds of meats and fish for his stews. O may have to settle for rice for a while with his stew , but at least he will have ,some taste of home. A carribean market or actually any market that caters to foreign foods will have a lot of the things he might use. I even bought5 cows foot, heart and kidney to add to his stew in those markets. Good luck and send me an im if you need more info.

There was an online African market, let me see if I can find the link. I guess I am lucky because I just drive into downtown and buy boxed fufu and homemade kenkey from teh African market.

J & B African Market online

Excellent! Thank you!