I woke up at 6 this morning and knew exactly what I had a craving for …
I remember the mornings when I was younger; I would drink this out a little clear plastic bag on my way to school. I’d shake the bag vigorously to make sure that the added sugar had mixed all the way through because Hausa Koko, in particular, is quite spicy. This is also the only time in my life that I would entertain the likes of both sweet and spicy flavors in one meal. Hausa Koko is a popular Ghanaian porridge made from millet and spices. Bofrot is sort of like a Ghanaian doughnut. Nigerians have a similar doughnut called Puff Puff.
Getting Hausa Koko and Bofrot in the mornings was an insurance my parents would use to make sure I was never late for school because not only was Hausa Koko and Bofrot sold during tight schedules in the mornings, somewhere after 6a.m. and right before 8a.m., they were sold out pretty quickly as well. We would usually get there as early as 7:15a.m to ensure my happiness.
The queue for Hausa Koko was like I remembered them, long and impatient. Not everyone bought their Hausa Koko and Bofrot to go, there were some who sat on benches behind the vendor drinking their Hausa Koko out of a calabash. I enjoyed watching these people. They would tip their head back as they drank from the calabash, getting lost both behind the huge calabash and in their thoughts. Sometimes they would take a brief moment to regard the queue of hungry customers waiting to be served, not really thinking much of us, I imagine, and then move their eyes to nothing particular in the sky, a bite into their bofrot, then quickly back to their calabash of porridge before the bofrot in their mouth was ingested.
Those of us who took our porridge and doughnuts to go, had our bofrot wrapped in an old newspaper and our Hausa Koko in the usual clear plastic bag. Some customers had already started to eat their food on the go, nipping at one of the two corners of the clear bag and then squeezing to let out its yummy contents.
I waited to be home to enjoy my bowl of Hausa Koko and Bofrot. Like always, I was sleepy soon after.
What is your favorite Ghanaian traditional breakfast?
