Of Trotro Drivers and an Ampesi Dish!

It was an ampesi dish accompanied with some really tasty nkontomire and garden eggs stew. I hadn’t had this very delicious and nutritious local fare in a while and I was glad I opted for that combination. I was surprised how often I had passed by this joint and not noticed it. Up on the first floor at Trust Towers, it’s not the most glaring. And it is a shame because with this quality of taste, and the fact that it is kept warm all day in a buffet style spread, mouth-wateringly in a professional buffet tray makes it all the more worthwhile.

I can’t remember the last time I had nkontomire out in a restaurant. It’s amazing how we seem to be losing all our indigenous fare to such foreign foods as fried rice and chips! These days, all you hear children, in particular, asking for is burger and chips! And the mothers too oblige. I can bet there are some children who have not even had a dish of boiled cassava before. With the nutritious value of cassava being so high, I wonder why it’s not a major feature for meals in many homes. I love cassava. I have it with salted palm oil, usually with kaco and salmon. It’s an Ahanta delicacy. I guess it was created on-the-job at-the-farm as a ‘fast food’. Occasionally, it is done at my mom’s when I visit. It’s at Asanka Restaurant on Ring Road, next to Bus Stop restaurant, that I get some cassava dishes. It’s not on the menu but when you order in advance, they make it for you. And I guess they would do it here at Big Mama Choo’s too, up Trust Towers.

I was quite impressed with the variety at Big Mama Choo’s. Set up on a terrace, you can watch the traffic inch by on Farrar Avenue if you get a seat near the balcony’s short wall. Like a homely patio, the bamboo and cane décor with plants complement each other and also help to make the food go down better. And to think that even at 3pm, the food was still warm. That’s more than you can get in many places, if the food will be ready on time at all!

Well, I am always intrigued how clever playwrights and poets and other writers are. The way they twist language and make the things they say, and do, seem like child-play. But when you think about it, you can see how much thought has gone into the twist. I thoroughly enjoyed Uncle Ebo Whyte’s twists. I have this habit of thinking about the writer or creator of a piece of art when I’m watching it. How they came up with the sort of humour and banter they present in their work. Take KSM too. ‘Castle or Suicide’ was just apt. And he has this technique, where he seems to digress during a scene. It’s amazing how he does the same thing every time! It makes you realize just how much work was put into the whole thing.

I couldn’t laugh much during his play because I was paying attention to was he was saying, his being pertinent and contemporary social commentary in political satire! He was on point about how our political leaders behave, and it is true, as he says that they should lead the way in diffusing the tensions that are mounting around political activities. Good Lord, let’s remember what politically inflamed antics have done to Rwanda and co, and recently Kenya! We need to progress, not retrogress!

But Uncle Ebo Whyte’s play hit the nail on the head! He did say it would be enlightening and I dare say, even unmarried me got my fair share of advice about how to conduct myself should I ever opt to take part in that institution! As he sums it, it was a culmination of 20 years of counseling capsulated in a two hour crisp and clear yarn, laden with humour and wisecracks which will serve every married home anytime.

You should have heard me advising my cousin Ebe yesterday. He offered that his wife is accusing him of being a flirt and threatening to leave him. I had so many sensible things to say to him, quoted directly from the play, but made it mine. He thought I was great, to know all these things. Well, I said, it was easy for me because I was looking in from the outside, and while I appreciated that he was the one living the barrage of accusations – which can indeed sometimes get downright tiresome to take – he should remember how much his wife is worth to him! Hmm! I was glad he lives in faraway England, for if he were living here, he’d have gone to see the show too and would have caught me out!

But, really, the theme of Uncle Ebo’s ‘Unhappy Wives, Confused Husbands’ is just so relevant to today, and the acting was also pretty excellent. Particularly Smart Abbey’s jovial character!
Acting is such a technical exercise, and it’s a shame how little training people get of the craft around here. You don’t see many good actors and that is sad. I often turn off the TV when a local movie is showing and the actors are showing off their bad skills! Aaagh! That kills me. There are only a few good actors around.

Talking of good actors, I know of one, my elder brother, Kojo, who runs BG Talent Institute. A founder member – with Kofi Bucknor – of Talent Incorporated, that drama/dance ensemble which rocked Ghana in the 70s with their musical ‘African Connection’. I was the youngest member of the group. We used to perform all over the country, at the universities and secondary schools. I had some many fans, who would scream each time I did my solo dance session. We performed with a live band, recited poetry, sang happy songs and danced to the delight of many audiences. We were even selected to represent Ghana at the 11th World Festival of Youth & Students in Cuba in 1978. Well, Kojo’s institute trains acting talent and is run at the IPMC place on Ring Road. There’s actually an open day today, maybe you want to check it out if you like that sort of thing.

Have you gotten the hang of Facebook? It’s the latest internet networking portal. It seems to be so popular, I’m finding all my old friends on it, and I’m getting addicted. I always find and chat with friends I haven’t heard from for several years! How small the world is becoming! This internet! And what fascinates me is the sort of reflections people write for themselves on FB. Yesterday, Charles said, “Be still and know there is God” and Harry wants “to live in a space between spaces...” Me, I’m just glad I ignored that last trotro driver that crossed me on the road!