By Redeemer Kumake
Food is an integral part of culture. While culture is defined as a people’s way of life, the favorite foods of a group of people and how they are prepared define that culture. Our cooking methods and the way we eat are deeply embedded in our traditions, beliefs and habits. Today, as part of our CHOPOLOGY series, we look at the technology used in preparing Yakayeke – a favorite food of the Ewes.
Yakayeke is prepared with cassava dough. But for yakayeke in particular, the way the cassava is processed into a dough is different, compared to how it is done for other purposes such as for the cooking of banku. For yakayeke, the cassava is milled and put in a sack. A lot of water is poured on it and the mixture is stirred until the starch gets out of the dough. Then it is tied in the sack and cement blocks or heavy objects are put on it for the water to drain. The yakayeke cassava dough is also not as smooth as that used for banku or gari. The dough is sifted on a lattice or special sieve called ‘agbaje’ in Ewe.
In the absence of agbaje, one may use a strainer. To make for easy sieving, some people add a little cornflour to the cassava dough. Then a hand is simultaneously pressed and run on the dough to sift. The bigger particles in the dough, or the chaff that remain on the sieve, is put aside. By this time, a clay cooking pot with a depressed lid that has holes punched in it is on fire, with water boiling in it. The vapour that comes out through the perforated lid is what does the cooking. The sifted cassava dough is poured onto the lid to receive the heat. In a matter of minutes, the cake is made.
The texture of the raw cassava yakayeke is different from that made of cassava dough and corn flour put together. The type made of a combination of cassava dough and corn flour is less adhesive. Yakayeke goes with various soups including “ama detsi” or green-leaf soup;or“akpa detsi”,which is fresh tilapia light soup.Yakayeke is also eaten with ground pepper and treated anchovy or ‘keta school boys’, or ‘one man thousand’- a kind of fingerling.But there is a safety condition with the eating of yakayeke. The type of food requires copious intake of water at short intervals while it is being eaten. So always remember to have water by you when you are eating yakayeke, to avoid choking on it intermittently. The type of food is also commonly eaten in Cote d’Ivoire and Togo.
Below is a video of how Yakeyake is prepared;
https://youtu.be/lpwQ_hII7Dw