In Ghana, the asanka and tapori are essential tools for preparing a variety of local sauces. The asanka is a wide and heavy clay grinding pot, while the tapori is a wooden, hourglass-shaped pestle. These tools are integral to Ghanaian cuisine, serving both as a plate and a grinding pot - a kind of traditional blender.
The Ga people of Greater Accra call it "Kaaa," while the Akans from Ghana’s Ashanti region (Southern & Central Ghana) call it "apotoyewaa" or "asanka."
One of the most famous local food joints in Accra (Mowule St) is named after the asanka: "Asanka local."
There, you can try all Ghanaian dishes and decide for yourself if you rather use an asanka or a blender. The slow process of crushing spices makes a whole difference!
This article delves into the preparation of a fresh hot pepper sauce using these traditional tools, highlighting the cultural significance and unique techniques involved.
Read also: A Taste of Asanka Delight
Here’s the first video of the aportoryewa and tapori in action!
How to clean your Earthenware bowl (Asanka) before using it
We LOOOOOVE ❤ that Asanka! We for sure need to still practice using it well but the taste of food made with it is just not the same. By the way, what is your favourite Ghanaian dish?
The Role of Mortar and Pestle in Ghanaian Cooking
Ghanaian mortars and pestles come in various shapes and sizes, made of wood, clay, stone, granite, or cast aluminum. They are used for grinding, de-husking (hulling), crushing, puréeing, and sometimes even as cookware and tableware.
The mortar and pestle are named separately, with different tribes calling each part by different names, usually translated as "grinding bowl," "grinding stone" or "pounding vessel," and "pounder."
Types of Ghanaian Mortars and Pestles
The peculiar thing about Ghanaian mortars and pestles is that, depending on what task they are to be used for, they differ in shape, size, and the material from which they are made. The first group includes those for grinding ingredients into paste, puree, or sauce.
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There are two main types even within this group: the grinding bowl and the grinding stone. Depending on the dialect or tribal language, they could be called aportoryewa, asanka, kahn or other, meaning "grinding bowl".
Normally they are shaped like wide-lipped bowls that taper slightly towards the base. They may have a flat base or sometimes the base is concave, supported by three knobs or finger-like protrusions arranged in a tripod formation.
In size, they basically range from 5 inches-14 inches in upper diameter. Any size larger than this is better suited for tableware, especially when a group of people, usually a family eat together.
Even the pestle for this kind of mortar (called tapori in many dialects which literally translates into “pushing paddle”) is distinctively hourglass shaped. It is always made of hard wood that is sculpted and sanded down very well for a smooth finish.
This allows the user to firmly clutch it and also means that both ends of the tapori can be used for grinding, although not at any one time.
Read also: Baskets from Ghana
Technique and Posture
Unlike the electric blender or food processor which only requires the push of a button, using the aportoryewa, asanka or kahn and the tapori requires a skillful technique that many learn from their childhood. I vividly recall my mother teaching me how to use it at about 5 years of age when I was learning to help with little tasks while she cooked.
One must ideally slice or chop the ingredients to be ground in order to reduce particle size as it were, to make the grinding easier. The cook grips one end of the tapori and crushes the ingredients placed in the center of the mortar, dragging the pestle short distances from the center and back again, all the while exerting pressure.
This technique involves more flexing of the wrist than a movement of the whole arm while the other arm keeps the mortar firmly in place as the grinding progresses. This continues till the desired texture is achieved.
Take note that in grandmother’s cooking school, a good cook (a female cook as per the dictates of Ghanaian tradition) is often judged by how well she uses her aportoryewa for she must make certain the paste stays as close to the centre as possible, ensuring that the outer border and the lip or brim of the mortar is clean. She may occasionally use her fore finger or the edge of the tapori to scrape the contents back into the center.
Several postures are adopted by Ghanaian cooks when using the aportoryewa:
- Sitting on a low stool with the aportoryewa set on the floor, next to the foot (left or right depending on whether the cook is right-handed or left-handed).
- Setting the mortar on a stool or table which comes up to about knee level. The cook sits with the table or stool between the knees, or stands right in front of or to the side of the stool or table during grinding.
- Setting the aportoryewa on a waist-high table or a counter top at arm’s length while the cook stands during grinding.
Again, the comfort of the cook must be considered if the aportoryewa is to be efficiently employed in its tasks.
Preparing Fresh Hot Pepper Sauce
There are many local Ghanaian sauces which can be prepared with the help of the aportoryewa and tapori. That said, I have chosen to demonstrate one main specialty which can be found everywhere in Ghana. It is simply a fresh hot pepper sauce, much like a relish or sambal, made by pulverizing chili peppers, onions, tomatoes and salt together.
Sometimes the cook may choose to add garlic, ginger or herbs but this is more the exception than the norm. It can be made hot or mild to taste by controlling the proportion of chilies used, in relation to the other ingredients. Similarly, the texture of the sauce - i.e.
This kind of sauce is so easy to prepare and it is the first sauce one learns to prepare with the aportoryewa and tapori. The ingredients and utensils are first washed clean.
The ingredients are then chopped and ground sequentially, usually beginning with the pepper and adding the others as the grinding progresses. Finally, the sauce is seasoned with salt, dished for table and garnished with sliced tomatoes and onions. It can be served as a table condiment or the main sauce in a meal.
Traditionally it is the perfect match for kenkey (steamed maize meal dumplings wrapped in corn husks) with fried fish.
A popular snack, available even at street level is whole boiled eggs, shelled, split lengthwise and stuffed right down the middle with fresh hot pepper sauce.
The sauce can also be served with a mixed fry or mixed grill that accompanies drinks.
These days, the chopped ingredients can be put into a food processor or blender and whizzed to obtain a sauce in no time. However, every true aficionado of traditional Ghanaian cookware swears that fresh pepper sauce made in a blender just can’t compete.
Additional Uses and Care
Want to know a secret? I often use my aportoryewa and tapori for sauces like salsa romescu, pesto and hummus which are anything but Ghanaian!
Despite the fact that it seems fragile, A well-fired aportoryewa can even be used on the charcoal fire, gas burner, electric hob or even in an oven. Whatever is ground in the aportoryewa is typically served in the same earthenware, making it a dual purpose cooking utensil; much like an oven-to-table dish.
Before the aportoryewa is used for the first time, it is washed and then seasoned by heating it on fire and grinding some coarse salt in it. The salt helps to clear out any clay residue that the initial washing may not have tackled.
« Using the right technique is important lest you will end up with very sore wrists. Use the strength of your whole forearm as opposed to using your wrist in order to avoid misuse of the kaa; and straining of your poor wrists!
The best thing to do is to chop the ingredients into pieces which are small enough to work with. The ridges found in the kaaa should be used to the advantage of grinding well. What you do not want to do is simply pound the ingredients in the kaaa, but to actually use the friction created between the ridges and the wooden grinder to process the ingredients.
The asanka is also used in a special cooking technique popular with the akans where ingredients are smoked or steamed separately, then crushed and finally heated on the stove in the asanka. This is known as abom.
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