- 4 months ago
S03E02 Ghana
January 8, 2007
Travel Channel
Tony Bourdain heads to the African nation of Ghana. While there, he sees the startling contrast of old Ghana to modern Ghana. The old ways include slavery, forts and the military. Modern Ghana celebrates with interesting food and music.
January 8, 2007
Travel Channel
Tony Bourdain heads to the African nation of Ghana. While there, he sees the startling contrast of old Ghana to modern Ghana. The old ways include slavery, forts and the military. Modern Ghana celebrates with interesting food and music.
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TravelTranscript
00:00By now, there are few areas of the world truly unknown to me.
00:17Though the surface of the earth is surely mapped and charted somewhere,
00:21when I came to sub-Saharan Africa for the first time,
00:23I felt a mix of anticipation and anxiety.
00:27The general feeling that I was in over my head.
00:30A more acute awareness of my near-total lack of knowledge about my destination.
00:34Ghana.
00:36I didn't know what to expect.
00:38This, I told myself, would be a journey.
00:46I'm Anthony Bourdain.
00:47That's right.
00:48I write, I travel, I eat, and I'm hungry for more.
01:00No reservation for life.
01:05Africa, known for centuries in the West as the dark continent because so little was known
01:23about it. And for some of us, like me, it remains a large, mysterious land mass. While
01:28some aspects can be clarified with a reference book or a Google search, I'm relying on my
01:33senses to try and gain some small understanding of my first trip to this part of the continent.
01:38You hear the sounds, smell the food, see it, touch it, and of course, taste it.
01:46I have no idea what it is, let's say.
01:50Maybe squeeze in a little sightseeing.
01:53This is infested with elephants.
01:56Honestly, I have no idea what to expect when it came to Ghana.
01:59Big snails?
02:00It's a delicacy.
02:01There are a lot of countries in West Central Africa, and most have had a rough time making
02:07the transition from oppressed colony to modern independent state.
02:11Ghana is something special.
02:18The first of the sub-Saharan African colonies to gain independence in 1957, Ghana became a
02:24living symbol of the idea of Africa for Africans.
02:29The nation once known as the Gold Coast is rich in gold and cocoa, but burdened like so many
02:34African nations with an unbelievably tragic past.
02:37It was from here that so many departed for the new world, packed into ships as slaves, and dozens of slave forts still haunt the coast.
02:46Most are tourist sites now.
02:47But this show is not about the past.
02:50Modern day Ghana is an exciting place to see where hopefully much of Africa is headed.
02:56People here are proud of the fact that this is now a land of democratic elections and rule of law.
03:02It has an economy that's still struggling, but is relatively stable and growing.
03:06But it's the food, music, and natural beauty of Ghana that makes this first bite so fascinating.
03:12Good stuff.
03:13And as is so often the case with a country new to me, the Central Marketplace, here at Makola Market in Accra,
03:19is a great place to get a sense of the country and the culture.
03:23What are these made of?
03:30This is made out of flour, sugar, and I think.
03:35I have absolutely no idea.
03:45Can't you anything?
03:47No, really?
03:49Anything?
03:50Yeah, yeah, let me have one of those.
03:51Much of Accra shop in this loud, enormous, sprawling, unruly market in the center of town.
03:57A rabbit warren of goods and services.
04:00Run primarily by women, it's the epicenter of retail commerce.
04:04Where every matter of product is acquired, shifted from place to place, person to person,
04:09priced and sold from all over the country and beyond.
04:12Just cook down condensed milk until it gets, like, caramelized.
04:16And then they form it into, like, toffee.
04:19Oh, sweet. Thank you.
04:21Tear your teeth right out.
04:26Often illiterate, the bookkeepers keep credit extended to sub-vendors in their head.
04:31Disputes are settled by hereditary market queens whose authority is effectively the law.
04:35Herbal, traditional folk medicines.
04:39Tastes like chalk.
04:40Mainly for pregnant women.
04:42Ah. Oh, yeah, who are losing iron, of course.
04:45What are we buying in here?
04:46Some places where a lone traveler can go to find something to quench a savage thirst.
04:51Okay, what's local?
04:52What do you drink?
04:52Local.
04:53You have appetites.
04:54Strong?
04:55Strong one.
04:55Yeah.
04:56All right, let's have a shot of that.
04:58You see?
04:59This one, they're coming by.
05:01Waste and power.
05:03Oh, look, and Vin Diesel's on the label.
05:05Okay, good.
05:05After one shot of this, it's like a growth man breast.
05:08That's the rocket fuel there.
05:10You having one?
05:11Is it shut or, like, slough?
05:17Straight away.
05:18Oh, yeah?
05:18Straight.
05:19Cheers.
05:20Strong.
05:20You're not stuck.
05:23Woo!
05:27It's hot and hectic, and I don't know where I'm going or what people are saying, and there's
05:32so much happening everywhere you look.
05:34You don't master McCola Market.
05:36You submit the sensation and impulse, an impenetrably complex flow you just have to go with.
05:42Reacting to objects here, an intriguing smell layer.
05:46Give in and go with it, or go under.
05:51I manage to find my way out, eventually.
05:55So I check out a uniquely Ghanaian institution, the Chop Bar.
06:00Chop Bar.
06:01I like chops and I like bars, but what is a Chop Bar?
06:04Chop Bar is the local restaurant where they sell all kinds of food.
06:08And where we're going today is called Asanka Lookout.
06:12Oh, man.
06:12It smells good around here.
06:13I mean, I mean, we got kebabs over there.
06:15Kebabs over there.
06:15We got fish over here.
06:16Yeah.
06:18As you can see, there are lots of people in here today.
06:21It's a party.
06:22Yeah.
06:22A great Chop Bar like Asanka Local has a variety of incredibly vibrant, colorful dishes from
06:27all over Ghana, prepared fresh each day by the women who own the place.
06:32Basic meals in Ghana often consist of a soup or stew with peanut or spicy palm oil and meat
06:38or fish with a ball of starch.
06:40In this case, a motuo, which is made of pounded rice that he used to pick up the meat and sop
06:46up liquid.
06:46What's that?
06:48What's that?
06:48Beef and crab and eggs?
06:50Beef, crab, eggs, lamb meat, everything all put together.
06:55Nice.
06:56Okay, we want some palm nut soup and ground nut soup mixed together with goat meat.
07:00That looks good.
07:01Look at the colors.
07:03The smell coming off this stuff is incredible.
07:07This is the tongue of the calf.
07:09Oh.
07:10It's a speciality here.
07:11Yeah.
07:12A little tongue in there.
07:14Who doesn't like that?
07:15I mean, that is a meal.
07:17I mean, that's enough food for the whole day.
07:19It is.
07:20Actually, on Sunday, people eat a motuo at 10 o'clock and that's it for the day.
07:23And that's it.
07:24Okay, so you take the food and then I take the drink and we'll go.
07:30Oh, yeah.
07:31Hi, my name's Anthony and I'll be your waiter tonight.
07:33I'm an Aquarius.
07:34Not really.
07:35I'm a Cancer.
07:40Look at this.
07:41Looks like good stuff.
07:42Cheers, gentlemen.
07:43Cheers.
07:44Cheers.
07:45It's a good eating.
07:49Quick wash in the finger bowl and go.
07:55Oh, that's great.
07:57I noticed they get the award for best trump bar in Akra.
08:01It's a very good look at trump.
08:03They've won their award for four years.
08:06Okay, now this is the rice ball here.
08:10Man, it's so flavorful.
08:11That's so good.
08:12Spicy, but not, you know, it's not painful.
08:15It's perfect.
08:17Spicy, hearty, powerful flavors.
08:21Really tender.
08:22You think this type of food will sell in New York?
08:25Oh, yes.
08:26Do we need to start marketing in there?
08:28Yeah.
08:29I'm telling you, this would be very exciting to the Yorkers.
08:33Yeah, you gotta get used to, like, dunking your fingers in a hot liquid.
08:36That takes some getting used to.
08:37Fortunately, I cook for a lot of years.
08:39My hands are pretty tough.
08:40Okay.
08:40This is the tongue, right?
08:45Yeah.
08:46Oh, look.
08:48If I'm sweating when I eat, I'm happy.
08:50Music is everywhere.
09:03It's essential to the chop bar as the food and the beer.
09:05A place to eat, drink, hang with the family, socialize, meet, and dance.
09:10That was great.
09:16Thanks for bringing me here, man.
09:17That was truly, I like chop bars.
09:20Especially this one.
09:35The only thing I like more than a trip to the beach, they're dying so that we may sup on
09:39their delicious flesh.
09:40It's a taste of something I've never had before.
09:43For me, that is a king of fishes.
09:45Man, that's good.
09:54Life can be beautiful.
09:56Life can be hard.
10:03A beach and some fresh seafood, and I'm a happy man.
10:06But I was a little concerned when I heard the government of Ghana, very anxious to make
10:12a good impression, who's sending their Minister of Tourism to be my host for the day.
10:16I needn't have worried.
10:17There we go.
10:18Minister.
10:18The man himself.
10:19Tony, welcome to our paradise in Accra.
10:22Very nice.
10:23A beach welcome.
10:24Perfect.
10:25Minister Jake, as just about everybody calls Jacob Okanka, wasn't packing any promotional
10:29literature.
10:30He turns out to be a thoughtful, fun, and down-to-earth guy.
10:33So what are we doing today?
10:35Other than enjoying ourselves at the beach.
10:38That's pretty much what we're doing.
10:40So we're going to watch the fishermen and the local canoes.
10:44They're hacked out of logs.
10:46There's a whole log, and then they chisel it out and make their boats.
10:49But hopefully we'll be able to get some fresh fish.
10:52And then once we get the fresh fish, we'll be able to grill some as well.
10:56Outstanding.
10:57Tony, my wife, Esther.
10:59Very pleased to be here.
10:59I'm going to hostess for the day.
11:00Welcome.
11:01Yes.
11:03Oh, yes.
11:04Oh, here we go.
11:04There we go.
11:05Oh, man, they just served right in.
11:06Oh, and this is a big board.
11:08Yeah.
11:10It's not a light vessel.
11:12No.
11:12If anything happens to you out there, that big ocean, it may turn over, but it won't sink.
11:17Now they're bringing in the net.
11:19The fishermen lay out the net, and as they come in off their boat, they bring the net in,
11:25and then you join in.
11:28When I was his size, I used to go down to the beach and help to pull in the nets.
11:33Yeah.
11:33And then they'll give me a few fish to take back to my mother, so if we pull, we get to eat.
11:38Yes.
11:38That's normal.
11:44All right, yes.
11:49See the boy just popping up there?
11:55Oh, all the way out.
11:56The yellow, there was an awful lot of nets to pull in.
12:00This looks like fun, but you should know.
12:03Under ordinary circumstances, the size of the catch is directly proportionate to the size
12:08of this community's meals.
12:09The terrible thing about this is, as they go through all of this, eight people go out
12:15in a boat, there are 20 people on the shore helping to pull their nets in, another 15 old
12:20men were helping to mend their nets, and the whole thing comes in with four fishes.
12:25That's, uh, can be heartbreaking.
12:29Yeah.
12:30Today's a pretty good day.
12:31As the locals divide the catch, we go off to negotiate for some lobsters.
12:39Crunchy, crispy, fresh, naturally salty.
12:44Shellfish going in the water.
12:46They're dying so that we may sup on their delicious flesh.
12:48Knowing where we come from, shared history and culture is a favorite subject of conversation
12:54with Minister Jake.
12:55Yeah, yes.
12:56He talks about Ghana's special relationship with African-Americans and his hopes for the
13:00future of that relationship.
13:01I'm going to have the better beer.
13:02These diasporans are our own kith and kin.
13:05So we're moving very hard now.
13:07In fact, we try and bring our people together again.
13:09There were not slaves who left.
13:11There were people who had been unslaved.
13:13Right.
13:13So whole communities were ripped out.
13:14The artisans, the crees, the political leaders, everybody.
13:19We want them to come back again to take an interest in Africa and to realize that there's
13:23wealth in Africa that rightfully also belongs to them and that they can help to release.
13:30Abouji, bring that big spoon.
13:36I think time has come for us to eat.
13:38Excellent.
13:39Let's do that.
13:42Oh, yes.
13:43Thank you so much.
13:49Of course, nearly every Ghanaian meal has a starch component.
13:52Today, it's kenke, made from lightly fermented cornmeal.
13:55The slightly sour flavor works brilliantly against my favorite part of the taste spectrum here.
14:00I'm obsessed with the peppers in this country.
14:02They're so good.
14:03Okay.
14:04What we've got, we've got three different types of peppers.
14:06We've got fresh red pepper ground with tomatoes and onions.
14:10This is pickled peppers.
14:11Nice.
14:12Okay, and then this is a fried pepper.
14:14These are fried with a little bit of fish in them.
14:16Oh.
14:21Superb.
14:22I love the pickled peppers.
14:25Lobster, shrimp, red snapper, squid, cassava fish, and to my surprise, something I haven't
14:30eaten before.
14:31The barracuda.
14:32I do recommend the barracuda.
14:34All right.
14:35And for me, that is the king of fishes.
14:37Now, I've always been told by fishermen in the Caribbean that you can't eat barracuda.
14:40But, we'll bet, let's find out.
14:49That is extraordinary.
14:50Yep.
14:50It's, you know, subtle, not too oily.
14:54It's meaty texture.
14:56These guys are regressive, though, but when they get big, aren't they?
14:58They get very big.
14:59They do tend to bite you if you annoy them.
15:01They will savage you, yep.
15:03Man, that's good.
15:06Minister, thank you so much for showing me your country.
15:10This great size of life.
15:12And feeding me so extraordinarily well.
15:14Although, any place with food this good, and people this nice, I'm coming back.
15:18Perfect.
15:18Cheers.
15:22That night, we drive the dark streets of Accra to the famed Osu Night Market.
15:33Osu Market serves club goers, night workers, and pretty much anyone in need of good local
15:38food after the sun goes down.
15:39So, everything starts after 5, until, say, 2 a.m.
15:44Some people from WKP, some people from this coast, wherever they're coming from.
15:49Yeah, everybody's welcome.
15:52Here, Auntie Grace is the undisputed market queen, settling conflicts and disputes as the
15:57situation calls for it.
15:59But she bears the mantle of power and authority with an easy smile and gentle manners.
16:03It is absolutely lovely to me, looking after me like, well, my own auntie.
16:07She looks into my heart and seems to know right away what I need.
16:11Oh, that looks really exciting.
16:13Surprise, it's pork.
16:15That looks like belly, and I see some ear.
16:18Oh, there's all sorts of cuts.
16:19Oh, a little rib?
16:20Yeah.
16:23What kind of stew?
16:25This is spinach.
16:26Spinach?
16:26You like it?
16:27I like it, sure.
16:28I want to look at the other from Google.
16:29She has the beans.
16:31Sure, rice, beans, whatever you think is good.
16:33Spaghetti and everything.
16:35You're hungry.
16:35Whatever you think is good.
16:36Okay.
16:37Great, so this is spinach, pork, pepper, rice, beans, everything, all in one.
16:44Everything.
16:45So...
16:45That would be great.
16:48Oh, man, that's delicious.
16:49This is good stuff.
16:51All roads lead to pork.
16:53I've got a little bit of everything.
16:54She was cutting off some rib, a little bit of leg, some shank here, all heaped with this pepper,
17:00some stewed spinach, some beans.
17:03They look like black-eyed peas or pigeon peas.
17:08Seems like slow, slow, slow roasted.
17:14Fascinating, huh?
17:15Yeah.
17:16I actually paid for this.
17:17I mean, I'd wonder, too.
17:19Why are they taking pictures of that man who's just eating pork and drinking beer?
17:25As far as markets go, good flavors, strong flavors.
17:29You know, spicy, really interesting accommodations of spices.
17:35Food smells good, tastes good, and is amazingly fresh.
17:38Clearly, Andy Grace knows her food, and where do you get the good stuff?
17:44Yeah.
17:47This is Africa.
17:49This is what Africa smells like, tastes like, and feels like.
17:53And I want more.
17:55Grace, thank you so much.
17:57That was really, really fine.
17:59I hope you enjoyed everything.
18:00Oh, it's fantastic.
18:02Really good food.
18:03You picked up good stuff for me.
18:05Thanks.
18:05I'll come see you again, I hope.
18:06So next time, we'll take some more pork, eh?
18:08Oh, yeah.
18:09I'll be coming back for that.
18:13What's bigger than a bread box and can crush a clueless cameraman?
18:16Please stop the cameraman.
18:18It'll be a good shot, right?
18:19Please do my clueless.
18:20You move that.
18:21We're a television host, for that matter?
18:23Move that.
18:23As a child, when I thought of Africa, I thought of elephants, and wild things and places where
18:42big things eat small things, and humans don't necessarily occupy the top of the food chain.
18:48I might well have been thinking of Ghana's Mole National Park.
18:51At over a million acres, it's home to nearly 800 elephants.
18:55And I thought, elephants are cool.
18:59New York City's street smarts, I'm embarrassed to say, are useless here.
19:04Take chasing after wild elephants in Mole National Park.
19:08We wake up early looking to drive miles and miles for some good pachyderm footage, only
19:12to find our camp overrun with them.
19:15This is infested with elephants.
19:17Fearless and intrepid reporters that we are, we hop out of bed and start making television.
19:23So you want me to saddle up one of these things?
19:26No.
19:27Without consulting our yet-to-arrive game warden.
19:30Dumb move.
19:33Nice elephant.
19:35Maybe some research would have been a good idea.
19:39Do I know what species of elephant it is?
19:42Be a f***ing elephant.
19:43Please stomp the camera, man. It'll be a good shot, right?
19:48Jerry's from Iowa.
19:50He's used to committing with large animals.
19:53You grow up cow-tipping an elephant.
19:56No big thing.
19:58I'm supposed to be this close.
19:59Fortunately, our guides step in before our cameraman gets stomped flat by a pissed-off elephant.
20:05Why do you come here, look?
20:06Needless to say, they're not amused.
20:08Ignorance is not an excuse in nature.
20:11Yesterday, somebody nearly cut by a elephant here.
20:14Yeah.
20:14First among our many transgressions is our completely inappropriate attire.
20:19Very bright colors.
20:21Right.
20:21Should be taken off.
20:22The perfect uniform for here is green.
20:25Right.
20:25They get one green shirt.
20:27It is fine.
20:28They use it.
20:29Whatever they are doing is blind to the vegetation.
20:32And that one, you can get closer and closer to the animals.
20:37People do get killed by wild elephants when the beasts feel threatened or spooked.
20:41And our guides are no doubt weary of explaining to grieving relatives that their loved ones were just terminally stupid.
20:48I think it's too much closer.
20:49You move back.
20:50Move back.
20:54Move back.
20:58Can you speak to them?
21:00Not necessary.
21:01They are actually dependent on signs.
21:04And you know when it is trying to do something.
21:07Then you're able to see if you are commanding it by giving a sign and it moves.
21:11They're huge.
21:12And to hear them up close stripping off whole saplings is impressive.
21:17And I can tell you from firsthand experience that you want to be nowhere in proximity to a farting elephant.
21:23Their farts are, how shall I say, visible.
21:26We estimate the speed of this animal after that of a land rover.
21:35I had no idea they were that quick.
21:37So, if one were really mad at me, they could close that distance pretty quickly.
21:41Silent as ninjas and quick as a land rover.
22:02Cool.
22:08Happily, there are no hard feelings from our guide, Zach, who agrees to take us to his home village.
22:13I'm getting a look at an important crop here, one I've never even heard of, but a major source of income for many rural communities in this area.
22:21The shea nut tree yields a fruit a bit like a small avocado, with a large nut surrounded by tasty flesh.
22:27Yes, it's very sweet.
22:28Almost like sweet avocado.
22:29The fruit is nice enough, but it's the oils extracted from the nut, which are the commodity.
22:36A versatile substance called shea butter, or karatane, which among other products, makes a very high quality skin moisturizer.
22:44Shea nut trees are almost impossible to cultivate.
22:46They grow where they grow and are by tradition, community property, protected by law from damage or exploitation.
22:53The nuts drop off the trees when ripe, so harvesting is a matter of daily collection.
22:59They are picking shea nuts.
23:01This month and next month are the season for picking shea nuts.
23:07These women are all related to the king or chief of Zach's village, as is Zach, which does not protect the guy from a serious ball busting for being on camera.
23:17They're just aunts and stepmoms looking to keep the kid from getting a big head.
23:25Many expensive cosmetics and pharmaceuticals are made from shea nuts,
23:28but the wealth doesn't exactly trickle down much around here.
23:39In the village, things are still done the old way, the way they've been done for centuries.
23:43Now, before it's put in there, is the cassava dried or just fresh cassava?
23:55It's dried.
23:57Right, that's why it becomes powder-like.
23:59Yes, powder-like.
24:00After the powder form, they sieve it.
24:03So it's sifted into here?
24:04Yeah, now, from here, this is a process of food that we take every day.
24:09There's corn, cornmeal, and the cassava.
24:12Yeah.
24:13TZ, or TZ, for our British viewers, stands for tuozafi, or very hot.
24:18And it's the local starch variation of choice.
24:20Like fufu or kenke, a filler, a medium, a utensil, a mainstay of the diet.
24:27And that's what's for lunch, as I sit down with some of the village elders for a shared meal.
24:32For the people in this village, life is hard, but beautiful, too.
24:36I've said before that travel changes you.
24:39It changes the meanings of words you took for granted.
24:42Words like community, because here, without community, there was no survival and no life.
24:49Words like Africa, because once you've been here, these images are no longer flickering lights on a screen, something seen between channels.
24:57This is the real world.
25:03Ghana's proving to be a lot more interesting than I'd expected.
25:07And the best is yet to come.
25:12Okay, it's okay.
25:24Enzulezo, near the coast.
25:32Gliding through the wetlands, through tall grass and tidal pools, nearly impenetrable rainforest, to an interior lake.
25:39This is a nearly five-mile trek that the village school kids make every day.
25:47I'm accompanied by a large convoy of minders and camera people and local media.
25:53We're news in this community.
25:55There's four boats behind us, two ahead of us.
25:58Local honchos are our entourage.
26:01Local TV station.
26:03They're doing anything in a small way here.
26:06Tourism is Ghana's third-largest source of foreign currency, and the country is working very hard to promote this kind of ecotourism.
26:16Do you know the bushmeat?
26:17They have adopted the rhetoric of their visitors.
26:21A wise policy, no doubt.
26:27The town of Enzulezo is unusual for a number of reasons.
26:30There are stilt villages all over the world, but this is the only example in Ghana.
26:34The 500 or so people living here, as with the residents of so many stilted villages elsewhere, came here to escape persecution by others, deciding to live out on the water as much for protection as anything else.
26:48They farm and fish, and are self-sufficient for food, but any hard currency comes from tourism.
26:54It's hard to gauge the impact of turning a real, fully functioning African village into a piece of ecotourist performance art.
27:03The smiles seem genuine, but I can't help wondering how we look to them, what it feels like to be a living exhibition for well-shot visitors bearing cameras and Banana Republic vests.
27:13As with every village I visit, there's an elaborate welcome ceremony to the local ruling council.
27:21Protocol is elaborate.
27:23Chief or king, a designated speaker or orator, a minister of war, prominent functionaries in a centuries-old hierarchy.
27:31What is your mission here is always the question, followed by an explanation, introductions, speeches, and hopefully after an hour or so, a warm reception, followed by let's eat and drink.
27:42Thank you so much for your hospitality and your kindness.
27:55That's food being made over there.
27:57Good.
28:02Where's the bar open?
28:07Let's see.
28:08Star.
28:08A cold star would be lovely.
28:12Getting back from the bar late at night could be problematic.
28:34What do you want to take for lunch?
28:35For lunch?
28:36I'm having what you're having.
28:38What I have?
28:38Yes.
28:39Whatever you eat.
28:40But whatever the way you eat it, I'll have it.
28:43Here at Enzulezo, like pretty much every village across Ghana, one starts the meal with a big jug of palm wine.
28:50Good stuff.
28:54Followed by a hit of apatashi.
28:59It's distilled, nearly lethal cousin.
29:02One offers a drop or two to the gods, then a toast, and then back on the crazy train.
29:06To the village, to the village, to the community, and to you.
29:11Oh, perfect.
29:12Well, a little bit of everything.
29:14A little fish, and some soup.
29:16Yeah, I'd love to try a little of that.
29:18This infusion of well-heeled outsiders and their feast does not go unnoticed.
29:22As soon as we've got our plates, the whole village is all over that buffet.
29:25So maybe some small, useful good came out of us after all.
29:33We bought a meal, someone to laugh at, a few drinks, a reason for a party.
29:37I hope they'll think well of us when we're gone.
29:40That was a good meal.
29:42I don't think I've had a bad meal here yet.
29:44Every meal is delicious.
29:46Everything's fresh.
29:47Everything's spicy, but not too spicy.
29:49I mean, no matter how hot it is, you still taste the principal ingredients.
29:55But, wait a minute.
29:56Recent focus groups have determined that audiences want to see me more embittered and snarky.
30:02It's really tough here, you know?
30:06Life is hard.
30:07People are nice, and the food is good.
30:09That may be next week.
30:10I have that effect on audiences everywhere.
30:27The culture of the Ashanti people has enriched the world.
30:31Coming up, I share a bowl of palm wine with one of their national treasures.
30:35As we fly over towns, large and small, we see people looking up.
31:02One-room schoolhouses empty as teachers let their students run outside to stare and wave.
31:09Tin roofs, mud huts, vast spaces of green and brown in between.
31:14Finally, Kumasi, Ghana's second largest city.
31:18We sit down our military helicopter in the center of the African kingdom, the Ashanti.
31:23From back in the late 17th century, the Ashanti kings led a powerful confederation of tribes,
31:33which became one of the few coherent political structures to survive colonialism.
31:38This is a land of kings, where societal and cultural traditions can be traced straight back
31:43to the origins of art and the music of Africa we know today.
31:47As well as where, essentially, jazz, blues, rock and roll, reggae, calypso, rap,
31:51and the works of Picasso drew original influence and inspiration.
31:56Arguably, American music as we know it started here.
31:59Ghana has so many genres and sub-genres of music, there's even one dedicated to the drinking
32:15of palm wine.
32:22Kony Maw is the acknowledge master and elder statesman of the palm wine guitar.
32:26Palm wine music combines storytelling, proverbs, humorous observation, and social commentary
32:33to a lilting guitar-based rhythm.
32:36Even never having heard it before, you hear elements of the deeply familiar.
32:56Kony Maw is not just a good man to share a gourde to palm wine with.
33:02He's a teacher, a walking archive, a national treasure.
33:07His whole life has been spent learning, performing, and passing along to others the traditional music
33:13of this part of Africa.
33:14And, of course, you don't meet anybody here without sharing a big meal.
33:28I asked him about high-life music.
33:33High-life, though, you said it's got high-life notes.
33:36What is the distinctive feature?
33:37If you scan through some of these traditional rhythms, you'll find the high-life effect.
33:46It's a common denominator going through all that.
33:49Right.
33:50And it's rhythm propelled.
33:54So it's to do with percussion, right, rather than a string sound.
34:05Ring percussion.
34:11Sometimes, I don't want to know what's for lunch.
34:15What is the other soup?
34:16It says grass cutter.
34:19Yeah.
34:19Yeah.
34:19Sometimes, thankfully, even when I know what it is,
34:24I still don't know.
34:25Today, it's grass cutter.
34:27Basically, a big, freaking rat-like thing the size of a household pet.
34:32I don't know what it is, but I'll try it.
34:34Everything I've had in this country has been delicious.
34:39No idea what it is.
34:40Let's see.
34:43It's really good.
34:45How did it taste?
34:46Not bad.
34:47All I can tell you is I'm glad I found out after the fact that I was eating Rats-a-roni.
34:54Next, I'm taken to see the weavers of Ghana's famous kente cloth.
34:59This uniquely patterned, brightly colored cloth has become so identified with African culture
35:11that many people are unaware that true kente cloth is made only in Ghana.
35:17Its popular implications in the modern era came about when Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's first
35:21president, proudly wore a kente cloth on his first state visit to America in 1958.
35:27It was a bold affirmation of a new African consciousness and became an instant symbol
35:31for the emerging aspirations of the Black Power movement of the 60s.
35:35African weaving techniques have a history going back thousands of years.
35:41Traditionally, the weaving is done by men, with women spinning the thread and assembling
35:46the final garments.
35:48This is no simple folk art.
35:50It's incredibly intricate.
35:51It takes years to master.
35:53And the speed at which these weavers work is breathtaking.
36:00Can he slow down for a second just so that I can see how he's alternating the white and
36:06the purple?
36:07How is he determining where it's going?
36:11It's going through the middle.
36:13Yes.
36:13We have to arrange all this design.
36:17So as he's just weaving along, then the designs are clear on the cloth.
36:21Right.
36:21Can you follow it?
36:22Not really.
36:23And I actually had a loom when I was a kid.
36:26A little one.
36:31The patterns are not just decorative.
36:34The names and meanings of kente designs are specific to gender, social status, historical
36:39events, and proverbs.
36:40Now, the colors have significance.
36:43Does what color you wear have meaning?
36:45Yes.
36:46Okay.
36:46Black and white?
36:48Black and white, particularly for the engagement and then the wedding.
36:52Is there any identification with the pattern or color for your neighborhood, your community,
36:57or your family?
36:58Or anyone can wear this?
37:00Yes, of course.
37:00Anyone, from any part of Ghana?
37:01But with the exception of the king, that is the Ashanti king.
37:05Right.
37:05He has his own design.
37:07Right.
37:07Now, with that, they won't allow anyone to wear that cloth.
37:11If one of you see that you are wearing that cloth, you will be sanctioned.
37:15Right.
37:16One of the patterns the Ashanti king wears is called, you may be rich, but you're not
37:20of royal descent.
37:21It's always good, in other words, to be the king.
37:25And chances are, you are not.
37:27I make that sound all the time at baseball games.
37:32You know, all this palm wine we've been drinking doesn't make itself.
37:36That's a living beverage.
37:37Fortunately, I'm in good company.
37:39There's something about fermentation and homebrewing and palm wine in particular that are just
37:54very fraternal.
37:55But just to say, it's a guy thing.
37:57There's a lot of hooting.
38:01Isn't there always?
38:02I just want to do it!
38:03I make that sound all the time at baseball games.
38:06And a lot of guys standing around offering opinions, but not doing any real work.
38:10We're just going to start with the work, so we have to soften the knife.
38:15Entirely familiar as well.
38:17Did I mention the hooting?
38:18I just want to do it!
38:19Like all good communal man stuff, fire is involved.
38:24And guess whose filthy smoking habit once again saves the day?
38:27That's right.
38:28Once again, Johnny on the spot.
38:31How does one get booze out of a palm tree, exactly?
38:34It's great to heat the palm tree.
38:36It's basically the sap of the tree, the moisture inside the tree.
38:40It all starts to run, I guess, at the lowest point you put the buckets.
38:45That's right.
38:45Just think of the palm tree as a big leafy keg.
38:48You just tap into it with a knife.
38:50Okay, there's a little more to it than that.
38:52You have to cover it in order to keep off bad insects, which will spoil the palm tree.
38:59After that, you're going to heat it.
39:02Heating it will keep any germ.
39:05You have to sieve it to get a clean wine without any dirt.
39:11And you can see that that started to ferment because it's bubbling like that.
39:16I mean, it's actually, that's a living beverage.
39:19All natural, meaning you filter out the natural charcoal, the natural dirt, the natural palm chips,
39:24and the naturally drunken bees who fall into the wine like frat boys into a pool.
39:28Many of the bees eventually wake up from their drunken stupor and fly off.
39:32A metaphor for something, I'm sure.
39:34The tradition goes that he who taps it first, drinks it first.
39:42After that, we go around the circle where the main subject of conversation is, not surprisingly, palm wine.
39:48This, after over a week in Ghana, is not my first time drinking palm wine by any means.
39:53So I know enough to offer a taste to the gods.
39:56Beautiful!
39:57That's how we normally do it.
39:58After drinking some, you leave a little.
40:01They pour it onto the ground.
40:03I'm learning.
40:03You thank God.
40:05Good stuff.
40:05Yeah, that's how we probably do it.
40:07But how might I improve on Mother Nature and natural fermentation, you might ask?
40:13Why, science, of course, and the ancient art of distillation.
40:18A brief explanation, as true for your stretch in the Federal Pen, a vacation in the Ozarks, or right here in Ghana.
40:23You boil in a pot, right, like you're making pasta.
40:26You put a lid on top, you'll notice that the water evaporates, collects along the top, condensation, what drips down, okay?
40:35So essentially, you're boiling stuff while the water part is boiling away down there and stays in the can.
40:40The alcohol boils first because it has a lower boiling temperature.
40:44So the alcohol rises, becomes steam, condenses in the copper tubing, slowly gets down in there and cools and ends up dribbling drop by drop into here.
40:54And that's the stuff going in there.
40:56Sweet, sweet alcohol, my friend.
40:57Exactly that.
40:59Well done, well done, well done.
41:01Science class, 101.
41:04The truth, as always, is in the tasting.
41:07I have to cook first.
41:08Now, for this, the alcoholic content ranges from 95% to 98%.
41:18It is really hot indeed.
41:22Yeah.
41:22Yeah.
41:23So if you drink too much, you go dizzy right now.
41:27Really?
41:27Okay.
41:28So when you are taking it, you have to measure your strength before.
41:33All right.
41:34Okay, so you can take it.
41:34A shot.
41:35A shot here.
41:36I got it.
41:36I got it.
41:38It's okay.
41:39It's okay.
41:40It's okay.
41:41A few more hits of apatoshi and I'm ready, once again, to be treated to another random act of generosity from total strangers and look kind of silly at it.
42:02my reception by the ashanti king and tribal leaders in kamasi is the most elaborate i've
42:15experienced dancing drumming a huge crowd of spectators community leaders and elders
42:23it's like a state welcome for a foreign dignitary or bono absolutely the red carpet treatment the
42:29equivalent of a black tie event the king presents me with an amazingly detailed and beautiful kente
42:40cloth all my own a staggeringly generous gesture a treasure i knew nothing about ghana when i came
42:49here a quick scan of a travel guide on a long flight some received wisdom or lack of wisdom
42:55from a lifetime of being dimly aware of but never really looking at a continent where civilization
43:01began the faces of people we see briefly on tv and all too rarely really seem to care about
43:09even though so many things we've come to love about our own country the music the things we see and
43:15hear the flavors we take for granted the very rhythms of our own personal soundtrack started
43:20right here this is where it started
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