We made the Ghanaian breakfast staple waakye this week featuring an ingredient neither Ms. Stuti nor I had ever cooked with before, millet leaves. When placed in boiling water, the leaves dyed black-eyed peas and rice a gorgeous burgundy color and imparted a deeply savory, grainy flavor to the dish. While the waakye was cooking, students prepared a cabbage and apple salad and made their own mayonnaise from our chicken eggs for the dressing. Paired together, the waakye and the salad were a perfect contrast of texture and flavor and allowed us to discuss the history of colonialism in West Africa and the resulting appearance of coleslaw, a traditionally Dutch food, alongside a dish cooked with millet, which has been eaten in Africa for thousands of years.
Thursday’s class got to cook and eat with our special guest Ms. Katie, who came back to Harvey Milk to visit, and everyone all week long enjoyed breakfast with homemade hot sauce, a condiment we learned is traditional to serve with waakye.
