Ghanaian Supper Club with Patti Sloley

I have recently discovered Ghanaian food and my love for African dishes has been rekindled. I am in love with all the spices and all the amazing flavours that are used in the cooking. I have been trying many Ghanaian recipes and over time I shall endeavour to share them on this blog. I recently created a recipe for Jollof Rice with Plantain Chips which was super delicious and has become a firm favorite amongst my family.

Through my blogging journey I am fortunate to get many opportunities to attend events one such opportunity came recently when I was invited to attend a Ghanaian themed supper club hosted by Patti Sloley at Halseys Deli and Eatery in Hitchin. Patti is a chef, a cookery teacher, an author and a remarkable lady. Her personality is so vibrant that within five minutes of meeting her I felt I had made a friend for life. She is extremely passionate about what she does and it clearly shows in her food which I was excited to sample.

The evening started with drinks and nibbles, Plantain chips are moreish and you could nibble at them all night. I love them and I recently made a batch of my own, you can check the recipe here.

Once seated we were served a delicious warm Yam Chowder made with Coco Yam, Yam, Guinea Pepper and Sweetcorn, the non vegetarians had the addition of bacon to theirs. The Chowder was spicy, beautifully flavoured and rich in texture and flavour. It was the perfect starter as the Autumn weather was rather cold.

For the main course menu, there was Egusi , its a type of Ghanaian stew that can be made with fish, meat and vegetables and its thickened with ground melon seeds. The non vegetarian versions had two types one with fish and one with meat. The vegetarian version was made with peppers, onions, garlic,scotch bonnet chilli, okra all cooked in a tomato base and thickened with ground Egusi (melon seeds). 

Patti demonstrated how to make the vegetarian version of the Egusii in front of us. It was a wonderful experience to watch her create the dish live. You can watch Patti cooking this beautiful dish in the video below.

The Egusi was served with turmeric rice, sauteed spinach, cauliflower florets and Spiced Fried plantain. It was comfortably hot due to the addition of the scotch bonnet chilli. The flavours were delicious and the texture of the stew from the Egusi seeds was thick and creamy.The main course was colourful, beautifully presented and simply divine.

With out tummies full and our palates well seasoned from the spice, we were served a palate cleanser in the form of an aromatic fresh fruit salad served in a lemongrass and ginger syrup. It was refreshing and really did the trick.

Dessert of Plantain pudding came next in the form of a moist slice of Light  Christmas pudding. It was served with vanilla and coffee mascarpone cream. It was hard to believe that the Plantain pudding was egg, sugar and butter free. It tasted absolutely delectable. For someone who does not like fruit cake or Christmas pudding I devoured the whole plate!!!!!

Finally the meal was completed with a warm glass of Hissap, a hibiscus drink infused with warm spices.

I was totally in heaven at this super gastronomical feast and my love for Ghanaian food has now been taken to new heights.

I would like to thank Patti, the Halsey Deli  and also Heidi Roberts who invited me to attend the Supper Club. All the views expressed in this post are of my experience of the meal as are all the photographs shown. To find out more about Pattis Supper Cubs do check her website at Patti's Menu

You can also read about Heidi's account of our experience here.