A Good Soup Attracts Chairs: A First African Cookbook for American Kids - Paperback

by Fran Osseo-Asare (Author)

One of the best ways to teach children about an ethnic culture is to introduce them to its cooking. A Good Soup Attracts Chairs bridges cultures on each side of the Atlantic through the ethnic cooking of the African nation of Ghana.

A Good Soup Attracts Chairs is a complete recipe for cultural understanding. Through easy-to-supervise recipes and projects, lunch groups, slumber parties, scout troops, classrooms, or families can build a special relationship with the children of another continent.

Back Jacket

WHAT COULD BE MORE FUN than making Peanut Butter Stew or Plantain Chips or, better yet, mixing up something as unusual and tasty as Fufu or Kelewele? Kids can take their turns at being international cooks with A Good Soup Attracts Chairs. This book contains more than thirty-five easy-to-follow recipes from the kitchens of West Africa. Plus, there's a special section on how to throw an African party.

It won't be hard to have a good time in the kitchen. Learning about new foods and how to make them teaches kids about the culture of the original creators of the recipes. This children's cookbook introduces the authentic recipes of Ghana and West Africa as experienced firsthand by author Fran Osseo-Asare.

Author Biography

Fran Osseo-Asare got her first taste of African cooking in the late 1960s when she was a student at the University of California in Berkeley. There she met a student from Ghana who introduced her to many of his country's customs and dishes. Coming from a family descending from Scottish, Irish, and Norwegian immigrants, the culture of The Dark Continent was completely foreign to her. However, the two grew close and eventually were married, but not until she went to live and teach in Ghana in 1971. This experience led her to develop a full understanding of the culture of this African nation. She became familiar with their social system and homelife, including how they prepare foods and eat them. This interaction was the key to learning the difference between the culture she was living in and the one she grew up in. When returning to the U.S., Osseo-Asare and her husband maintained Ghanaian practices in their home. As their children grew up they were also exposed to the cultures of both their American family and their Ghanaian family. Preparing the meals, like in Ghana, was always a family time for them and the children soon became involved in African cooking as well. The family travels frequently and stays in many parts of the world where the Osseo-Asare children learn the vast cultures of many other countries. In fact, the idea for A Good Soup Attracts Chairs came from an experience of one of their children.