Shito was created by the Ga tribe!
- Did you know?
Dec 21 2022
By Faith Appoh
I was having a conversation in the kitchen with my mom the other day. She asked me to warm the shito in the pot and proceeded to tell me the story of a Ga colleague of hers who went to a restaurant and was asked if he wanted pepper or shito, to which he responded, “me p3 m3ko" (I want pepper in Twi). He was surprised when the waiter returned with red pepper not black pepper.
Shito means pepper in Ga. Whether red, black or green, all pepper is shito in Ga!
Shito has become the moniker for the famous black pepper sauce from Ghana but many don't know its origins
Aeons ago when students from Ga families were going to boarding school, they needed a way to go with pepper to eat at school. Here comes the greatest Ga invention since the creation of Kenkey, fried pepper. Anyone who attended boarding school in Ghana knows the essence, importance, and priceless value of shito especially two weeks to vacation when that most valuable commodity became scarce. Anyone who had in their possession a bottle of shito in that season was automatically invited to every "spag" meal.
A bottle of shito
Picture Credit: Aduane Things Media
Shito is versatile and can be eaten with almost anything. And I really mean almost anything. Rice with shito, banku with shito, spaghetti with shito, bread with shito as the spread and I'm yet to see but I have heard people mention fufu with shito.
Shito has also been used creatively to make a variety of Jollof I call "shillof". Instead of the usual tomato stew base, shito is used as the base for the Jollof. It's pretty nice, give it a try and tell me what you think about it!
Let me show you how to prepare shito in the most basic form. You grind your onions (we blend them now) to a smooth paste, fry them in a sea of oil (Lol), add your fish powder, shrimp powder, salt and seasoning and voila, you have your fried black pepper in its most basic form.
Shito has become very popular and has wide varieties now. There's hot, mild, spicy, and even meat-laced shito.
The next time you have shito with your meal, you know who to thank for this amazing sauce.