Declaration of Origin

Finding a good steak in Accra is no longer a case of playing Russian roulette in the culinary search. Restaurants have now caught on to proudly declaring the origin of their meat. Why? Because beef reared on fish produce, a very common thing in Ghana, cannot be labelled 'Surf and Turf' - just unpalatable.

This was not always the case though - a year and a half ago you pretty much went in blind when ordering a steak in a restaurant - wondering as you mulled over the filet on the menu whether it would taste of meat this time or have the slight whiff of fish as well. It took me a while to realise that the whiff of fish in my meat was not the chef using the same pan to make the sauce for my steak and frying the fish for my companion. The whiff was indeed in the meat.

Now restaurant menus have the source of their beef printed clearly and proudly...mainly you will find South African Beef and Argentinian and the odd Californian Beef. The French Restaurants; like Le Tandem remained partial to their home countries' produce, but now other nations' bovine exports are featuring heavily on their menus.
Unfortunately up until last month, South African beef had been off the menu in Ghana due to the latest outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) there. The Netherlands has been the main source for Stellar Catering- my trusted supplier of South African beef. Other restaurants that now serve South African beef are:

• Rhapsody's 
• Safari Restaurant
• The former El Gaucho Argentinian Restaurant in Osu.