As Christmas approaches, families are preparing to celebrate the festive season with meals that bring them together and keep cherished food traditions alive.
For many households, Christmas is not just about the celebrations but also the special dishes that have become part of their family traditions. Yet, with the cost of food and festive preparations often a concern, some families are finding ways to maintain their favourite meals without giving up what makes the season special.
Speaking in a Christmas series exploring the foods families cannot do without during the festive season, Daniel Thompson said his family would continue preparing eba, describing it as an affordable meal.
He said the family might switch from yellow gari to white gari to manage costs, but eba would remain part of their Christmas menu.
“We will not stop eating eba because eba is cheap in Ghana. I’ll just change the yellow gari to white gari but I’ll never stop,” he said.
For Gordon Amoah, akple remains an important part of his family’s Christmas tradition.
He said the family traditionally prepares the meal during the festive season and intends to maintain the practice this year.
“Traditionally, my family loves to prepare akple during Christmas and that is our main food. Akple is so important to my family in such a way that we believe that you find so much carbohydrates in akple,” he said.
Christiana Ekpe, on the other hand, said fried rice, chicken and salad were the special meals her family looked forward to preparing during the festive season.
She described the combination as an important part of their celebrations, making Christmas more memorable.
Grace Acheampong also shared her family’s tradition of preparing waakye with chicken, grilled fish, onion, salad, macaroni and gari every Christmas.
She said the tradition dates back to her childhood, making the meal particularly special to the family.
“We prepare that food because we enjoy it when I was a child,” she said.
The accounts highlight how Christmas meals go beyond satisfying hunger, with family traditions, affordability and childhood memories shaping what households choose to prepare during the festive season.