At a busy lorry station in Accra, a seller balances a glass box on her head. Inside are rows of peeled, hard-boiled eggs and a bowl of ground pepper mixed with onion and tomato. A passenger leans out of a trotro window, hands over a few cedis, and in seconds she slices an egg open, spoons in pepper and passes it up. This is kosua ne meko, which means “egg and pepper” in Twi. It is one of the simplest street snacks in Ghana, and one of the most popular.
What it is and who sells it
The snack is a hard-boiled egg, peeled and cut open, filled or topped with a fresh pepper sauce. Salt is often added. The pepper sauce, or meko, is made by grinding fresh chillies with onions, tomatoes and sometimes ginger in an earthenware bowl. Each seller has her own recipe. Most sellers are women and young people who carry their goods in glass boxes or containers. They work at lorry stations, junctions, markets and outside schools.
For travellers, kosua ne meko is a quick source of protein on a long journey. Many people buy two or three eggs as a light meal.
Bread, price, hygiene and spice
Some sellers also sell bread, and customers eat the egg and pepper inside a slice of bread. The snack is cheap, though prices have risen with the cost of eggs. Buyers often prefer sellers who keep their boxes clean and covered and who prepare the pepper fresh. Many families make eggs and pepper at home, especially for breakfast.
Some sellers offer shito, the black pepper sauce, instead of fresh pepper, or mix in fried onions. The pepper can be very hot. Regular customers often ask for “small” or “plenty” depending on their tolerance.
Egg farming and travel memories
Ghana’s poultry farmers supply many of the eggs, though the industry faces competition from imports and high feed prices. For many Ghanaians, the sight of an egg seller’s glass box is part of the scenery of travel. Many Ghanaians associate the snack with long road trips, buying eggs through the window whenever the bus stopped at a station on the way to Kumasi or the Volta Region.
Kosua ne meko needs no cooking at the point of sale, no plate and no cutlery. It may be the fastest meal in Accra.
