Ask someone from Tamale what they miss most about home, and TZ is often near the top of the list. Tuo zaafi, a smooth, firm staple made from maize or millet flour, is the everyday food of much of northern Ghana. Served with a slippery green soup and a piece of meat or fish, it is filling, cheap and, for many people, the taste of home. Over the years it has travelled south, and today you can find it in chop bars across Accra.
The name and how it is made
Tuo zaafi is often explained as coming from Hausa words meaning “very hot food”, a reference to how it is served steaming. Most people simply call it TZ. Flour is stirred into boiling water, sometimes with a little tamarind or other souring agent, and cooked while being turned vigorously until it forms a smooth, thick mass. It is then shaped into rounded portions.
TZ was traditionally made from millet or sorghum. Maize flour is now widely used, especially in cities, though many cooks mix grains.
Ayoyo, stew and how to eat it
The classic partner is ayoyo, a soup made from jute leaves that has a slippery, slightly sticky texture. Other green leaf soups, such as those made from bitter leaves, are also popular. TZ is usually served with a pepper and tomato stew containing meat, guinea fowl or fish, poured beside the green soup. Many soups are flavoured with dawadawa, a fermented locust bean seasoning with a strong smell and rich taste. It is a key ingredient in northern cooking.
TZ is eaten with the right hand, pinching off a piece and dipping it in the soup. The soup’s slipperiness helps the TZ go down easily.
Accra, nutrition and beyond Ghana
Chop bars in zongo communities, near lorry stations and in neighbourhoods with many northern residents sell TZ, often at lunchtime. The meal provides energy from the grain and vitamins from the green leaves, making it a balanced dish. Making TZ takes practice, because the mixture must be stirred hard to avoid lumps. TZ is served at family gatherings, weddings and festivals in the north.
Similar staples are eaten in Burkina Faso, Togo and other parts of West Africa, under different names. Southern Ghanaians once called TZ northern food. In Accra’s lunchtime queues, it has simply become food, and the queues for it keep getting longer.
