shitto.jpg
A delicacy from Ghana that is

…sort of like a dark, red pepper salsa but with fermented fish and other stuff.

Link (Hat tip: Boingboing.net)

12 Comments

  1. get some ground smoked shrimps
    some ground smoked herring
    some powdered pepper
    some juicy onions sliced of course
    some olive oil
    some spices
    mix to taste
    I just got the above “recipe” from a site about Ghana. Then I laughed my ass off.
    Sure sounds like Shitto, doesn’t it?
    Cheers–
    MRE 

  2. MMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmm!! Appetizing!
    Have YOU had YOUR Shitto today?! LOL!
    Not yet; I always have mine for supper.
    Cheers–
    MRE 

  3. Sorry, this isn’t related to this post, but have you seen this?
    http://www.newstarget.com/021789.html
    Hi Teresa–
    Yes, I’ve seen this.  They don’t call them regulators for nothing.  They like to regulate and intend to do it at every opportunity.  If they have to change the law, well, they’ll try to change the law.
    Write your congressman.
    Best–
    MRE 

  4. Found their eco niche millions of yrs ago and wouldnt it be horrifically ironic if we offed ourselves inadvertantly when worrying about global warming, nukes and people who have mythic belief systems.
    Singularly, after reading in ’99 a book by one of my heroes EO Wilson, this might be the most horrifying thing i’ve ever read vis its implications.
    We are top flight predators and kinda superfluous to the foundational structure of the planet. Bees are not and sans them..well dwell on the implications and the horror, very real, it could cause.
    Things concerning the death of mass swathes of insects need to be taken more than deadly seriously.
    PLEASE READ THIS ARTICLE…apiarist or not
    http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/wildlife/article2449968.ece
    Hi Simon–
    I’ve been reading about this, and it could shape up to be an extremely serious problem.  So far, I haven’t read any real solution nor have I read anything that convinces me as to cause.  If the bees take a powder, we’re definitely in trouble.
    Thanks for sending the link.
    Best–
    MRE 

  5. My neighbor from Ghana invited us over for dinner. We were not served Shitto, but I can report that dinner was delicious.
    It seems Shitto is very similar to a western product called Worcestershire sauce, and the subject has already been covered by Mary Dan.
    Hi David–
    Yep, she wrote about ancient Roman fish sauce a while back.
    Cheers–
    MRE 

  6. Dr Mike, wasn’t it you who wrote a post on fish sauces during the Roman Empire? This seems to be awfully close.
    Hi LC–
    Nope, it was MD.  You can check it out here.
    Cheers–
    MRE

  7. That’s right! I happen to like Worcestershire, Tabasco, and A-1, and I believe they’re all based on some version of ancient fish sauce.
    Jeez, maybe I should be looking for a purveyor of Shitto so I can try it out!
    Dr Mike, what were the four things you posted that one needed to make sure calcium stayed in the bones? I remember protein, vitamin D and magnesium–I can’t remember #4.
    Hi LC–
    I think the four things were calcium, good quality protein, magnesium and hefty doses of vitamin D (in the 5,000-10,000 IU per day range if during the winter months).
    Cheers–
    MRE 

  8. Mr. Eades
    I am a nineteen year old male who is interested in intermittent fasting. From what I have read it has been recommended to me that I avoid IF until I am several years older. Do you believe I should do this?
    My thinking is that Paleolithic children were constantly without food and hence constantly IFing. Since they do not appear to show any signs of reduced growth or development, so far as I know, would it not therefore seem acceptable for me?
    Your advice would be greatly appreciated.
    Hi Corbin–
    As long as you keep your caloric intake up while you intermittently fast, you should be fine.
    Keep me posted as to how you progress.
    Cheers–
    MRE 

  9. Sir thankee.
    ref bees…we’d be more than in trouble !The problem is that mob phones satiate the earth..even in small African villages folks have them.. Insects are such sensitive creatures that by the time manufacturers change frequency(if they can ?) the damage may well have been done with unforseen consequences not that far down the line.
    Little things sometimes big monumental consequences
    Yep.  Everyone’s worried about mobile phones causing brain cancer when it’s the bee demise that should really have the worrying.
    MRE 

  10. Regarding the newstarget article on regulating natural products–this isn’t regulation, this is thought control!
    The problem isn’t to regulate or not to regulate the use of a product, it’s about the corruption and complete lack of morality so evident in the write-up of this law.
    A society that has lost its moral underpinnings can neither regulate honestly or lightly. Likewise, allowing a society without any ethical grounding go on without any regulation of any kind just results in all sorts of adulterated products going to market. In other words, at this point in time in our society, we’re SCREWED!
    This kind of regulatory behavior will make Prohibition look like a children’s party. People who never considered breaking even minor laws will become scofflaws, getting away with as much as they can in order to obtain the products that they need. No bureaucracy, city, state, or federal will be equipped to handle the consequences. Between global warming, our huge nat’l debt, and the original drug war, I see a real breakdown happening–it will achieve the opposite effect of regulation–a breakdown in lawful behavior and the ability to correct it.
    The Black Market will become the normal route to business for the ordinary person, just like it did for the average communist in the USSR when all normal channels of delivery failed.
    Agreed!  I suspect many of us black market already in a number of ways.  I know I do.
    Cheers–
    MRE 

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