( ENSPIRE Community Spotlight ) Ayo Foods Provides A Brand of Foods Where One Can Explore The West African Culture Through Their Tastebuds, Adding Chef Eric Adjepong Dishes To Top Things Off
ENSPIRE Contributor: LaShonda Thompson
Ayo is a West African word that signifies “joy.” So it was only natural that when a veteran of the natural products sector and a serial entrepreneur united their abilities, the result would be a labor of love filled with joy. Chef Eric Adjepong, a Top Chef alum, has teamed up with Ayo Foods to create two new West African dishes for the company’s menu. AYO’s West African culture and food line address a gap in the shifting food sector, where African food is disproportionately underrepresented in the food and supermarket industry in the United States.
So, if you have ever wondered about the connection between West African and Caribbean cuisine, you’ll want to try Chef Adjepong’s Waakye (pronounced wa-che) dish. Waakye is a dish that you can enjoy at all times of the day, where Chef Adjepong’s combines jasmine rice, organic coconut oil, and South Carolina-grown red peas with red sorghum leaves that give the dish its beautiful red hue. And as a finishing, he adds an incredible aromatic red sauce to this vegan meal. The Chicken Yassa dish is made of only a few ingredients but is transformed by the magic of cooking a fantastic meal. Chef Adjepong’s Chicken Yassa dish is composed of marinated, and slow-braised chicken thighs meld with caramelized onions, lemon, dijon, and spices to form this incredible dish will never forget.
Chef Adjepong’s two famous recipes, Waakye (Beans and Rice) and Chicken Yassa are available in the frozen section at stores nationwide, including Kroger, Marianos, and select Whole Foods.
About Ayo Foods
Meet the Ayo Foods founders, husband and wife duo, Fredrick and Perteet Spencer. The founders strive to provide cuisines that bring West Africa representation into the food chain. Ayo provides the opportunity for one to explore a culture of food from a world beyond through your taste buds.
Meet Top Chef Alum Chef Eric Adjepong
Top Chef Alum, Chef Eric Adjepong talks West African Cuisines with the Washington Post. Adjepong draws tastes and influences from many West African foods he grew up eating as a first-generation Ghanaian-American.
For more information on Ayo Foods, visit their website: AYO Foods – Authentic. Delicious. Easy. (ayo-foods.com) For more information on Chef Adjepong, visit his website: Chef Adjepong
Social Media
Ayo Foods Instagram | Chef Adjepong Instagram
Another article that may interest you: Beatrice Ajaero Is Paving The Way Towards Making West African Food Mainstream Through Her Restaurant Nneji – ENSPIRE Magazine
