NsuomNam: The taste of sustainable Ghana
Join a culinary odyssey of sustainable and innovative pan-African cuisine
And here we have it: the Ghanaian restaurant taking its culinary heritage and its ingredients, and creating something new, something fresh, something exciting and, at its heart, genuinely sustainable.
NsuomNam (easy for you to say), is Twi for ‘food of the sea’ and it specialises in anything that is caught in the Gulf of Guinea and turned, by chef Chef Mick Élysée, into spectacular food. And showy it can be.
The Sizzling Seafood Special is a head-turning melange of seasonal food, still cooking when it lands in front of you. Another dish comes in a glass box, smoke still infusing food set like a beach diorama. The really smart part however, is that no matter how deconstructed, the flavours are genuinely as African as the ingredients.
Chef Mick Élysée, Congolese by way of Paris and London, is obsessed with the ingredients he finds on the market stalls and his fishmongers. Even in the bread he makes himself, it is millet and sorghum – sustainable and wildly available – that is used in place of imported wheat flour.
“I wanted to say something about my culture. Putting the African food, African food culture on the map,” Mick explains.
“Africa is big. There are a lot of countries, each cooking differently. We wanted to give value to African cuisine. Most of our food is very good, but it’s underestimated. We have the most beautiful cuisine in the world. It’s very healthy, it is very natural. My aim is to give a lot of value to African cuisine and African culture.”
After arriving in Ghana, Mick spent his time understanding the local fish, and the ingredients. “I was even amazed to know that we have the best octopus, we have tuna, scallops, that doesn’t really stay here.
“We also need to respect the season. When we’re out of season, we have this disorder with Mother Nature.”
Mick also uses local producers wherever possible. “It’s my way to give back to the community as well to support those local producers. Many of them are struggling because we don’t give them value.”
Next up is his own greenhouse, and the restaurant prides itself on being zero waste. The ethos pervades the cocktail menu too, with Teatime, a vodka-based cocktail with a tea made from the local prekese plant.
The space itself is stunning, particularly coming alive at night. It’s relaxing inside, with a fine dining feel – white tablecloths, abundant cutlery – and wide, tall windows to enjoy the African skies. Like the restaurant, the outdoor Lake Volta Bar is a nod to the owner’s regional heritage, the boat and fishing motif continuing throughout. An essential restaurant that Ghana has long needed. Come here to see the future of Ghanaian cuisine and sustainable cuisine.
