VIDEO: How the earthenware bowl got its black colour

Everybody loves eating in them; the ‘Asanka’. It just gives that local feel to the food. It could be a bowl of fufu with soup and assorted meat, apem and kontonmire stew or aboom, grounded pepper with herrings and some hot banku or kenkey, you name it.

And then there is all the grinding that goes on in the earthenware bowl popularly called Ayewa or asanka – grinding of various spices for food preparation.

There’s a lot of work that goes into the making of these unique bowls by the people of Kwahu.

Whilst there are red earthenware bowls usually made by the people of Sunyani, the potters in Kwahu usually make the black ones.

How do they get the black colour?

We found this out when some potters took us through the making of Asanka in the last episode of People & Places.

Madam Janet told the team that after moulding, the earthenware bowls are baked under hot coals after which they are put under sawdust.