What is Shito?

It's hard to pinpoint exactly when Shito (pronounced "SHEE-to") first appeared in kitchens & dinner tables across the West African country of Ghana.  In a place where recipes are handed down in oral traditions from mothers to daughters even to this day, cookbooks and written-down recipes are thought to just be a sign of how poor a chef you are.  Thus, written records are hard to come by.

What is known is that Shito is as ubiquitous in Ghana as ketchup in the United States.  Of course, the average American household doesn't cook their own ketchup from scratch.  In Ghana, however, housewives all across the country prepare their own personal brand of Shito for their loved ones regularly.  Mothers pack their children off to boarding school armed with big jars of Shito.  Stored & served properly, that single jar of Shito can last the student the entire term.  Unless they eat it all at once.

Shito's texture and thick rich burgundy color might remind you of a red pepper & tomato bruschetta spread.  If that is the case, then your very first taste of Shito will surprise you, because the taste that reaches your palette first will be the delicious seafood mixture of herring & shrimp.  And then you'll taste the hint of pepper (unless, of course, you try our hot Shito). All of that, combined with fresh garlic, ginger, onions, and, yes, tomatoes, makes Shito unlike anything you've ever tried in a typical Western meal.

You can use Shito in any recipe or meal where you'd typically use hot sauce or chili.  Or when you don't feel like cooking a big elaborate meal, you can simply have Shito with plain white rice or as a bread or cracker spread.  As long as you refrigerate it after opening and (most important of all) make sure you only serve Shito with clean and completely dry utensils, you can enjoy your jar of Shito for months.

Unless, of course, you eat it all at once.