During Failatu Abdul Razak’s cook-a-thon, one particular moment stood out when a local chef surprised her with a generous gift of grilled frog meat and GHC 5,000.
This gesture not only rewarded her for unofficially achieving the longest marathon in cooking but also sparked a lively debate on social media. Many Ghanaians expressed astonishment at the fact that a tribe in Ghana consumes frog meat, a situation presently buzzing with entertainment in Ghana.
In response to this, Ras Mubarak, the former Member of Parliament for the Kumbungu Constituency in the Northern Region, shed light on the culinary traditions of his people. He explained that the people of Kumbungu have been enjoying the delicious and nutritious meat of frogs for centuries.
While not all species of frogs are edible, many are, and the people of Kumbungu have been savouring them for a long time, even if they haven’t widely showcased this aspect of their cuisine.
Ras Mubarak also highlighted that frog consumption is not unique to his constituency, as many other cultures around the world also include frogs in their diets.
These comments from Ras Mubarak come amidst the controversy surrounding the gift of frog meat presented by the King of Kumbungu to Chef Faila during her record-breaking cooking marathon in Tamale, which concluded today.
In a Facebook post, he said:
“We Eat Frogs.
Do you eat frogs in Kumbungu? That was a question from my youngest wife, who drew my attention to frogs being served at Abdul Razak Faila’s cook-a-thon.
Before I could even answer, calls started coming in from friends and a section of the media.
Yes we eat frogs in Kumbungu. And we are not alone in the world. The French, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Koreans Italians, Thai, Greek, South Africans, some Americans in the South, Cambodians, Indonesians and a host of others in Asia, and Europe.
While other countries even export it, those of us from Kumbungu have rather been coy about our love for frog meat.
They are proven to be rich in minerals like protein, vitamin A & Potassium. There are about 7,500 species of frogs. Before you start catching frogs in your backyard for the pot, I must caution you and make the point forcefully. not every frog is edible – some frogs are poisonous.
And for those that are edible, in places like the US, Turkey, France and Indonesia, they eat only the legs. They are as tasty as chicken wings.
Thanks to the kind donation of cash amount, food items and a bucket of frogs by HRM the King of Kumbungu, towards Faila’s cook-a-thon, local media is beginning to show interest in a local delicacy that’s been eaten by the people Kumbungu for hundreds of years.
For those of us from Kumbungu, the time has come for us to begin to sell the idea that our frogs are not only delicious, but can be eaten by non-natives of kumbungu.
We should go a step further, as part of plans to attract local and foreign tourists to kumbungu, to do an exhibition on frogs. Fortunately, the Minister for Tourism is from Kumbungu. There’s the capacity to produce it in large quantities for the local and international markets. If the Chinese, Taiwanese, French and others are exporting frogs for consumption in restaurants around the world, we too can do it in Kumbungu.”
