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A Windsor eatery cooking up traditional Ghanaian cuisine is among 17 Canadian restaurants receiving $10,000 grants.
With the support of the fund, provided by the food delivery service DoorDash Canada and the Black Opportunity Fund to help Black-owned businesses across the country, Zuleeats can continue bringing Ghana’s lesser-known flavours to the forefront for Windsor-Essex foodies.
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“This is life-changing for a small business,” said Zule Ankamah, owner and chef at Zuleeats.
What began as a pandemic lockdown hobby has since grown into a brick-and-mortar fixture in the city. With the help of her son and daughter, Ankamah dishes out Ghana’s flavours that one would expect to encounter on a stroll through the sub-Saharan country in West Africa.
“It’s really going to help us get the word out there, and get our menus out there,” she said.
The grant will boost Zuleeats’ marketing efforts and help them introduce Ghanaian cuisine to more people in Windsor-Essex.
“We do a lot of educating,” said Ankamah, who migrated to Canada from Ghana in 1991. “You get some people who will stop to listen, and others that just don’t know what it is. They just want to go to familiar things, right?
“So it is quite challenging to get people to try, but once they do, they absolutely love it.”
She said Ghanaian cuisine is known for its “bold flavours.” The most popular item on Zuleeats’ menu, savoury meat pies, are seasoned with a blend of cayenne, cumin, and paprika. The pies were the very first item featured on the restaurant’s lockdown menu.
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“The meat pie is something that’s very familiar, because every country that you can think of has some form of meat pie,” she said, “but this is what makes ours different — it’s our crust, it’s our filling, it’s the spices.”
The Windsor eatery also serves jollof rice, simmered in a rich, tomato-based stew, paired with grilled chicken. Ankamah recommends pairing the dish with okra soup.
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The most rewarding experience so far, for Ankamah, is seeing Windsor embrace Ghanaian cuisine.
Zuleeats is a mainstay vendor at the Saturday downtown Windsor farmer’s market, and frequently caters private events and hosts pop-ups around the city.
“People have pizza days, but now we’re hearing they have Zuleeats days instead,” she said. “It’s like a dream come true.”
Visit Zuleeats’s location at 2760 Howard Ave. or explore the menu at zuleeats.ca.
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