About

I’m Fran Osseo-Asare, the founder and editor of BETUMI. I’m also a member of the IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals) and a North American sociologist and writer who has been married since 1972 to a man from Ghana (that’s not Uganda, not Guyana, nor Guinea!), West Africa. Our relationship began while we were both undergraduates at the University of California in Berkeley and led, irrevocably and fortuitously, to a relationship with African cuisine and culture. The public telling of our family’s story began in 1976 with the publication of A New Land to Live In (InterVarsity Press) and continued in 1991 with A Good Soup Attracts Chairs (Pelican Publishing Company). In 1997 its online presence began with the (pre-blogging) debut of BETUMI as an online journal,  along with several African culinary podcasts, and that has grown and expanded over the years. It took a more academic turn with the publication of Food Culture in Sub-Saharan Africa (Greenwood Press) in 2005. 2015 saw The Ghana Cookbook arrive (with Barbara Baeta’s support). That’s over 50 years this love affair has continued! So glad you’re here to share it.