Pito is a type of beer made from fermented
millet
Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most millets belong to the tribe Paniceae.
Millets are important crops in the Semi-arid climate, ...
or
sorghum
''Sorghum bicolor'', commonly called sorghum () and also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, durra, imphee, jowar, or milo, is a species in the Poaceae, grass genus ''Sorghum (genus), Sorghum'' cultivated for its grain. The grain i ...
in northern
Ghana
Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...
, parts of
Nigeria
Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
, and other parts of
West Africa
West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...
. It is made by small (household-level) producers, and is typically served in a
calabash
Calabash (; ''Lagenaria siceraria''), also known as bottle gourd, white-flowered gourd, long melon, birdhouse gourd, New Guinea bean, New Guinea butter bean, Tasmania bean, and opo squash, is a vine grown for its fruit. It can be either harvest ...
outside the producer's home where benches are sometimes provided.
Pito can be served warm or cold. Warm pito gets its heat from the
fermentation
Fermentation is a type of anaerobic metabolism which harnesses the redox potential of the reactants to make adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and organic end products. Organic molecules, such as glucose or other sugars, are catabolized and reduce ...
process. Pito brewing can provide an important source of income for otherwise cash-poor households in rural areas. It is never found bottled or canned, and, as a rule, is purchased directly from the household in which it is brewed.
Ingredients
* millet or sorghum
* water
Method of preparation
First, sorghum or millet is taken to the mill to be ground into powder, or this can be done in a blender. After the sorghum or millet is milled, the powder is mixed with water, stirred thoroughly and left to settle. Once settled, the water on top the mash is removed and the remaining mash is boiled. When the boiling is finished, the mixture is poured into a different container and left to ferment for 24 hours. Once the fermentation process is completed, the mixture is boiled once more and then strained to separate the solid substance from the liquid. Your pito is then ready for consumption after the liquid cools down.
See also
*
Millet beer
Millet beer, also known as Bantu beer, malwa, pombe "Tchouk" or opaque beer, is an alcoholic beverage made from malted millet that is common throughout Africa. Its production process varies across regions and in the southern parts of Africa is ...
References
External links
* Akyeampong (1995); Sefa-Dedeh (1999)
''greenfacts.org''
Beer in Africa
Types of beer
Alcohol in Ghana
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