(Posted 13th February 2026)
Courtesy of Annie Yayra Hiamey / Image by Annie Yayra Hiamey
I tasted chili sauces from around the world, each one proud and rooted in their own
culture. But none of them carried what Shito carries: the depth, the smoke, the ocean,
the ancestral fire. The world has chili, yes, but Ghana has Shito, and nothing comes
close to its soul. – Chef Annie Yayra Hiamey
Shito has followed me across continents like a quiet flame. A taste of home I refused to
leave behind. I grew up with its aroma filling our kitchen, the slow stir of peppers and
spices becoming a ritual of care, memory, and identity. Every jar carried the story of my
people and the fire that shaped us.
There was a moment in the diaspora when Shito stopped being just a memory and
became a calling. It happened in Denver, when someone tasted it and whispered, “Oh
wow… what is THIS?” In that instant, I realized something I had always known deep
down: Shito is a global?ready sauce. Every time someone tasted mine and paused,
eyes widening, voice softening, I felt the same truth rise in me. Ghana’s fire deserves a
global stage.
I tasted chili sauces from around the world, each one proud and rooted in their own
culture. But none carried what Shito carries: the depth, the smoke, the ocean, the
ancestral fire. The world has chili, yes – but Ghana has Shito, and nothing comes close
to its soul.
And yet, for all its brilliance, Shito had lived quietly on shelves for years; present but not
championed, loved but not introduced with the ceremony it deserves. That realization, shaped my mission: to elevate what we create and ensure our flavors travel as boldly as our people do.
That is how the idea for the Shito Tasting Bars was born – not as restaurants or
pop?ups, but as archives you can taste. Spaces where Shito could finally be
experienced with respect for its heritage where its story, its heat, and its heritage could
unfold with intention.
In these tasting bars, guests move through a curated journey:
First Flame, gentle and inviting.
Ancestral Heat, smoky and layered.
Black Fire, bold and unapologetic.
And for the first time, people experience Shito the way we grew up eating it with kenkey,
fried yam, kelewele, grilled tilapia, jollof, waakye, eggs, noodles, plantains, bread. But
now the way the world is discovering it: on tacos, rice bowls, roasted vegetables,
seafood, dumplings, and sandwiches. Shito belongs everywhere.
When the first guests walked in – chefs, food writers, curious travelers, diaspora families
-something extraordinary happened. They didn’t just taste Shito. They recognized it.
They were honored by it. Some cried. Some laughed. Some whispered, “I didn’t know
we had this.”
In that moment, I knew:
The Shito Tasting Bars were not just an idea.
They were a renaissance.
A reclamation.
A global invitation to experience Ghana’s fire the way it was always meant to be
experienced with ceremony, pride, and reverence.
Shito is the first flame. The one that lights the path for everything that comes next.
Annie Yayra Hiamey is a Ghanaian?American chef, cultural strategist, and founder
of Afro Bowl Market™. Her work explores the intersection of food, memory, and
heritage, with a mission to elevate Ghanaian cuisine on the global stage. She is
the creator of the Official Shito Tasting Bars and the Global Shito Cookout™,
initiatives dedicated to celebrating Ghana’s iconic black chili sauce.
