Life swap

From hi-tech workers to African chefs - and all in a year. Christian Broughton meets the duo offering a taste of Ghana in London's East End

One year ago, Lloyd Mensah was a software engineer and Adwoa Hagan worked in IT recruitment. Then they set up a new business in London's East End. Can you see where this is going? No, actually it's not another multimedia consultancy, but a very different start-up: Jollof Pot, a Ghanaian food company.

One year ago, Lloyd Mensah was a software engineer and Adwoa Hagan worked in IT recruitment. Then they set up a new business in London's East End. Can you see where this is going? No, actually it's not another multimedia consultancy, but a very different start-up: Jollof Pot, a Ghanaian food company.

"We started Jollof because we wanted Ghanaian food to be tasted by not just those in black areas," says Mensah, looking around at the mixed crowd celebrating the company's first birthday in a backyard borrowed for the occasion from one of the shopkeepers on Broadway Market. The road runs between Bethnal Green and Hackney and Mensah and Hagan have a stall there every Saturday.

Four simmering hotplates of food - the same dishes that were being sold on the stall just a few hours ago - smell great. There are African beers and Chilean wine. Relatives are in bright African get-up. Even Andrew Boff, a local Tory councillor (a rare breed in these parts) is in his sports sandals and party shirt. A guy from the local record store is being both nice and incredibly cool and, for a bit of traditional authenticity, Louise Breadwell, an East Ender through and through, is giving away duty free fags to anyone who's taking.

Breadwell is looking particularly jolly, and as the organiser of the market, she has reason to be. This street has been on the local food and drink map for some time with restaurants, gastropubs and even an old jellied-eel shop. But until last year there was something lacking: a decent market. Now there are 50 stalls each Saturday, selling flowers, fashion and homeware, but with food at the centre.

Before the plates are piled with food, we are asked: "Is there anything you don't eat?" You can see guests thinking, "Like I know Ghanaian food well enough to answer." Still, large platefuls are demolished, beers finished, and music almost danced to (you know the English, we love that shifting-weight-vaguely-from-one-foot-to-another dancing). But anyway, this is a party for measuring achievement, not just a boogie. *

For further information on Jollof Pot, tel: 020 8692 0143, or visit www.jollofcuisine.co.uk

What's on the menu?

Star beer and 'Diamonds Forever'

Who's who? Lloyd Mensah and Adwoa Hagan own Jollof Pot, a catering service for weddings. The company also runs a stall on Broadway Market. Of the various uncles and aunts here, Sophia, Lloyd's mum, deserves a special mention. She's very much part of the Jollof Pot set-up, doing much of the cooking and bringing with her the secret ingredient: authentic recipes from Ghana. Stephen Selby owns the street's art shop, Off Broadway, and it's his backyard we're in. Andrew Boff is the local Tory councillor (and market supporter) and Louise Breadwell is the market organiser.

What's the occasion? Jollof's first birthday, and that of the reborn Broadway Market.

What's cooking? Spinach agushi (spinach, cracked melon seeds, mushrooms and smoked mackerel); red red (black-eye beans, tomatoes, peppers, ginger and garlic); jollof rice (a West African favourite: rice, stock, tomatoes, onion, garlic, chillis, rosemary and spices); kelewele (plantain, cloves, ginger, garlic and chilli); plus an enormous bowl of salad and some home-made (intense) shrimp paste on the side.

And to drink? African beers - Star and Gulder, both brewed in Nigeria. The wine, however, is not African, but Chilean.

Any style tips? Lloyd and Adwoa have black plates, which make the yellows, oranges and reds of the food look all the richer.

Name that tune The music is as Ghanaian as the food: CK Man's "Dance Highlife" and "Diamonds Forever" by the Western Diamonds.

What's the gossip? "Jollof's an essential part of the market now - they bring a lot of atmosphere and warmth." "They could have bought some Ghanaian weather, though, I'm bloody freezing."