Daniel Higgins|Appleton Post-Crescent
Yaw Asare bit into his first piece of peanut brittle he bought from a street hawker during recess at his school in Ghana. The brittle didn't stick to his teeth. The memory stuck in his mind.
Since arriving in Appleton in 1992, he couldn't find an American brittle that compared to the crumbly, salty-sweet version he regularly munched at school.
In 2016, he asked his mom for a recipe. She sent him a 1970s-era Ghana cookbook.The first batch he tried making in his kitchen failed.
But after a trip to Fleet Farm, a visit to Ghana, a connection with a confectioner in Oconomowoc and adding three business partners, the peanut brittle lover became the hawker. In 2020, Asare began selling Sharay's Ghana Style Brittleat farmers markets, to store owners and on Facebook videos.
Nostalgia started Asare's unexpected journey, but it continues largely because Sharay's brittle doesn't stick to teeth.Turns out that peanut brittle lovers don't love the clingy ways of typical American brittles.
“Not only did I satisfy myhungerfor this particular product," Asare said. "But it seems I’ve resolved anissue people have with the regular peanut brittle.”
When peanut brittle doesn't stick toteeth, it's easier to grow a business byword of mouth. Sharay'ssales doubled in 2021 over 2020, Asare said.
What started as a way to relive a treat of his youth now satisfies more than Asare's sweet tooth. It satisfies a longtime desire to run his own business. It's even sweeter for Asareto be sharing a culinary treatfrom his homeland.
From Ghana to Appleton
Asare was hardly the only kid in his school snacking on nkati cake, as it is called in Ghana, nor would he be the only school graduate to go on to turn peanut brittle into a business.
When it came time for Asare to choose a college, his parents wanted him to attend an American university. He landed in Appleton to attend Lawrence University. The day he moved in was the first time he'd been to Wisconsin.Yes, the weather's a little cooler in the Midwest than West Africa, but itwasn't a complete shock to Asare, who lived in Germany for his first seven years before his family moved to Ghana.
After graduating in 1996 from Lawrence,where he studied economics, Asarelooked intostarting business ventures, from cellphones to pizza. Nothing clicked.
Over the next 20 years, he and his wife, Leslie, were busy raising three children.Asare workedin various banking, salesand marketing jobs through the years.
Whenever Asare wants to eat a food or meal from back home, he makes it.
Asare laughs when asked if the first batch of brittle worked. No, it did not. The sugar seized up,ruining the batch.
But when batches worked out, he said, everyone who tried it loved it.They particularly loved that whole not-sticking-to-your-teeth thing.Asare gives two reasons for that.
First, there's just enough brittle to hold the roasted peanuts together instead of a lot ofbrittle with "a smattering of peanuts." Or as it's more succinctly printed on each bag: "More Nuts Less Brittle."
Second, it's not what's in the brittle. It's what's missing — corn syrup. A common brittle ingredient, Asare said, corn syrup causes brittle to go all gooey, gummy and tooth-clingy as it melts in your mouth, whereas sugar crunches, crumbles and dissolves.
Family and friends devouredsuccessful batches of brittle and sparked thethought it might be good enough to sell, Asare said.
However, the key ingredient to launching a brittle business proved troublesome.
Sugar's tendency to quickly re-crystallize, or seize up, was a lesson Asare repeatedly learned the hard way — literally. Though he was able to make the peanut brittle for himself and friends, he let the idea of turning it into a business die because of consistency and scalingproduction.
His dream came back to life during a 2018 trip to Ghana. Asare said he ran into schoolmates who started a brittle-making business in Ghana.
"I thought thisispretty cool. If these guys can do it,surelyI can do it."
From homemade snack to side hustle
It took some searching and phone calls, but eventually Asare connected with Sharon Pavich, owner and president of Sweet P's Pantry Artisan Toffee and Chocolates in Oconomowoc. Pavich and her team fine-tuned the recipe and took over production.
By December 2019, Asare was selling brittle to friends and co-workers.
Gold Coast Candy was launched with Sharay's Ghana Style Brittle as its first product. More treats from that 1970s-era Ghana cookbook might be coming. But first, morebrittle.
Asare and business partnerOrson Fournillier have been regulars at the Appleton Downtown Farm Market since 2020. COVID-19 pandemic hampered their best sales pitch — taste tests — as handing out samples wasn't allowed.
"We had to learn how to talk our way intotheir pockets," Asare said with a smile. He likes selling. And talking with customers. And giving people a taste of Ghana.
Business partnersFreda Boateng and Walt Nocito handle other duties like taxes and accounting.
From one-dimensional snack to more
“We’re having fun with it, trying to figure out what else can you do with it so that it doesn’t become a one-dimensional thing,” Asare said.
He and Fournillier have gone as far as Red Oak Winery in Door County to do a wine and brittle pairing, though it's also good paired with a morning cup of coffee. Try it crumbled in plain yogurt or as a salad topping. Among the more creative suggestions are to use pieces to scoop ice cream.
Break it up and sprinkle over sugar cookies warm from the oven, Asare said, "then press so it sticks, and boom,voilayou got peanut brittle sugarcookies.”
This year they addedcashew and pistachio brittles.
That bit of inspiration goes back tothe days of "fooling around with the peanut brittle" in his kitchen when Asare and his neighbor went toFleet Farm and bought a whole bunch ofdifferent types of nuts.
"Wewent to town in the kitchen putting them together," Asare said."I really liked the pistachio and cashew."
He calls the pistachio brittle an adventure in your mouth because of the strong flavor profile while the cashew is laid back with a nice sweet-savory balance.
“Thoseare not what you will find in Ghana," Asare said of the pistachio and cashew brittles."But you know what, we’re in America, baby.So when you have something that works, you go ahead and expand your flavor profiles.”
Sharay's Ghana Style Brittle
What: Peanut brittle made from a traditional Ghanaian recipe.
Where: Sold online and retail locations mostly located in northeastern Wisconsin.
Contact:sharaysgsb.com,facebook.com/sharayspeanutbrittle,920-475-4373
Contact Daniel Higginsdphiggin@gannett.com. Follow @HigginsEats onTwitter and Instagramand like onFacebook.
