Christmas is one of the exciting seasons marked annually. It is celebrated in commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ.

The season starts from mid-December to somewhere early January. Prior to the main event on December 25, a holiday, activities such as cleaning and decorating homes with Christmas trees and lights, getting the place painted, shopping etc are all marked.

This is a time family and friends get together and have lots fun. Aside gatherings at churches, activities like picnics, fireworks, popularly known as 'knockouts,' parties and hangouts all spice up the occasion and make it memorable.

Some people travel to visit relatives in their hometowns and other places. It is also a season of exchanging gifts.

Christmas can never be celebrated without a tasty meal. In a typical Ghanaian home, families mark the occasion by preparing delicious meals and complementing it with drinks and snacks.

Sacks of rice, bottles of non-alcoholic drinks, biscuits and meat are very essential on the list of items to be purchased for the occasion. Previously, chicken was the 'ish' but now things have changed. Goat meat, formally called chevon, or known locally by Gas as 'too Kpakpo' and Akans as 'Apapo' is now the preferred delicacy.

'Apapo' can be featured in any kind of meal; stews, soups, rice dishes such jollof, etc. It's smell or natural aroma, that emanates, especially from the mid scalp (Apanpamu) serves as a special flavour (spice) to soups and stews.

Using the mid scalp of the goat to prepare light soup known in the Akan dialect as 'Aponkye nkrankra' and serving it with some pounded cassava and plantain or 'fufu' is one meal that can make one lick fingers for hours.

Callers who phoned in to the Super Morning Show on Monday, December 13, 2021, shared experiences and memories of how they celebrated Christmas with 'Apapo'. They also suggested remedies for getting rid of the smell that literally sticks to one's palm after enjoying a meal made with ‘Apapo.’

The Christmas tales began with William who called from Gomoa Budumburam. He was of the view that one needs to be an expert in the field of ‘apaponolgy’ to be able to deal with the smell that emanates from the goat. “So there’s a technique in putting to rest the ‘apapo.’ That itself is a course by itself. Then the next semester, you're dealing in the cleaning and the dressing it. Then the final semester deals with the removal of that tough scent. That's what spices the soup,” he said.

He prescribed dry gin as the best remedy that can be used to remove the scent.

Prince also shared his experience from the Volta Region. He questioned why someone would want to get rid of the smell, which he described as ‘a lovely smell,’ in the first place.

He stated that each time he ate any meal with that kind of meat, he preferred the smell to be on his hand for at least the next seven days.

Richard also said there was no remedy for getting rid of the smell that emanates from the 'Apapo'. “It goes naturally. It takes about three to five days to get it off,” he said.

John from Latebiokorshie shared a story of how he was “side-kicked by a goat.” He said growing up he and his little sister used to help their dad slaughter goats during the Christmas season. And when you don’t get a full grip of it during the process, you realise it kicks you,” he said. But after killing it successfully, they send it to their mum to prepare sumptuous meals with it.

Dick in Kojokrom who referred to the meat as “Aponkye Kwasi Atta” said, “it has its own unique aroma that no spices on earth can submerge. If you can get a spice that can kill the scent, then you can get a remedy to clearing the smell from your hand.”

Asked by host, Kojo Yankson why people like the smell of the goat, he said it’s because “no spices on earth that can give you that scent.”

“It's unique. The aroma itself can do a lot in meals,” he said.

Nana Kwame from Ashongman estates also recounted how three people nearly lost their lives while chasing one goat to be slaughtered for Christmas. “They were chasing the ‘Apapo’ and when it got to the road side, the ‘Apapo’ was able to apply the break and the three people crossed and they were all knocked down by a car. That makes ‘Apapo’ special. They have special breaks,” he added.

“And with the scent, the easiest way to remove that is to put lime in water and wash your hands with it,” he said.

The last caller, Joshua who phoned in from Dzorwulu, said ‘Apapo’ nearly made his father kill his brother when they were growing up.

“My mum used to rear goats. My dad asked that we relocate the goats because their smell came into their bedroom and he didn’t like that. He is a very strict man as well. So he told my senior brother one day to move the goats but it seems he forgot to do that.

“When my dad got back in the evening and got to his room, he couldn't take the smell that emanated from his room so he came out with a palette and said if we didn’t move them that evening we'll both find ourselves in the police station. So the neighbor's had to come in to help because they knew how strict he was. My brother since then, has refused to eat ‘Apapo’ but for me that's my best meat," he said.