Foods

Cuisines

KENYA takes it ...

Common foods in Kenya that have influenced the East African region greatly and can be found in many places around Eastern Africa.

• Ugali – a semi-hard cake made of maize (corn) flour or millet flour. It’s a favorite meal for all Kenyans and usually accompanies fish, meat, nyama choma, meat stews, sukuma wiki or other greens.

• Sukuma Wiki – a vegetable stew made of leafy green vegetables, mainly collards or kale. Sukuma wiki is the foundation of many Kenyan meals. The word ´sukuma wiki´ means ´to stretch the week´, implying that sukuma wiki is a food used to stretch the meals to last for the entire week.

• Nyama Choma – The most popular dish in Kenya is this roasted beef or goat meat meal. It is mainly cooked over an open fire and served with ugali and kachumbari or mixed vegetables.

• Kachumbari – a fine mixture of chopped tomatoes, onions, pepper, cilantro, lemon juice and in some cases, avocado. It is usually served with nyama choma and ugali.

• Chapati – a round, flat unleavened bread cooked on a griddle to a soft brown color and served with meat stew and vegetables.

• Githeri – a mixture of boiled maize(corn) and beans that can be lightly fried with onion. It is a popular meal among the Kamba and Kikuyu tribes.

• Ingokho – chicken cooked “Luhya style” by the Luhya tribe of Western Kenya. It is their signature meal, which they serve to important visitors.

• Pilau – rice cooked as rice pilaf, flavored with Indian spices. Pilau is a common dish served during Kenyan parties, celebrations and festive seasons.

• Wali – rice boiled in coconut milk. Along the Kenyan coast, wali is a popular meal of the Swahili and Mijikenda tribes. Palm trees are grown all across Kenya’s coastline and fresh coconut is always readily available.

• Karanga – a meat and potato stew, usually served with ugali or rice.

• Kienyeji / Irio – potatoes mashed with either beans/peas or maize and pumpkin leaves, then sautéed with onions and served with either beef stew or vegetables. An alternative is mashing boiled maize and beans to make irio.

• Maandazi – deep fried sweets (similar to doughnuts) served for breakfast with tea or coffee. They also serve well as a snack for late afternoon tea/coffee.

• Chai – tea boiled with milk and sugar. It’s served hot and is the beverage of choice for most Kenyans.

• Samosa – a delicious deep-fried, square-shaped, meat-filled dough that is served as a snack or appetizer.

• Uji – porridge traditionally made from fermented millet, corn flour mix or a mixture of millet flour, maize meal and powdered milk. Because of its high nutritional value, uji is a popular drink prepared for infants, adolescents, nursing mothers and those who are sick.

Where Can You Enjoy these foods?
Everywhere in EA however more readily available in Kenya! In restaurants and hotels as well as homes, elaborate buffets and à la carte menus of Kenyan food are part of the meal offering. If you are new to Kenyan food and want to experience a truly ethnic meal, then you should visit one of the eating establishments frequented by local Kenyans.  

Nyama choma and ugali top the list of popular Kenyan cuisine and are a “must eat”.

The world-famous and one-of-a kind game meat restaurant in Africa – the Carnivore – is popular for its tasty selection of wildlife game meat. At the Carnivore restaurant in Nairobi, Kenya, you can savor bountiful meals of antelope, crocodile, gazelle and other wild meat.

RWANDA
Rwanda – Cooking and Food
Lunch and dinner may consist of boiled beans, bananas, sweet potatoes or cassava. Umutsima (a dish of cassava and corn), isombe (cassava leaves with eggplant and spinach) and mizuzu (fried plantains) are common dishes. 

Dinner is the heaviest meal. Between meals, Rwandans often snack on fruits. Tropical fruits such as avocados, bananas, mangos and papaya are abundant in Rwanda. Roadside vendors in urban areas sell roasted corn and barbecued meat.

Many Rwandan men enjoy drinking beer, but women rarely drink alcohol in any form. Although Rwanda has a large commercial brewery, many people make their own beer and alcoholic beverages, using sorghum, corn or fermented plantains. Ikigage is a locally brewed alcoholic drink made from dry sorghum and urwarwa is brewed from plantains. Traditionally, people drink beer through straws from a single large container.

Rwandans who live in rural areas rarely eat meat. Some families have cattle, but since cattle are considered a status symbol, people seldom slaughter them for meat. Many Rwandans in rural areas eat meat only once or twice a month and some Rwandan children suffer from protein deficiency. In urban areas meat is more plentiful. The most popular meats are beef and chicken. People who live near lakes may catch and eat fish. Tilapia and sambaza are raised on fish farms.

Cuisines of Rwanda
Rwanda is such a small country that talking about regional cuisines would be a huge overstatement. However, the social and geographical aspects of the country are quite interesting to follow. Most of the Rwandan population belongs to the Hutu ethnic group, traditionally crop-growers. The Tutsi group originated as a socioeconomic class noted for cattle ownership. There was mobility between the two groups. 

For 600 years the two groups shared the business of farming, essential for survival, between them. They have also shared their language, their culture, and their nationality. The general Rwandan cuisine shares many of the dishes brought by the Tutsis – shepherd like dishes that are simple and fast to prepare. 

TANZANIA

Traditional Foods in Tanzania, East Africa
The country of Tanzania is made up of more than 120 different ethnic groups, as well as sub-populations of Asian and European origins. These include hunter-gatherers such as the Khoisan and herders such as the Maasai, all of whose lifestyles influence their traditional cuisine. Their foods depend on factors like local resources, tribal customs and the climate they inhabit.

Grains
Carbohydrate staples vary greatly among ethnic groups in Tanzania, but almost always make up the bulk of any traditional meal. Common grains include sorghum, cassava and plantain, as well as corn and rice in the southwestern coastal regions. Ugali is a cornmeal porridge eaten at most meals.

Meat and Dairy
When meat is available, it might be goat, beef or pork thrown into a stew, or fried and served over rice or another grain. Chicken, mutton and ducklings are also raised for food. Indian-style meat samosas are common street foods, along with mishikaki, meat kebabs grilled over a charcoal fire. Beef or goat spiced with lime juice, hot peppers and salt is a popular pub food. A hearty rural breakfast might consist of chicken broth or buttermilk.

Produce and Spices
Coconut milk is a versatile thickening agent found in a large variety of dishes, as are beans and plantains. Peanuts and groundnuts are used to flavor dishes, as is a homegrown curry powder. Braised cabbage, leafy greens, manioc, squash or pumpkin or sweet potatoes make vegetable accompaniments to meat dishes. Fresh fruit is sweetened with honey and served for dessert.

Special Occasions
Massive feasts are important to both religious and secular holidays. Often served is pilau, a platter of rice, potato and meat flavored in many different ways. Hosts at any gathering will expect their guests to eat as much as possible and leave full. Food courses come in a single bowl and are worked into a solid ball with the fingers, then eaten with the right hand, which is considered the “pure” hand. In some tribal cultures, animal sacrifice or a libation of beer honors one’s ancestors.

Beverages, Snacks and Desserts
Sweet rolls and biscuits called mandazi are served at breakfast and for snacks. Peanuts, popcorn, hard candy and dried fruit are frequently consumed as snacks in cities, as are fried plantains, sweet potatoes and corn on the cob. Fruit drinks called “squash” appear at most meals, with spiced coffee and tea. Tanzania brews its own alcoholic beverages from local produce like plantains, corn and honey, and serves them at local bars and pubs. One specialty is konyagi, a spirit similar to gin. Dessert consists of honey, coconut, pineapple or other in-season fruits

UGANDA

Food in Daily Life.  
Most people, except a few who live in urban centers, produce their own food. Most people eat two meals a day: lunch and supper. Breakfast is often a cup of tea or porridge. Meals are prepared by women and girls; men and boys age twelve and above do not sit in the kitchen, which is separate from the main house. Cooking usually is done on an open wood fire. Popular dishes include matoke (a staple made from bananas), millet bread, cassava (tapioca or manioc), sweet potatoes, chicken and beef stews, and freshwater fish. Other foods include white potatoes, yams, corn, cabbage, pumpkin, tomatoes, millet, peas, sorghum, beans, groundnuts (peanuts), goat meat, and milk. Oranges, papayas, lemons, and pineapples also are grown and consumed. The national drink is waragi , a banana gin. Restaurants in large population centers, such as Kampala (the capital), serve local foods.