Burundi

A savory East African stew of unripe green plantains simmered in a tomato-and-onion sauce with oil until the plantains are fully tender and saturated with the broth.

A Burundian street snack of seasoned offal — intestines and liver — fried or roasted and sold by the piece.

A thick, cohesive porridge of slow-cooked cracked wheat and chicken beaten together until the grain fully dissolves into a uniform, savory mass, finished with poured ghee.

A Burundian everyday staple of slow-cooked dry red kidney beans simmered with onion, tomato, and red palm oil until thick, creamy, and deeply savory.

A Burundian (and Rwandan) one-pot dish of pumpkin or squash cooked down with beans, often enriched with groundnuts.

A thick, non-alcoholic sorghum porridge-drink, lightly sweetened and served warm or cool, common as a breakfast or nourishing beverage in Burundi and Rwanda.

A Burundian side dish of mixed leafy greens sautéed with onion and tomato in groundnut oil.

A dish of small dried lake fish (dagaa/sprats) cooked with tomato, onion, and oil into a savory relish eaten with a starch staple.

A Burundian feast dish of whole or jointed chicken slowly braised with onions, tomatoes, and local spices into a rich savory stew reserved for celebrations.

Burundian celebration meat — goat (impene) or pork (ingurube) simply seasoned and either grilled over fire or braised, served at gatherings and feasts.

A slow-cooked East African stew of pounded or finely shredded cassava leaves simmered at length with ground peanuts, onions, and palm oil until the leaves collapse into a dense, dark-green, unctuous mass.

A staple East African dish of peeled unripe East African Highland bananas steamed inside tightly sealed banana-leaf parcels until soft, then mashed in place into a dense, starchy, pale-yellow loaf.

A dense, unleavened porridge of cassava or sorghum flour cooked in boiling water with sustained stirring until it pulls from the pot and holds its shape, eaten by hand as the staple carbohydrate of Burundian and Great Lakes East African meals.

A Burundian dish of dried beans cooked until tender and then mashed with oil and simple seasoning, scooped up alongside ugali or other starches.

A Burundian home-brewed fermented beer made from ripe bananas and malted sorghum, drunk both everyday and at ceremonies.

A soft staple porridge of cassava flour and corn (maize) flour cooked together, smoother and softer than the stiff ubugali.

Urwagwa is a traditional East African fermented banana beer produced by manually pressing ripe bananas to extract their juice, combining it with sorghum malt as a fermentation catalyst, and allowing it to ferment briefly into a low-alcohol, slightly cloudy, effervescent drink.