Best of Uganda Cuisine

Best of Uganda Cuisine: However, Uganda is famously known for its largest freshwater lake on the continent. For example, the source of the longest river, the strongest waterfall, the largest number of primates and the highest number of mountain gorillas worldwide.  One should note that it also has the most delicious, Fresh and healthy Foods. Again, whoever visits Uganda will forever memorize the great Cuisine he/she tasted.

Uganda’s food switches according to the culture, a proper Ugandan meal is a celebration itself.  Some are prepared as early as the day before and set for the following Day. The staple food is matooke but it also depends on the culture you’re coming from. Every culture has got its staple food. Other foods include cassava, sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, yams, beans, peas, and groundnuts. Furthermore, meet cabbage, onions, pumpkin tomatoes. Fruits include; oranges, pawpaw, lemons, pineapple, mangoes, guavas, sugarcanes   etc. This is an indication that there is a food variety in Uganda that are prepared in different ways.  This depends on your taste and preference.  Whether you’re fully traveller or not, Uganda is a traveller’s heaven food source.

 

What is that most famous and delicious food you should not miss out.

Food specialties ( Best of Uganda Cuisine) in Uganda originate from a mixture of flavors. This is in turn, originate from the Arabic, Asian and English cultures. As the country is predominantly agricultural, the ingredients for its dishes are of good quality. And this makes the traditional dishes very tasty and healthy.

Most of the population grows its own food, apart from those who live in towns. However, by tradition, the creation of traditional Ugandan dishes mainly falls to the women. Ingredients are varied that you will find in fish, different types of meat, yucca, soya, vegetables and other produce such as fruits and nuts.

Below, we outline the more traditional and typical dishes to eat when in Uganda. This isn’t as easy as you think. Keeping in mind that you can find anything from the Hindu samosas right up to white ants.

 

• Matoke

 

When we talk of Best of Uganda Cuisine , Without a shadow of a doubt, this is the most famous traditional dish to eat in Uganda. In addition it is a staple meal for most Bantu tribes. It consists of a stew of chicken and green bananas, seasoned with different spices. To make this dish, a puree is made with the bananas and this is mixed with the chicken and with different vegetables. To prepare it, green pepper, onions, garlic, coriander, curry, ginger, chilies, and milk are used.  The resulting dish has a delicious flavor.  And you will be able to try it anywhere in the country. While in Uganda, you can find miles and miles of lush plantain fields in Western and Central Uganda (Masaka).

Matooke is grown from such farms and sent to city dwellers. Plantains are sometimes peeled and steamed. Then mashed and served with a sauce of your choice. Matooke is also fried with tomatoes and onions. Ugandans love steaming the green. These are unripe ones while still unpeeled (Empogola). You further more lavish on them in the evenings.  Or for lunch with bacon, muchomo, or some grilled beef or goat meat.

 

 

• Luwombo

Another traditional gastronomic dish from Uganda is Luwombo. It is also known as Oluwombo. Initially, this dish was only prepared for royalty. However today it is part of traditional Ugandan cooking. Chicken, Fish, goat or beef meat is used to prepare it accompanied with vegetables.  Such as carrots, potatoes, mushrooms and peanuts(g-nuts) sauce which enhances the flavors of the dish. This is slowly cooked in banana leaves over low heat. Luwombo is a sweet, nutritious food that tastes great and gives you a warm feeling.

 

 

• Ugali

Ugali is traditional in all the regions of East Africa and is one of the most basic traditional dishes to eat in Uganda. Maize flour is used to prepare it. Maize is added to boiling water and stirred until it comes together in a stiff ball is which is used to accompany fish or vegetables. It can be served both hot or cold, and if you let it harden, you can serve it cut into pieces. Ugali meal is highly nutritious and beneficial to the body. It is also rich in proteins; the endosperm is the energy store house.

In case when you stomach acidity, Ugali facilitates the removal of toxic food substance and also accelerates the passage of faces through the intestines.

 

• Roasted peanuts

As an aperitif or between meals, Ugandans tend to eat roasted peanuts and also contributes to the  Best of Uganda Cuisine , which is a very healthy and delicious custom. They are sold in paper cones and you will find them in pop-up stalls. The custom of eating peanuts is very rooted in Ugandan cuisine.

 

• Nsenene

Have you ever heard of ensenene, have ever tested on it? Why not sample one of Uganda’s exclusive delicacies? Nsenene is a traditional fried grasshopper dish marketed in bars and roadside restaurants.

This famous snack is only available during the rainy season, mostly in November and April. The insects’ wings and legs are removed and the grasshoppers are cooked in the natural oils of grasshoppers. Some marketplaces and roadway vendors sell grasshoppers in plastic containers, which you can purchase and fry yourself. In pubs, they may serve you this treats with any beverage of your choice.

As you fry it at home, you may add small slices of carrots and green pepper and cook it all up. When the grasshoppers are ready, you may add small diced raw onion pieces. The aroma is breath-taking, and the taste of this snack will make your evening heavenly.

 

 

• Nswaa

We continue with the mini beasts’ theme and, on this occasion, fried white ants are another dish to try in Uganda, both in street food stalls and in some restaurants. White ants are a real candy treat for the little ones and an exquisite treat for the more discerning palates.

The nswa mostly originate from anti hills. In the evening whom termites have made openings on the anthill, the trapper would then cover the anthill with either sacks, tarpaulin or grass, the ants flying out of the mound would then lose their way out and eventually slide into a hole where a container had been prepared to tap them.

After trapping, they contain some other unwanted insects that are carefully picked out. The ants are washed before either cooked or roasted. To be roasted, little salty water is added before putting them on fire, boiled and later sundried. Later the insects lose their wings leaving one task of winnowing the wings. Then they are ready for a snack.

 

• Fish

One of the best things Uganda is endured with numerous lakes thus giving it the chance to enjoy different varieties of fish as a supplement of Uganda food varieties. Many tribes here in Uganda eat their fish smoked or fresh and Sun-dried fish is a delicacy in the western region.

A variety of small fish which are highly nutritious (Nkejje and Mukene) which are sun-dried and cooked in a sauce of peanut. Their high flavour and nutritional value are highly prized.

The Tilapia Fish

Another common fish to Ugandans is Tilapia which is often fried and served with chips in Restaurant. When you get to Uganda food and drink selling stalls or restaurants especially in Kampala ask for Ngege and you will enjoy your day with this delicious food delicacy. Furthermore, as mentioned above during preparation of Luwombo, this is another type of sauce prepared as Luwombo. It is mostly prepared in central (Baganda) on occasions as a special sauce for special people but can recently be found in restaurants more especially dry fish mixed with groundnuts. So, when you visit one of the restaurants in Uganda just order for luwombo fish and feel the taste

 

 

Fruits as a supplement of Uganda food

In Uganda there are lots of tropical fruits to eat which include mangoes, paw paws, oranges, tangerines, avocados, jack fruits, lemons, sweet banana (some types of which are used to brew banana wine laced with sorghum for yeast), sugar cane, varies types of berries both localised and wild, guava, pineapples.

If you are in the city, try Nakasero for most of Uganda food and fruits which are also exported overseas. Uganda’s fruit industry has not been well developed like that of Kenya so there is not a heavy production of hybridized fruits although some apples are now being grown on a small scale in Kabale in western Uganda

 

More Fruits

Some temperate fruits from South Africa and Kenya find their way into Uganda and on the quantity of Uganda food. Instead, you’re pleasantly surprised to eat some wild mangoes and other fruits which although not having striking eye appeal have the juiciest taste you will ever dream of in the world.

There are varieties of fruits always in season and being sold on stalls all over the country especially on the roadside. Please remember to wash your fruit before eating it and any Uganda food.

 

Traditional Ugandan drinks

In order to fulfill the Best of Uganda Cuisine you need to on the  Ugandan both traditional and international beers, which are one of the most popular drinks in the country.  Local beer, known as pombe, is made of fermented millet and banana. Continuing with alcoholic drinks, Waragi is a banana in which is very popular with tourists and is used as a base for a traditional Ugandan cocktail.

Other drinks that are commonly consumed in Uganda are tea and coffee. As far as tea is concerned, chai-style tea is the most popular, for example, chai masala, which is clearly of Indian origin. On the other hand, coffee is a more serious matter, as Uganda is the largest producer of all Africa. The Robusta and Arabica varieties are grown by small producers and cooperatives who sell their products to the export companies.

Now that you know the most representative flavors of Uganda, don’t think about it any longer and try the country’s traditional dishes during your trip.

In conclusion:

Conclusively, the best of Uganda Cuisine mentioned above  is a collection of just the tip of the iceberg. This list has not included the all-favourite Ugandan tropical fruits and desserts like the revered jackfruit, the juicy sugarcanes and the browny crunchy mandazi or pilau rice. Uganda has over 50 closely related subcultures, but with significant differences—food inclusive—covering all that is worthy of several books.

We enjoy both the security of knowing that there will be familiar cuisines and the excitement of trying new ones everywhere we go. This is an introduction to a few revered local dishes that people worldwide have tried and enjoyed. Nothing has been said about diet or religious lifestyle limitations on this list.