People and Culture »

Cuisine from Uganda

The cuisine of Uganda consists of traditional cooking with English, Arab and Asian (especially Indian) influences. Like the cuisines of most countries, it varies in complexity, from the most basic, starchy filler with a sauce of beans or meat, to several-course meals served in upper-class homes and high-end restaurants.

Main dishes are usually centered on a sauce or stew of groundnuts, beans or meat. The starch traditionally comes from ugali (maize meal) or matoke (boiled and mashed green banana), in the South, or an ugali made from millet in the North. Cassava, yam and African sweet potato are also eaten; the more affluent include white (often called "Irish") potato and rice in their diets. Soybean was promoted as a healthy food staple in the 1970s and this is also used, especially for breakfast. Chapati, an Asian flatbread, is also part of Ugandan cuisine.

Chicken, fish (usually fresh, but there is also a dried variety, reconstituted for stewing), beef, goat and mutton are all commonly eaten, although among the rural poor there would have to be a good reason for slaughtering a large animal such as a goat or a cow and nyama, (Swahili word for "meat") would not be eaten every day.

Various leafy greens are grown in Uganda. These may be boiled in the stews, or served as side dishes in fancier homes. Amaranth (dodo), nakati, and borr are examples of regional greens.

Ugali is cooked up into a thick porridge for breakfast. For main means, white flour is added to the saucepan and stirred into the ugali until the consistency is firm. It is then turned out onto a serving plate and cut into individual slices (or served onto individual plates in the kitchen).

Fruits are plentiful and regularly eaten, as in the Western World, as snacks or dessert. Europeans introduced cake and this is also popular.


Some traditional food names

Groundnut - peanuts are a vital staple and groundnut sauce is probably the most commonly eaten one.

Mashed bananas are the common traditional dish among the Baganda.

Sim-sim - sesame - used particularly in the north, roasted sesame paste is mixed into a stew of beans or greens and served as a side dish, sesame paste may be served as a condiment; a candy is made from roasted sesame seeds with sugar or honey.

Oluwombo or Luwombo is a traditional dish from Uganda. It is both a classic dish of royal dinners and a dish popular throughout Uganda, especially at holiday time. It is often said that oluwombo dates to 1887 when, during the reign of Kabaka Mwanga, the dish was introduced by his chief cook, Kawunta. The basic banana-leaf cooking method has been common across tropical Africa for centuries and is also much used wherever bananas or plantains are grown.  It can be made with beef, chicken, goat, pork, or mushrooms.  Oluwombo is the most revered traditional style of cooking. It involves placing the items to be prepared in a well-prepared banana leaf and then steamed for about 2 hours.

Snacks

Beverage

The local name for beer is ‘Omwenge’ and it means both traditional and western beers. Both traditional and western beers are probably the most widely available alcoholic beverage across Uganda. Pombe is a swahili word, is the generic word for locally made fermented beer, usually from banana or millet. Waragi is the generic term for distilled spirits and these also vary, see for example Uganda Waragi a brand name for clear or yellow gin.

Tea (chai) and coffee (kawa) are popular beverages and important cash crops. These can be served English-style or spiced (chai masala).

Coca-cola, Pepsi and Fanta all made inroads in the Ugandan market and soda became very popular.

 

Menu »