Congo....unexplored cuisine !

 

Congo....unexplored cuisine.

Congo is a small country in the African Continent. It took 14hrs journey by Kenya Airways to reach my first African destination Lubumbashi via Nairobi. Congo is rich in minerals, primarily Copper. There are many mid budget or 3 star hotels in the town of Lubumbashi. The capital of Democratic Republic of Congo is Kinshasa. The major language apart from Congolese is French. One must know French to communicate or navigate thru the country.  The weather was excellent between 10deg to 26deg C

Food habits are often linked to the region of origin: fish is a staple food for those living on the rivers, meat-heavy dishes for Congolese living in tropical savannah regions, while those living in wooden tropical areas primarily eat vegetarian food. It would not be possible to describe all the gastronomic diversity of the DRC as there is vast array of food, regional and French eaten and popular in Congo.

I had a great time enjoying the food and tasting local wines, beers. Let us begin exploring some of the unexplored cuisine of Congo.....jinga la la.

Liboke - 

It is a dish generally composed of boiled fish with tomato, salt, and chilli and wrapped in banana leaves which imparts the fish with their aromas. The addition of seasonings, garlic, celery adds to the flavour and everything is then put on a grill. The fish can also be replaced with chicken, pork or squash.

Pondu – 

is one of the most popular dishes throughout the country. The dish is made using prepared cassava leaves that are cooked in a pot, with or without spices. Some use oil, particularly palm oil—and spices like black peppers are added along with eggplants and scallions (spring onion). The taste is unbelievable with the aroma leaves infused with peppery tang.

Lituma - 

A popular accompaniment for a meal It consists of plantains (rwa banana) that are boiled and then peeled and pounded, mixed with aromatic spices and the mixture flattened in a dish, cut in squares and steamed. It reminded me of Kothmirwadi from Maharashtra or Besan wadi from Rajasthan.

Mbinzo (Caterpillars) –

Next to mushroom’s popularity, there are mbinzo (dried caterpillars). In Kinshasa, they are generally cooked with a light white sauce made of onions and a little oil with the essential red chili pepper. But mbinzo’s I ordered (didn’t have the guts to eat) were cooked in palm oil with diced vegetables, tomatoes, red chillies and lemon juice.

Ya Jean -

 it is smoked goat meat. The freshly slaughtered goat meat is seasoned with salt, pepper, chilli oil and the pieces are wrapped in parchment paper and then put on the grill. After three-quarters of an hour, the meal is served with fried plantains. This with cold beer is heavenly.

In Lubumbashi there are nice French restaurants and the food is awesome. I tried a few dishes:

Frog legs in Lemon Butter sauce –

thin but meaty legs, tossed in palm oil and the sautéed in lemon butter. This with a glass of wine went well.

Scallops of Beef with fries –

a very well done beef scallops, rolled with drizzled with brown dill sauce (real meaty flavour)  topped with cheese were a treat to eat. The fries of local potatoes were crisp and just about sweet.

Shrimp cocktail in Avacado –

 one of the best shrimp cocktail I had in years. It was fresh shrimps, the thousand island dressing perfect and avocado cooked just right served with crispy lettuce.

The food exploring will continue in my next trips to DRC.....Till then “Kende Malamu” (goodbye)