Cuisine of the Republic of the Congo
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The cuisine of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo varies widely, representing the
food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inge ...
of indigenous people. Cassava, '' fufu'', rice, plantain and potatoes are generally the staple foods eaten with other side dishes.


History


Common Congolese dishes

Less than two percent of the land is cultivated, and most of this is used for subsistence farming. Congo's farmland is the source of a wide variety of crops. These include maize, rice, cassava (manioc),
sweet potato The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the Convolvulus, bindweed or morning glory family (biology), family, Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a r ...
es,
yam Yam or YAM may refer to: Plants and foods *Yam (vegetable), common name for members of ''Dioscorea'' * Taro, known in Malaysia and Singapore as yam * Sweet potato, specifically its orange-fleshed cultivars, often referred to as yams in North Amer ...
, taro, plantain, tomatoes,
pumpkin A pumpkin is a vernacular term for mature winter squash of species and varieties in the genus ''Cucurbita'' that has culinary and cultural significance but no agreed upon botanical or scientific meaning. The term ''pumpkin'' is sometimes use ...
and varieties of
pea The pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the flowering plant species ''Pisum sativum''. Each pod contains several peas, which can be green or yellow. Botanically, pea pods are fruit, since they contain seeds and d ...
s and
nuts Nut often refers to: * Nut (fruit), fruit composed of a hard shell and a seed, or a collective noun for dry and edible fruits or seeds * Nut (hardware), fastener used with a bolt Nut or Nuts may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Com ...
. These foods are eaten throughout the country, but there are also regional dishes. The most important crops for export are coffee and
palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 33% of global oils produced from ...
.
Wild Wild, wild, wilds or wild may refer to: Common meanings * Wild animal * Wilderness, a wild natural environment * Wildness, the quality of being wild or untamed Art, media and entertainment Film and television * ''Wild'' (2014 film), a 2014 A ...
plants,Mukenge, Tshilemalema (2002.
"Culture and customs of the Congo."
Greenwood Press.
fruits, mushrooms,
honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...
and other foods such as
bushmeat Bushmeat is meat from wildlife species that are hunted for human consumption, most often referring to the meat of game in Africa. Bushmeat represents a primary source of animal protein and a cash-earning commodity for inhabitants of humid tropi ...
and fish are also gathered, hunted, and used in dishes. People often sell these crops at markets, or by the roadside. Cattle breeding and the development of large-scale agricultural businesses has been hindered by the recent war and the poor quality of the road system. Congolese meals often consist of a
starch Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants for energy storage. Worldwide, it is the most common carbohydrate in human diets ...
y ingredient, along with vegetables and
meat Meat is animal flesh that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted, farmed, and scavenged animals for meat since prehistoric times. The establishment of settlements in the Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of animals such as chic ...
in the form of a
stew A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been cooked in liquid and served in the resultant gravy. A stew needs to have raw ingredients added to the gravy. Ingredients in a stew can include any combination of vegetables and ...
. The starch can come in the form of a paste or mash made of cassava or corn flour, called '' fufu'' or '' ugali''. When eaten, the ''fufu'' is rolled into golf ball-sized balls and dipped into the spicy stew—often an indentation is made with the thumb in order to bring up a thimbleful of sauce. A type of fermented
bread Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour (usually wheat) and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diet. It is one of the oldest human-made f ...
, ''kwanga'', made from cassava, is commercially produced throughout the country. ''Lituma'' is a popular plantain dish made from mashed plantains which are formed into balls and baked. Sweet potatoes are prepared in a similar way, and mixed with roasted peanuts in some parts of the country. Rice is often mixed with beans. To accompany these starchy ingredients, green vegetables such as cassava leaves, ''tshitekutaku'' (a
spinach Spinach (''Spinacia oleracea'') is a leafy green flowering plant native to central and western Asia. It is of the order Caryophyllales, family Amaranthaceae, subfamily Chenopodioideae. Its leaves are a common edible vegetable consumed either f ...
-like plant) and okra are often added. Mushrooms, especially prized amongst the Luba people, are often seen as a substitute for meat in times of shortage. Though total
vegetarianism Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism may ...
is unknown, most meals are eaten without meat due to its high price. Fish are plentiful along the Congo River, its tributaries, and various lakes, and are baked, boiled or fried for immediate consumption, or smoked or salted when preserved. Markets often sell ready-to-eat peppered fish baked in
banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...
leaves. Goat is the most widely consumed meat. '' Mwambe'' is a common way of cooking chicken with peanut sauce. Edible insects such as
grasshopper Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grasshopp ...
s and
caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...
s are eaten; they tend to have a nutty flavour. Sauces to mix with the ingredients above can be made with tomatoes, onions, and the local aromatic
herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...
s. Vegetable oil, together with salt, hot red chile pepper and sweet green
pepper Pepper or peppers may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant ** Black pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae ** Bell pepper ** Chili ...
are used to impart extra flavour. These spices are less frequently used in the far south.


''Nganda'' restaurants

Kinshasa's ''nganda''
restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...
s, with a greater mix of ethnicities, are ethnic restaurants serving food from specific parts of the country, as well as Western imports such as bread and beer. Often owned by unmarried women, the ''nganda'' occupy a middle ground between bars and
restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...
s. Three typical types of ''nganda'' restaurants are: * Riverside ''nganda'' serve baked fish served with cooked plantains: recipes from up river. * Kongo ''nganda'' serve fish dishes with a vegetable sauce, together with ''kwanga'' mentioned above. These dishes originate downriver from Kinshasa. * Kasai ''nganda'' serve goat meat with rice and green vegetables. They also use rabbit as the grand dessert at a special occasion. ''Nganda'' restaurants are often geared not only to specific regions, but also different classes—from migrant menial workers and miners, to professionals and government officials.


List of Congolese foods

* ''Moamba'', a sauce or a dish prepared with a sauce usually made from peanut butter. * ''Ngai ngai ya musaka'' is a sauce or a dish prepared with a sauce usually made from the pericarp (not the seeds) of palm nuts, the fruit of the African oil palm (''Elaeis guineensis'') tree, in western Middle Africa. '' Ngai ngai'' is a leaf called ''oseille'' in French and
sorrel Sorrel (''Rumex acetosa''), also called common sorrel or garden sorrel, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the family Polygonaceae. Other names for sorrel include spinach dock and narrow-leaved dock ('dock' being a common name for the genus '' ...
in English. * ''Chikwangue'' or '' kwanga'', made from cassava, cooked and stored in banana leaves, darker in some parts of the country, nearly white in other parts. * '' Fufu'', sticky dough-like dish made of cassava flour. This is a staple dish much as rice or potatoes in other countries. * ''Loso na madesu''—rice and beans. * ''Sombe'' or ''pondu''—soup made from boiled, pounded and cooked cassava leaves. * '' Ndakala''—small dried fish. * ''
Pili pili Peter Gatonye (born November 1982), known better for his stage name Pilipili is a musician/singer from Kenya. At the beginning of his career, he collaborated with another musician, Gun B. Their best known song was "Nampenda".Daily Nation, October 28 ...
''—very hot pepper, served with nearly everything, even occasionally dried and sprinkled on fruit. * Palm wine made from the sap of a wild palm tree, is fermented by natural yeasts, and has an alcohol content of between five and seven percent. * ''Mbembe''—snails. * ''Mulenda'', or ''dongo-dongo''— okra. * ''Soso''—chicken and rice. * ''Ntaba'' or ''ngulu yako tumba''—grilled goat, pork. * ''Mbisi ya Mayi'' (''poisson de mere'')—fish. * ''Liboke ya mbika'' (steamed pumpkin-seed pudding), ''liboke ya ngulu'' (pork pepper soup steamed in banana leaves) or ''liboke ya mbisi'' (fish, mostly catfish pepper soup steamed in banana leaves). * '' Mikate''—deep-fried dough balls. * ''Makelele''— grasshoppers. * ''Pain mwambe''—peanut butter bread. * '' Makayabu''—salt fish. * ''Kamundele''—kebab sticks, beef on skewers. * ''Thomson''— horse mackerel. * ''Mbewngi''— black-eyed peas. * ''Loso ya bulayi''—Congolese jollof rice. * ''Madesu''—bean stew. * ''Pondu ya madesu''—cassava leaf and bean stew. * ''
Dabo kolo Dabo kolo (Amharic: (d'abo kolo), Oromo: ) is an Ethiopian and Eritrean snack and finger food consisting of small pieces of baked bread. ''Dabo kolo'' means corn bread in the Amharic language, with ''dabo'' for bread, and '' kolo'' for corn o ...
''—small pieces of baked bread.


See also

* African cuisine *
List of African cuisines This is a list of African cuisines. A cuisine is a characteristic style of cooking practices and traditions, often associated with a specific culture. The various cuisines of Africa use a combination of locally available fruits, cereal grains a ...


References

{{Cuisine Central African cuisine