Our daily food

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I must admit, Ugandan food is not my favourite. I don’t know if it is because our hostel and faculty cook crappy food, or is this really what people eat everyday. According to our one Ugandan classmate, yes, this is what they usually eat, with even less variety. We even play a guessing game before meals, we almost always get all the dishes correct, because, of course, we get almost the same things everyday, especially for the vegetarians like me. Beans, matoke, posho, rice, noodles, local spinach, cabbage, meat, etc.

For me, famous for having not many tastebuds, the food actually tastes good most of the days. Without much variety maybe, but decent and filling (you can say that again, I never understood how Ugandans can polish off a piled plate of matoke for lunch and dinner). But once in a while when we go out for food (Italian pizza! Indian curry! Lebanonese humus and falefal!) I realise how much I miss food from home…all kinds of Chinese food, sushi, veggie dishes from the Foundation, Indian dohsas, not to mention real cheese etc etc. (It was, frankly, a relief when I arrived in Rwanda and Tanzania to find food that is actually seasoned and tasty!)

That being said, I actually do enjoy matoke, posho, chapati, and the beans/peas. Especially the fresh fruit, oh dear, I have never tasted such good fruit in my life – whole pineapple, mangoes, avocadoes (!!), passion fruit, papaya – I remember one time when I was buying a pineapple, the guy actually asked if I wanted it ripe for today or tomorrow! That’s a far cry from the expired this month or next month pineapples from home. As for street food, I enjoyed the ‘rolex’ – an omlette roled with a chapati – cheap (only 800 shillings), tasty, and filling. Unfortunately, we didn’t really dare to try the street food because of health reasons. Everywhere, you would see grilled corn on the cob, grilled plantains, grilled meat (goat’s liver, chicken, and the like), little fried cakes, little round flour pancakes…the only two I dared to buy were seasame/honey crackers and samosas – both too good to describe! We did make our own chapati with fruit (like a crepe) sprinkled with brown sugar. Very recommended!