Imbo plain communities

Ubugali

Cassava and maize flour cooked stiff, the base of nearly every Burundian meal. Torn off, rolled in the palm and used to lift beans or sauce.

Serves 6 · 30 minutes

Ibiharage

Red kidney beans fried with onion, garlic and a great deal of oil until they break down into a thick savoury mass. Burundi's most-eaten dish and its national plate.

Serves 6 · 2 hours, plus overnight soaking

Mandazi

Cardamom-scented fried dough triangles sold with tea at markets and bus stations across the Great Lakes. Slightly sweet, and eaten at any hour.

Serves Makes 20 · 2 hours

Boko Boko Harees

Cracked wheat and chicken beaten together into a thick savoury porridge and topped with fried onions. Arrived on the Swahili coast from Arabia and travelled inland to Bujumbura.

Serves 6 · 2 hours 30 minutes

Mukeke

Lake Tanganyika fish grilled or fried whole and served with plantain and tomato sauce. Mukeke is a Tanganyika endemic, and the lake supplies Bujumbura daily.

Serves 4 · 45 minutes

Isombe

also Pounded cassava leaves

Cassava leaves pounded and cooked for hours with palm oil, aubergine and groundnut until dark and smooth. Eaten across the Great Lakes and made most patiently in Burundi.

Serves 6 · 2 hours

Renga

also Smoked fish stew, Ndagala stew

Lake Tanganyika's small ndagala fish, smoked and then stewed with tomato and palm oil, eaten along the Burundian shore with ubugali.

Serves 4 · 40 minutes

Urwarwa

also Banana beer, Impeke

Banana beer fermented with sorghum flour and drunk through long reed straws from a shared pot. Central to Burundian hospitality and to every negotiation of consequence.

Serves Makes about 5 litres · 5 days

Fufu

Cassava and maize flour beaten into a firm dough, the daily food of most of the Congo. Rolled in the fingers, dented with the thumb, and used to scoop.

Serves 6 · 30 minutes

Madesu

also Congolese beans, Haricots

Red beans stewed with onion, tomato and palm oil until thick, the cheapest and most eaten dish in Kinshasa. Served with fufu or rice and a spoon of chilli.

Serves 6 · 2 hours, plus overnight soaking

Poulet à la Moambé

also Moambe chicken, Nsusu na mwambe

Chicken cooked in palm nut pulp with chilli and garlic, the national dish of both Congos. The palm oil rising orange to the surface is the sign it is ready.

Serves 6 · 1 hour 30 minutes

Ntaba

also Grilled goat, Chèvre braisée

Goat marinated in mustard, garlic and lemon then grilled slowly over charcoal, the Kinshasa nganda dish, eaten late with plantain and beer.

Serves 6 · 1 hour 30 minutes, plus 4 hours marinating

Mikate

also Beignets

Fried dough balls sold from basins by women at every Kinshasa junction, eaten hot at breakfast or as a snack with sweet coffee.

Serves Makes 24 · 2 hours 15 minutes

Makemba

also Grilled plantain, Banane braisée

Plantain grilled over charcoal until blistered and served with a fierce pili-pili, sold outside every Kinshasa bar and bus stop.

Serves 4 · 25 minutes

Liboke ya Mbisi

Fish steamed in a banana leaf parcel with onion, chilli and lime, the Congo river's signature method. Opened at the table so the steam and smell arrive together.

Serves 4 · 1 hour

Mbika

also Egusi in leaves, Pumpkin seed parcels

Ground melon seed mixed with fish or meat, wrapped in leaves and steamed until it sets into a savoury cake. A Congolese celebration dish and a market food.

Serves 6 · 1 hour 30 minutes

Pondu

also Saka saka

Pounded cassava leaves cooked long with palm oil, smoked fish and aubergine. Eaten across the Congo basin and cooked for hours, since cassava leaves demand it.

Serves 6 · 1 hour 45 minutes

Sombe ya Kivu

also Kivu cassava leaves, Sombe

Cassava leaves pounded and cooked long with palm oil and smoked fish, the daily dish of the Kivu hills. Bitter, dark and cooked until it no longer is.

Serves 6 · 2 hours

Malafu ya Ngasi

also Palm wine

Palm wine tapped from the oil palm and drunk the same day, sweet in the morning and sharp by evening. Poured for the ancestors before anyone else drinks.

Serves Varies · Tapped daily

Lotoko

also Congolese maize spirit

Distilled maize or cassava spirit, made in the villages and drunk everywhere. Clear, strong and entirely unregulated — this is a description of a tradition rather than a recommendation.

Serves Varies · 5 to 7 days fermenting, plus distilling