Vili

Chikwangue

Fermented cassava steamed in leaves into a dense sour loaf, sliced and eaten with every sauce. Keeps for days without refrigeration, which is the point.

Serves 6 · 2 hours, plus 3 days fermenting

Saka Madesu

also Beans with cassava leaves

Beans and cassava leaves cooked together with palm oil, the cheapest full meal in the Congo and among the most nutritionally complete.

Serves 6 · 2 hours 15 minutes, plus soaking

Poulet à la Moambé

Chicken in palm nut sauce, claimed as national dish on both banks of the river. In Brazzaville it is served with chikwangue and a bowl of pili pili.

Serves 6 · 1 hour 30 minutes

Poulet aux Feuilles de Manioc

also Chicken with cassava leaves

Chicken cooked into pounded cassava leaves with palm oil until the leaves darken and the meat falls apart, the Brazzaville Sunday dish.

Serves 6 · 2 hours

Makayabu

Salt cod soaked, fried and served in tomato sauce with plantain, sold from lunch stalls in Brazzaville. Imported salt fish became a Congolese staple a century ago.

Serves 6 · 45 minutes, plus 24 hours soaking

Mbala Pinda

also Peanut sticks, Pinda

Ground peanuts and maize flour steamed in leaf into firm sticks, sold at Brazzaville markets and eaten as a snack or a light meal.

Serves Makes about 12 · 1 hour 30 minutes

Liboke ya Ntaba

Goat steamed in banana leaf parcels with onion, chilli and herbs, made for celebrations and opened at the table.

Serves 6 · 2 hours

Saka Saka

Pounded cassava leaves cooked with palm oil and smoked fish, eaten several times a week across the country. The pounding is done in a tall wooden mortar.

Serves 6 · 1 hour 45 minutes

Maboke

also Fish in leaves, Liboke ya mbisi

River fish seasoned and wrapped in marantaceae leaves and steamed or grilled in the parcel, so the fish cooks in its own juice. The purest Congo basin cooking there is.

Serves 4 · 50 minutes

Malafu

Palm wine, drunk fresh from the gourd or left to sour, and the drink poured at every gathering and libation on both banks of the Congo.

Serves Varies · Tapped daily

Bâton de Manioc

also Chikwangue

Fermented cassava paste wrapped in leaves and steamed into a dense sour stick, kept for days and eaten with every sauce. The Congo basin's bread.

Serves 6 · 2 hours, plus 3 days fermenting

Nkumu

also Gnetum leaves, Koko gabonais

Gnetum forest leaves shredded to threads and cooked with palm oil, groundnut and smoked fish. The green that appears on Gabonese plates more than any other.

Serves 6 · 1 hour

Poulet Nyembwe

Chicken in palm nut sauce, Gabon's national dish, cooked with the pulp of the oil palm rather than its oil. Served with bâton de manioc or rice.

Serves 6 · 1 hour 30 minutes

Brochettes de Poisson

Fish skewers grilled at roadside braziers in Libreville and Port-Gentil, served with fried plantain and a chilli sauce.

Serves Makes 12 · 40 minutes, plus 1 hour marinating

Atanga

also African pear, Safou

The purple African pear, softened in hot water or over embers until it turns buttery, salted and eaten with bread or roast maize. Gabon's seasonal obsession.

Serves 4 · 15 minutes

Odika

also Chocolat indigène

Wild mango kernels ground and pressed into dark blocks, melted into a rich sauce with fish or meat. Gabonese call it indigenous chocolate for its colour and its keeping.

Serves 6 · 1 hour 15 minutes

Feuilles de Manioc

Pounded cassava leaves with palm oil, smoked fish and groundnut, cooked long. The Congo basin's most-eaten green, and Gabon's version leans on the groundnut.

Serves 6 · 1 hour 45 minutes

Poisson au Nyembwe

also Fish in palm nut sauce

Fish cooked in the thick orange pulp of the palm nut, the sauce that defines Gabonese cooking and gives the national chicken dish its name.

Serves 6 · 1 hour

Folong

also Amaranth greens

Amaranth leaves stewed with tomato, onion and smoked fish, the simplest and commonest Gabonese green dish.

Serves 6 · 40 minutes

Vin de Palme

Palm wine tapped from raffia or oil palms, drunk fresh or fermented, and central to Bwiti ceremony as well as ordinary sociability.

Serves Varies · Tapped daily

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