What’s on the menu in Congo?

I’ll be honest - cooking in DRC can be a little tricky.  Certainly much different than the cooking experience we have here in the U.S.  It’s HOT in Congo, many don’t have access to electricity and appliances, and the culture surrounding cooking is simply different.  Let’s explore what traditional cooking and cuisine are like in DRC! 

The average household in Congo doesn’t have the option to cook inside.  Their houses are often smaller and are not equipped with an oven, microwave, or traditional stove. So how do they cook their food? The Congolese heating source of choice is a good ol’ charcoal fire.   Many heat up their food on an open fire, while some use an outdoor cookstove - a small metal stove with a top for charcoal and an open window at the bottom to release heat. Cooking is almost always done outdoors because it is safer and, quite frankly, it’s just too hot to cook indoors.  

So, what’s on the menu for Congolese?  A traditional dish consists of different combinations of chicken or fish with cassava leaves, hot pepper sauce, bananas, rice, peanuts, and palm nuts.  They often whip up chikwanga, which is cassava cooked and stored in banana leaves.  Of course, we can’t forget about fufu, which is by far the most traditional food I’ve heard of and experienced in Congo.  Fufu is a sticky, dough-like staple made from cassava flour.  The starch is eaten with soup or stew preparations as it doesn’t have any potent taste of its own.  From what I’ve seen at Bolingo, there is almost always a large scoop of fufu on a plate with meat and vegetables cooked in a thin, soup-like sauce. They pick off a piece of the fufu with their hand and dip it in the sauce.  It’s DELICIOUS. 

I love that we typically stick to traditional cuisine in Bolingo Village.  Our farmers concentrate on typical Congolese crops such as cassava, corn, peanuts, and leafy greens.  Even though we’re able to grow and purchase other items, it’s so important to us that we’re staying culturally relevant.  Plus, it’s what the Bolingo families like to eat!  When we ask the kids what their favorite food is, almost everyone says fufu and chicken (or soso as they say in Lingala).  Even though we have indoor stoves in our houses, most of the foster moms prefer to use their clean outdoor cookstoves.  It’s what they know and they LOVE doing it.  They truly pride themselves on preparing delicious meals for the kids every single day, and for that, we are most grateful.