The Food of Uganda: The Dilemma of a Full Stomach or Taste

Ugandans like their food salty and, if they can’t have it salty, they like it tasteless. Their diet consists of starch, starch, protein, and more starch.

Posho: This is their basic food. It’s corn ground into a powder, then mixed with water, until it’s a sticky, bread-like texture. It tastes like nothing. And it’s served with everything. Rice is the only substitute, but because rice is expensive and posho is super cheap, rice is hardly ever served. My family serves posho every night with either beans, a vegetable, or meat. It takes up the most space on the plate, is meant to be combined with the other dinner item, and is the main thing that fills you up. I didn’t mind it at first, but now I have to force it down. It’s aggravating that it’s tasteless and so heavy. I’m done with posho.

Beans: The beans here are phenomenal. I could eat just them day and night. I don’t know why they taste better here. It may be because they are one of the few things that have any taste, and a good taste at that.

Cassava: Ugandans are also addicted to cassava. Cassava is like a potato, but softer and slightly sweeter. I like cassava but my family serves it all the time. It’s not good enough to eat every day. I miss my Irish potatoes. They have Irish potatoes here, but I think my family looks down on them. According to my family, cassava is clearly better than potatoes. My family made me cassava French fries and, instead of specifying them as cassava chips, they just call them chips. One of the greatest disappointments of my life was when I bit into that fry, expecting potato-y goodness and instead got cassava okay-ness.

Vegetables: Most of the vegetables my family serves me are local vegetables that don’t exist in America. One looks like peas in their pod, but it’s a bean. The other three look like spinach leaves, but aren’t spinach. All of them only have a little flavor and the flavor they do have is not that pleasant. But it’s eatable for a short amount of time. But I’m starting to reach my limit.

Maloqoin: It’s a clump of green paste, which is considered their best dish. It has taste. This is the only dish they eat with potatoes. The first two times I had maloqoin, I ate it by itself and hated it. The third time I ate it with the potatoes and actually thought it was alright.

Matoke: Boiled plantains. I suspect they like this dish is because boiling plantains takes the flavor out of them. If they add onions and tomatoes to flavor it, it’s actually not bad.

Groundnut sauce: peanut butter but liquid-ier. It’s delicious.

Avocado: They eat avocado with anything. But they eat it by itself (with salt of course!). They think it’s strange that when we eat it, it’s in something. I once got served avocado with spaghetti. And also fries. I don’t love avocado, but I eat it. I like the taste of nutrition, a rare taste here.

Cabbage: Also something I’ve started eating here. I’m obsessed. Why haven’t my parents ever served me it? I made some cabbage for my family, because they can’t afford it, and we seasoned it with mushroom powder, onions, and tomatoes. If we hadn’t eaten it with posho, the meal would have been fantastic.

Fish: First time I’ve ever had to stare at the fish’s face as I ate it. No de-boning before serving here.

Breakfast for Dinner: I tried to explain some American food to my family. I made them “pancakes” and scrambled eggs, but it didn’t quite turn out American. But they seemed to like it okay.

Mashed potatoes: I also tried to explain mashed potatoes to them, a staple in my American home. They reacted with revulsion and swore they would never eat it. I was shocked and angry. Eventually, after my temperature rose a few notches, I realized their disgust stemmed from their worry about digestion. The idea of milk and potatoes together doesn’t sit right with their stomachs. I also found out later that most Ugandans are lactose intolerant, just because they’re not use to milk or cheese – no refrigeration. I calmed myself with the thought that I know they would love mashed potatoes and they can digest them just fine. They don’t know what they’re missing.