An ever important topic, including one of my all-time favorite words to say in Luganda, ebijanjaalo!
-Olina ki?
-Njagala ebijanjaalo n’omuceere!
A typical meal near Masaka might look like this:
Food (foreground) + Sauce (meat in the bowl behind)
In Luganda, “food” refers to the starches while “sauce” is the meat/protein aspect of the meal. In this photo, the “sauce” is in the bowl in the back. If meat or fish is served, this is where it would be. The sauce could also be beans (my favorite, ebijanjaalo!) or peanut sauce (g-nuts in Ugandan English, or ebinyeebwa). The “food” is on the plate, clockwise from upper left-
Rice – omuceere
Sweet potato/yam? – amayuni or endagu or maybe even lumonde like regular potato
Pumpkin – ensujju
Cassava – muwogo
Millet -
Bitter greens -
Avocado – ovakedo
Cabbage (?)
Potato – lumonde
Steamed unripe bananas – amatooke
I like this photo because it shows all the options – if you were to order “everything.” However, this was at a restaurant in Masaka Town early on in my stay. I learned which foods I liked best and just ordered those. What’s surprising about this photo is that the amatooke is almost hidden by the other starches!
I would be remiss if I didn’t elaborate on MATOOKE first!! Technically the word is amatooke and refers to unripe bananas, typically steamed, sometimes boiled, and (in Central Uganda) akin to bread in the meal – always present! My sister would say a meal (or at least a day) was incomplete without eating amatooke; with such high standing, I’m giving bananas their own page here. I’m going to keep referring to that steamed, unripe banana as matooke because I’m not sure if it is banana or plantain technically.
When at the office, my regular lunch would be rice, pumpkin, matooke, and potato served with the bean sauce, or once in a while I would order fish.
At home at the end of a meal, I learned how to thank Maama for cooking, to which she would reply, “Thank you for eating!”
-Weebale okufumba, Maama!
-Weebale okulya!
More vocabulary!
Fruits and Vegetables
Tea Time
