Culture

THE TASTE OF RWANDA

Isombeas local as it gets
BY CASSANDRA LUKWAGO
When in Rwanda, it is imperative to try some of the local food. One of the meals that you may find in this region and nowhere else is Isombe. The meal, originally from Congo, eventually filtered through to Rwanda and Burundi. It is made from the leaves of the dynamic cassava plant and can be eaten in many forms; you can fry it, boil it or grind it into flour. It grows all year long and can grow in poor soils. It also thrives in the heat so it can grow almost anywhere in Africa. In Rwanda it is the cassava leaves that are a delicacy. When cooked and ready, Isombe becomes a dark green sauce, rich in vitamins and protein, and often consumed with posho, made from cassava flour. Chef Joseph Nkunda of Afrika bite says some vegetables like leeks, onions, green pepper are added to the recipe. The vegetables are first fried in palm oil and then the Isombe is added. Isombe also often has a meaty flavor but no meat is used. To provide this flavour stock from boiled bones is used. Chicken bones can be used as well for a vegan meal. Although it is cheap to makea kilo costs about Rwf500it takes hard work to transform these seemingly simple leaves into a proper meal. One needs to set aside about four to six hours to get it right. You need to make sure the palm oil gets ready, if not, it causes stomach problems, says Nkunda. The leaves also needed to be pounded well until the fluid is squeezed out. You cant leave the kitchen for long if youre cooking Isombe he adds. Innocent, one of the staff at Afrikan bite, a restaurant that specializes in African dishes, tells me that it is ordered by many people, including the expatriate community. At the restaurant, it is only made on Wednesdays and there are never any leftovers. Although a traditional meal, not many people know how to prepare it and if they do, they do not have the time. Nevertheless, it is a favorite for many so it is not uncommon to find those who are not up to this grueling recipe to carry it home from restaurants. The dish can keep in the fridge for two days. Nkunda says he has a Rwandan client who carries it all the way to Uganda. For Clarisse a student at Mount Kenya University, Isombe is a meal she has been eating and cooking since childhood and she plans to teach her children to prepare it too.

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THE INDEPENDENT Nov. 25 - Dec 01, 2011