Mujje Tulye from Uganda/Food in contemporary Uganda

A kettle next to a local restaurant

YWCA Catering school

Food is one of the linkages between rural Uganda and urban Uganda. Each society values different types of food. The merging of society in contemporary Uganda through migration has led to a merging of tastes and acquisition of others. the Baganda, for instance, who are proud of Luwombo and Matooke, get a taste of Kalo from Ankole, on a daily basis.

The cuisines have -Indian and spice-route influence. Curry powder, turmeric and masalas (spice blends that can include black pepper, cumin, cloves and cardamom) are widely used with fruit and coconut milk. Another common spice blend is berbere. It can include chiles, ginger, cloves, coriander, allspice, rue berries and ajwain. Rue berries’ rather strong flavor is simultaneously aromatic, sweet and hot, while the flavor of ajwain resembles a subtle, aromatic thyme.

Ugandan cuisine varies in complexity, from the most basic, a starchy filler with a sauce of beans or meat, to several-course meals served in upper-class homes and high-end restaurants. Most tribes in Uganda have their own speciality dish or delicacy. Many dishes include various vegetables, potatoes, Yams, bananas and other tropical fruits. Chicken, pork, fish (usually fresh, but there is also a dried variety, reconstituted for stewing), beef, goat and mutton are all commonly eaten, although among the rural poor, meats are consumed less than in other areas, and mostly eaten in the form of bushmeat. Nyama is the Swahili word for "meat".

There are different eating places in uganda that are tailored to meat the eating needs of people of different income groups and tastes. They range from road side stalls, markets, Take away, ordinary restaurants, top restaurants and food halls.

Road side stalls

Fresh fried grasshoppers, (Ensenene)

Fresh farm products

Deep fried fish at Gaba landing site

Rolex chapati

Barbecue roasted meat using charcoal

Roasted cassava and sweet potatoes

On events that take place around the city, people make money by roasting beef on sticks, and selling it to passers by

Samusa, ground nuts, Crispis, biscuits and Queen cakes

Relaxed break with a jack fruit

Road side stalls are busiest in the evening and at night when workers are returning home. They offer a customer a variety of cooked foods to choose from, ranging from chips, chicken, liver, roasted meat, matooke, yams rice, chapatis and rolexes. A rolex is where chapati, wrapped around eggs and a selection of vegetables, usuallyonions, tomatoes and cabbages.

Food is cheaper at road side stalls than in restaurants. One can get a piece of a variety of food types at as low as three hundred Uganda shillings per type. A chapati is sold between three hundred and five hundred Uganda shillings. A rolex starts from seven hundred Uganda shillings to three thousand Uganda shillings.

Most stalls are common in small town centres like Nakulabye, Wandegeya, Nyendo, where commuters board and get off taxis. Maize and roasted cassava are other foods offered. Maize is sold at five hundred Uganda shillings.

Road side stalls also offer fresh vegetables, fruits and food like plantains, cassava and yams, which people can buy with ease without going to the markets, especially those returning to the market late. they are also an alternative in those areas without established markets.

Markets

Ground nut paste for sale

Food in Kamuli market

People go to markets to buy fresh foods. they can be permanent structures or a collection of stalls. Food like matooke, bananas, cassava, potatoes, vegetables and fruits, that are grown in villages, are brought to the markets daily, to be sold. in villages, markets act as wholesale centres fro which traders from towns buy food. in towns, markets are places where you find fresh raw food. They serve restaurants, households and hotels. Chicken, beef, beans, peas and fish, are also sold in markets. Food is cheaper in markets than they are on road side stalls and in food halls.

Take away

Take aways are the solution for those people who do not have the time to sit and eat at a restaurant, or those ordering from a place of preference. cooked food is parked in foils and given to clients. in Uganda, many people, especially the young, are opting for take away. Most take aways offer fast foods: chaps, chips, liver, chicken and drinks are offered. The speed to which a tailored meal can be prepared makes them popular. They are also alternatives to traditional foods.

Food is priced depending on the type and the accompaniments. Chips that are sold alone (referred to as plain chips), cost between three thousand and five thousand Uganda shillings, depending on the place. Chips with chicken cost between five thousand and fifteen thousand Uganda shillings. This is the same price range for chips with liver.

Ordinary restaurants

Ugali with beef and sauce

There are many restaurants in Uganda, each specializing in a given type of food. Some prepare traditional foods like luwombo, kalo, matooke, potatoes and vegetables. The price of luwombo as a sauce is higher, ranging from seven thousand Uganda shillings to twenty thousand.
Some restaurants boil all food. They do not fry their food. Their customers are mostly the older population. Their food is more expensive than in other restaurants. Prices range from five thousand Uganda shillings to fifteen thousand, depending on the type of source. Beans are often the cheapest, with meat, chicken and fish, having higher prices.

Ugali and cabbage

Matooke with dry fish and groundnut paste

A local restaurant

Some restaurants like "Uhuru restaurant", offer only pilawo on their menu. Pilawo is spiced rice. The prices of food will vary depending on the spicing of food and the sauce. The source can be beans, meat and chicken. There are some that only prepare pork. They accompany this with cassava, vegetable, onions and tomatoes.

These restaurants offer mostly break fast and lunch, with only a few offering supper. They target the workers.

Food halls

Food presentation in a food hall

Food halls are on the rise in Uganda as more chain supermarkets open. People who can not go to the markets because of the inconvenience or their social status, opt for them. They buy vegetables, fruits, potatoes, and bananas, among others. Some of the foods sold like oranges, mangoes and potatoes, are imported while others are grown in Uganda. They are usually clean and cost much more than the foods in the markets.

Top restaurants

Top restaurants in Uganda are tailored to serve a given market. They offer a specified type of food. Some offer Chinese food, Indian and Italian Cuisine, Ethiopian food and Ugandan foods. They serve only those types of food and people go to them to eat those foods. Food in these restaurants is more expensive than in ordinary restaurants, with a meal ranging from thirty to one hundred Ugandan shillings.

These restaurants are frequented mostly for lunch and dinner. People willingly pay a premium for authentic flavors and cultural experiences at top restaurants.