[ad_1]
“Make it in our restaurant!” says one of Jeanne Cimpaye’s five children with gratitude.
They sit at a table in her cozy home restaurant in Burundi’s village of Ruhagarika, near the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and are trying sorghum for the first time.
Just a few decades ago, this ancestral Burundian cereal was the staple food, but today it has been almost entirely superseded by rice and maize crops introduced by German and Belgian colonists.
Jeanne is famous in her village for Impeke and Ikiyama, Burundi’s traditional sorghum beers, but sorghum dishes rarely appear on her restaurant’s menu.
“Sorghum is expensive, and a lot of people here aren’t very familiar with sorghum cooking.
“You have to get used to this new food little by little.”
Sorghum is not a new food to Burundians, but it has been forgotten.
symbol of royalty
Burundi’s monarchy remained under European colonial rule until 1966. At that time, sorghum was a staple food, and he, a symbol of royalty and wealth, was one.
After harvesting, sorghum was stored in granaries and distributed to the population in times of famine.
“It was an iconic crop that justified Burundi’s leadership,” explains Esperance Havindavi, a sorghum expert at the Burundi Institute of Agricultural Sciences.
“Today, however, sorghum beer is an important crop at a social level, especially in rural areas where sorghum beer is produced for weddings, parties and many other social events.”
Burundians call Ikiyama, Impeke and sorghum beer. However, it is quite different from European lagers.
Ikiyama is pale and impeke is brown and dense. Since it is a fermented drink with a sour and bitter taste, some people add honey to mellow it out.
Traditionally at celebrations, guests gather around a large jar filled with impeque while simultaneously dipping straws into the thick drink to symbolize unity.
Esperance explains that sorghum is important in Burundi for another reason. “This is one of her crops that will help improve food security,” she says.
Burundi is a landlocked country in East Africa. With a population of 12 million she has the lowest GDP per capita in the world in 2021.
According to the World Food Programme, 52% of children under the age of five are stunted and many people in rural areas experience malnutrition.
“Since sorghum contains phosphorus and iron, it makes a significant contribution to improving malnutrition among children, especially women.
These factors play an important role in combating malnutrition in Burundi,” explains Esperance.
Making sorghum great again
Similar to corn, sorghum is a tall grass with small kernels. This drought-tolerant plant germinates in just three days after planting. However, not all breeds are equally efficient.
Audace Ndikumana, Program Director of Inades Formations Burundi, said:
With the support of a pan-African NGO, over 300 Burundian farmers in Civitoke and Kirundo provinces are learning the latest methods of sorghum production.
Since 2018, farmers participating in the program have produced between 300 and 500 kg of sorghum per household per season.
Another part of the training to bring sorghum back to life is working with restaurant owners like Jeanne. In 2021, I attended a seminar organized by Inades on the use of indigenous ingredients to sustain Burundian food culture and enhance food safety.
“We learned how to make bean donuts, bean porridge, and white sorghum. Inades encouraged us to make these dishes at our restaurant,” she says.
“These seminars opened my eyes and encouraged me to continue cooking sorghum. They also taught me the importance of growing and processing it. I am convinced that Impeke cannot stop because it is valuable and important.”
Impeke and Ikuyama
material
For fermented base:
Sorghum flour – 1kg
Corn flour – 80 grams
Cassava flour – 500 grams
water
For Ikiyama:
honey, sugar, or other sweetener of your choice
For impeque:
beer
base method
Roast the cornmeal in a dry, hot skillet until golden brown.
Mix with sorghum flour.
Add 100mg of hot water and mix well.
Add cassava flour and more boiling water.
Mix well.
Add water until the whole mixture is mushy.
Sprinkle a little sorghum flour on top, cover and leave in a warm place for 48 hours to ferment.
It is the base of Impeke and ikiyama.
for impeque
Impeke is more focused than Ikiyama.
Take the base prepared earlier and add boiling water until it forms a highly concentrated drink.
Mix well.
Add 1 bottle of any available beer to make Impeke an alcoholic.
Pour into a clean container and close the reeds.
Keep in a warm place overnight to speed up fermentation.
Bound for Ikuyama
Ikuyama is more fluid, so add twice as much water as impeke.
Add sugar or other sweetener to taste.
Bon appetit!
For more recipes and stories about indigenous African ingredients, listen to the first episode of the series. Pierre Thiam talks about his favorite childhood food: fonio.
This show exists in French: La Surprise de Chef.
Podcast The Star Ingredient was funded by the European Journalism Center through the Solutions Journalism Accelerator. This fund is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
[ad_2]
Source link
