24 May 2006 00:51:32
Foufou, the Staple that Staples
This is foufou (pronounced foo foo), and a shit loads of it too. Foufou is food, generally a side dish in Congo. I’ve seen and eaten foufou everywhere here.
Most of it is from manioc (cassava), but you can find corn foufou too. Everyone loves foufou. I’ve heard foufou is also widespread on the continent.
Instructions: to eat, you tear apart a bit of it, sculpt it in your hand, dip it in sauce and shove in your mouth. You might see other foufou eaters work on their foufou as if they were anti stress balls.
Warning: when you have the possibility to serve your own portions, like in a buffet, don’t take too much foufou. Foufou is very filling.
Tip: when you see a friend of yours that has gained weight, congratulate him first, and then ask him what he puts in his foufou. Foufou will make you grow (I’m a lost cause, don’t try).
In retrospect: I’m happy I didn’t grow up in Congo. I never got to hear my mummy say: “Finish your foufou!”
The future: foufou has become such an obsession with some of my friends. Each time we come across a rural scene that’s a little bleak, one of us will sputter: “foufou-lifestyle”. It’s become an adjective of our vocabulary. We even opened a site dedicated to it: www.foufou-lifestyle.com. Don’t tell me you believed me and clicked on the link before finishing this paragraph.
Link: my sister sent me this funny story on BBC concerning instant foufou in Ghana.
Your are wrong Togo's fufu is not the same as "la pate". It is different. Fufu is from yam and la pate is from corn.
lele says:
Thanks for the invitation, the same if you will come in Lubumbashi.
best things
Gabriele
kim says:
Forgot to say, Mamadou was in Congo for 4 years, and around the country, so his buds should have had foufou from the Lakes to the coasts.
kim says:
I didn't know foufou was such an emotional debate. In fact, I wrote randomely on foufou, since I was lacking subjects, and this foufou photo came along.
Gabriele, unfortunately, I don't remember you. But anytime you're in Kinshasa, we can go have a beer.
Kim
G5 says:
FOUFOU or FUFU is still the same, you can't say Togo's fufu is good or better than fufu in Congo. Mamadou, your statement is wrong, I've been in Lome and le"pat" is not different from fufu. Please, visit Congo or find our self a Muluma Woman, your life you never be the same.
Lele says:
I got into this blog, following dont know which congolise way around the net, cool, very good pics..and,surprise, i discovered
we met us in Kinshasa last year, but dont think you remember me.
Then i saw you are a friend of Arnaud, who was my guest in Lubumbashi this year.
Little town, the Congo, the muzungu Congo.
Ciao
Gabriele
Mamadou says:
Kim,
The best foufou can be found in West Africa, especially in Togo. There, you can eat foufou igname, foufou banane, foufou manioc...with a choice of great hot sauces (crab, chicken, beef or muttton). Like if you compare the food served in La Tour d'Argent with the junk food of McDo. What you have in the DRCongo is just the 'primitive' version of foufou.
Cheers.
MB
Lele says:
fufu manioc is brown, but this is a bit too brown..what do they carry hidden on it?
G5 says:
My Grandpa used to say that any meal without Fufu is as nothing more than a snack. Today far away from home I feel the same way, without fufu i says i haven't had a meal. Kim, my advise to you is to find a muluba woman, who can make bukula maseka(sorry i don't know how to spel it!!!), watch the fufu in between her legs- to be continue...
kim says:
This foufou was made from dried manioc in the forest. It gets its color probably from the smoke.
This said, foufou is mostly white.
Lina says:
I clicked, I did... but I have a real good excuse: I haven't had my coffee yet. :oP
Robert says:
Isn't foufou supposed to be whiter, I wonder what they put in this foufou?????
manu says: