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14 SONANGOL UNIVERSO
By Lula Ahrens
With Luanda’s numerous international restaurants, Angola’s own varied and
colourful cuisine is sometimes unjustly overlooked. In such a large and
culturally-rich country, the discovery of its food habits will always be an
adventure. Universo provides a taster
The visitor’s first introduction to Angolan food is
usually funge or pirão, bland but filling dishes
that serve as the base of most meals and are often
combined with fish, chicken or meat and sauce.
Funge de bombo, more common in northern Angola, is
a gelatinous, colourless paste made from corn or cassava
flour (fubá). The yellowish pirão, similar to polenta, is
made from cornflour and is more commonly eaten in the
south. During weekends, Angolan families typically sit
down to funge during the day and switch to grilled meat
and fish at night. But, as with everything else in Angola,
there is a lot more to discover.
Adventurous, experimental connoisseurs might want
to try Angolan specialities such as jinguinga – goat tripe
and blood –from Malange province; the Kwanza Norte
delicacy kifula – game meat served with boiled and toasted
palm-tree grasshoppers – or mafuma, frog meat from
Cunene. Those who prefer a safer start will love caldeirada
de cabrito, goat-meat stew with rice, traditionally served
on Angolan Independence Day (November 11), or kizaka,
the finely mashed, spinach-like leaves of the manioc plant
seasoned and mixed with ground peanuts.
Try mukua, the traditional Angolan dried fruit from the
country’s emblematic baobab tree, it is often used to make
ice cream. Cocada amarela (yellow coconut pudding),
made with sugar, grated coconut, egg yolks and ground
cinnamon, is less exotic but also delicious.
Historic overview
Five centuries of Portuguese colonisation heavily
influenced Angolan cuisine. In most restaurants,
Portuguese dishes such as seafood rice or bacalhau com
natas (cod with cream) will be popular and available.
Brazilian and other European influences have also had
their impact.
The roots of Angola’s major ethnic groups can be traced
in local cuisine. The coastal areas of Luanda, Benguela and
Namibe are known for their variety of seafood. Fish stews
including caldeirada de peixe and muzongue are made
from whatever is available, and served with rice.
Angolan fish stews such as calulu and mufete de
cacusso are believed to be excellent hangover cures that
work wonders even before the very first headache sets in!
A standard, superb condiment at an Angolan lunch
or dinner table is gindungu, a spicy sauce made of
chilli pepper, garlic, onion and sometimes brandy. Not
surprisingly, some believe that the sauce is an aphrodisiac.
In central Angolan villages, you will find steamed or
boiled green vegetables, peas, beans, cereals and game
meat. Traditional game meats consumed in parts of Angola
include veal, deer, wildebeest and warthog.
Typical Angolan ingredients generally include flour,
beans, rice, fish, chicken, egg, sweet potatoes, manioc
(cassava), yams, tomatoes, onions, peanuts, okra and
various spices such as chilli. Kizaka manioc plant leaves are
CULTURE
DECEMBER 2012 15