Table for One, Please!

Small pieces of fufu are eaten with your fingers, and they can be dipped into a spicy sauce or eaten together with meat. There are always bottles of mayonnaise, lemon juice and Maggi sauce that you can use to season your food. Maggi sauce is a dark sauce with a strong flavor. It has the thin consistency of soy sauce.

How did I feel when I tried it?:

The first time I tried Congolese food, I ate the chèvre with fufu and the spicy sauce. The goat meat was cooked with a lot of onions, but I don't like onions at all. I had to take out all of the onions before I could begin eating the food. When I took my first bite, I dipped a piece of fufu in the spicy sauce and ate it with chèvre (goat meat). The sauce was so spicy that it burned my tongue, but it was really tasty. I continued to eat the fufu with the spicy sauce, but I didn't put a lot of sauce on the fufu. Each time I have eaten Congolese food, I've felt like I'm back in the Dominican Republic with my mom and family. It tastes very similar to the food that my grandma makes, especially the fried plantains. Eating Congolese food makes me happy because I am able to experience something that reminds me of my culture and heritage even though I'm far from home.

How is the food prepared?:

Fufu is made by boiling starchy foods like corn, cassava, yam, plantain or rice, then pounding or mixing them with salt, flour and some water. The ingredients are mixed or pounded together into a delicious ball of dough, and then it is ready to eat. The fried plantains are made by peeling green bananas and cutting them into small pieces.

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