The Taste of Teso: A Culinary Tour of Our Culture

By Beatrice Okwalinga

This cookbook seeks to take you through a culinary tour of Teso, giving you the opportunity to recreate both staple and more contemporary dishes to suit your taste. It is a tribute to the women who came before us and our legacy to the next generation of bold food lovers who love Teso, upon whom the duty to continue the custom of healthy, distinctive dining rests.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris UK
• Release date: Mar 13, 2019
• ISBN: 9781543494549

Book preview

Copyright © 2019 by Beatrice Okwalinga. 791266

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019901650

ISBN:   Softcover     978-1-5434-9452-5

             Hardcover   978-1-5434-9453-2

             EBook         978-1-5434-9454-9

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Rev. date: 03/01/2019

Xlibris

0800-056-3182

www.xlibrispublishing.co.uk

Dedication

In memory of my late, dear parents, Samwiri and Isabella Amucu Aisu, who taught us to share and to value, love and appreciate our rich Iteso Culture.

Acknowledgements

If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes more than one village to write a cookbook!

I thank my husband, Michael Okwalinga-Emokol, UK family and friends for their encouragement, patience and support; Uganda family: Rebecca Okiring, Toto Loyce Otai, Tata Naume Apolot, Christine, Alvin, Adeline, William, Emma and others who helped make the cookbook better; Toto Akaliait Agnes Osuban, the Secretariat, Iteso Cultural Union UK and the Iteso community, for encouraging me; the Editorial and technical team: Helena Okiring, Isabella Arionget, Beatrice Aide, Francis Oliso and Caroline Agiru, without whom this cookbook would just be pie in the sky.

As much as possible, this cook book seeks to take you through a culinary tour of Teso, giving you the opportunity to recreate both staple and more contemporary dishes to suit your taste. It is a tribute to the previous generations of women and our legacy to the next generation of bold food lovers who love Teso, upon whom the duty to continue the custom of healthy, distinctive dining rests.

Food from Teso region is very lean, in the sense that it is prepared simply, to conserve as much of the natural flavour and nutrients as possible. Most of the foods are boiled or slow cooked, and roasting is done over hot coals. Food is preserved by sun drying or smoking on the fire. Frying of food was a foreign concept.

It is important to remember that in a typical Teso kitchen, ingredients are not weighed or measured. They are simply added, depending on how much food is being cooked; this in turn depends on the numbers one is cooking for. If you ever asked how much of an ingredient you needed to use, or how long you should cook the food for, you would always be told to use your eyes, smell and taste the food and you would know in your heart. This is the same with the timing, hence the saying that Ateso women cook from their hearts. The measurements and timings I have given in the book are more of a guide and, when trying to recreate the recipe, you should, as much as possible, cook from your heart!

Wherever possible, I have given the scientific or botanical name of the dish, as well as its Ateso and Kumam names.

Traditional ingredients commonly used in a typical Teso kitchen.

Throughout our journey, you will find references to natural seasonings, additives and herbs. They give our food a distinct, rich flavour while enhancing its nutritious value for maximum health benefits.

Liquid Soda ash– (Abalang)

Found in a typical Teso kitchen is an ingredient called ‘abalang’ which is local salt and tenderiser. This ingredient is widely used in the preparation of most traditional dishes as a tenderiser and as a salt, giving them a certain distinctive taste.

‘Abalang’, which is in form of ash, is made by burning certain plants, usually dry cotton stems, mixed with other plants like the amaranths which contain flowers and thorns, or dried banana peelings to produce ash which is very rich in minerals. The ash is then distilled by placing it in a porous pot (my mother always insisted on this) or a container with holes at the bottom. A mesh cloth or sieve is placed at the bottom of the pot to stop the ash particles from going through. This is placed on top of a receptor dish for collecting the liquid; water is added to the ash and the result is a brown coloured liquid called ‘abalang’. It is like having a chemistry lab in a kitchen.

In today’s kitchen, the substitute for liquid soda ash is sodium bicarbonate and rock salt, also known as ‘amagadi’.

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My father (RIP) used to tell us that the reason certain illnesses like heart disease and high blood pressure were rare in Teso was because they consumed abalang in most of their foods. It is said to have medicinal properties that help with high blood pressure, heart condition, and it acts as an anti-oxidant.

Ghee –