Rain, tea and waiting.
There are two things I can always count on in Rwanda (or well in Huye at least), erratic torrential rain fall and intermittent teas throughout the day. I haven’t nailed it down yet, but I think they’re served midmorning and mid-afternoon. After sucking back on a full hot cup of over sweetened goodnesses, it’s easy to forget about a meal. But, there is no ‘midevening’ tea and I gotta eat.
When I asked a friend why beer is so popular around here he said, “it used to be, beer was the only thing available.” Fermented from banana juice using roasted sorghum, millet or maize flour as the leavening agent; guests would come in after hours in the fields and grab a beverage for supper. Some of these beers can be pretty powerful, but no one seems to mind but me.
Beer continues to be served as a supper substitute, but most Rwandans have relegated the brew to only supplementing their sides of rice, stewed bananas and prepared vegetables. There are a few popular local breweries including Primus, Mützig, Amstel, Tusker, and Skol. The all-time go-to beer given to international friends who’d like to ‘reset their internal clocks’ would be Turbo: short for Turbo King and pronounced like tour boat, drop the ‘t’ and roll the ‘r’.
Here are a selection of some of the all time classic dishes I’ve been
able to sample while here. Never mind the background beverage. For the most part, it’s been coca-cola.
Grilled over a charcoal pit, and drenched in homemade sauce.
Orange Fanta, and not-quite-Buffalo wings
Local: Meat, beans and onion soup. A simple meal and classic coke.
If the placemats may look familiar... I go to Amafu ya Huye a lot.
Piled high! ...along with some of Rwanda's famous ugali.
Postdoc: Satellite Mapping in Rwanda 
The food looks incredibly tasty. I’m very curious about the “banana” beer. The extreme close-ups of the wings, stewed meats and onion soup were more effective than any Smell-O-Vision money could buy.