South Sudan Food Culture

a stiff sorghum porridge, off-white and warm, eaten by pulling off a golf-ball piece and rolling it into an edible spoon. Texture is dense yet springy. Aroma is faintly sour from overnight fermentation.

brown beans slow-cooked in sesame oil until they collapse into a smoky, garlicky mash. The surface shimmers with red palm oil. Crunch comes from raw onions scattered on top.

thin, floppy sourdough crêpe of fermented sorghum, tangy like rye and char-speckled underneath from the flat clay griddle. Tear, scoop, repeat.

okra and goat stew, the okra sliced so fine it dissolves into ropey strands that cling to the meat. Smells of woodsmoke and fenugreek.

cow hoof slow-braised until the collagen turns to sticky silk, jellied overnight, then rewarmed so it quivers. Eaten with fingers. The gelatin coats your lips like savoury lip balm.

charcoal-grilled goat, exterior black-edged and crisp, interior smoky-iron. Vendors hack it to order. The bones crack audibly.

fermented Cassia obtusifolia leaves pounded into a dark, almost black paste that tastes like blue cheese left in the sun. Used as a pungent condiment. Tiny servings on the side of every Dinka table.

chickpea fritters, Sudanese cousins of falafel, speckled with sesame seeds and fried in peanut oil that hisses around the edges.

thick sorghum pancakes, spongy centre, nut-brown crust. Doused in honey near Christmas time.

sweet sorghum porridge stirred with date syrup and sesame, eaten warm for dessert in Ramadan evenings.

chilli-rubbed tripe grilled over shea-nut coals until the edges frizzle. Chewy, spicy, slightly acrid in the best way.

river fish - usually tilapia - sun-dried until the skin turns leathery, then simmered in tomato and tamarind. Texture flips between jerky and moist flakes.

deep crimson, tart-sweet, poured over cracked ice when the generator cooperates.