Food etiquette in Uganda

Except for a handful in the city areas, most people grow their own food. Women and girls in the home are primarily responsible for making the family’s meals. 

Men and boys over the age of 12 are not even permitted to enter the kitchen, which is separate from the main home. Cooking takes place over an open fire with wood as fuel.

The majority of families consume two meals per day. Lunch and dinner are the two meals. Breakfast consists of a cup of tea or cereal.

When a meal is ready, everyone in the house washes their hands and sits on [floor] mats. Because most Ugandans eat with their hands, they must be cleansed before and after the meal.

At mealtime everybody is welcome; visitors and neighbors who drop in are expected to join the family at a meal.

Food is served by women. They cut it up into small pieces for each member of the family. Sauce, which is usually a stew with vegetables, beans, butter, salt, and curry powder, is served to each person on a plate. Sometimes fish or beef stew is served.

Normally a short prayer is said before the family starts eating. During the meal, children talk only when asked a question. It is bad manners to reach for salt or a spoon. It is better to ask someone sitting close to it to pass it. 

It is also bad manners to leave the room while others are still eating. Everyone respects the meal by staying seated until the meal is over. Leaning on the left hand or stretching ones legs while at a meal is a sign of disrespect and is not tolerated.

People usually drink water at the end of the meal. It is considered odd to drink water while eating.

When the meal is finished, everyone in turn gives a compliment to the mother by saying, “Thank you for preparing the meal, madam.” No dessert is served after the meal. 

Fruits like papaw, pineapple, or sweet bananas are normally eaten as a snack between meals.

In Uganda, the staple food is matoke  (cooking bananas). Other food crops include cassava (manioc), sweet potatoes, white potatoes, yams, beans, peas, groundnuts (peanuts), cabbage, onions, pumpkins, and tomatoes. Some fruits, such as oranges, pawpaws (papayas), lemons, and pineapples, are also grown.