Burundian cuisine is simple, filling, and built around beans, bananas, and starches. Do not come expecting culinary fireworks, but the food is honest and there are genuine pleasures to be found if you know what to look for.
Beans are the backbone of the diet -- eaten at least once a day by virtually everyone, across all social classes. They are typically stewed with onions and tomatoes and served alongside ubugali, a firm porridge made from cassava or maize flour that you tear off in pieces and use to scoop up the stew. It is basic but satisfying, and you will encounter it everywhere.
Agatoke, fried or stewed plantains, is another staple. It appears in various forms -- sometimes plain, sometimes cooked with vegetables and small dried fish called indagala. Isombe, a dish of pounded cassava leaves cooked with palm oil, is rich and flavorful. Renga renga is a green leaf stew with a stronger flavor than spinach, often enlivened with onions and tomatoes.
The real treat is the fish from Lake Tanganyika. Mukeke is the star -- a freshwater fish found only in the lake, usually grilled whole and served with rice or fried plantains. It is considered a delicacy and is genuinely delicious. Indagala, tiny dried fish eaten whole, are more of an everyday ingredient but add a distinctive flavor to many dishes.
Boko boko harees -- bulgur wheat slow-cooked with chicken until it breaks down into a thick porridge -- is sometimes described as a national dish, though you will find it more in Bujumbura than in the countryside.
Beer is central to social life. Banana beer, known as urwarwa, is the traditional drink, brewed locally and drunk communally through long straws from a shared pot. Commercial beer is also widely available -- Primus and Amstel are the main brands. Coffee is Burundi's most important export crop, and while most of the good stuff gets shipped abroad, you can find excellent local coffee if you ask around in Bujumbura.