Isombe

Isombe is a dish of pounded cassava leaves cooked with red palm oil, peanuts and onion. It is a Burundian vegetable dish, also made in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and it is eaten alongside starchy foods rather than as a main meat course.

What it really is

Cassava leaves are pounded until soft and finely broken down, then simmered with red palm oil, peanuts, onion, tomato and salt. Cassava leaves must be cooked thoroughly before they are safe to eat, so the long simmering is part of the method. The palm oil gives the dish its deep orange-red colour and rich flavour, and the peanuts add body to the sauce. The classic version contains no meat or fish.

How it's served

• Warm, in a shared dish, as a side beside the starch.
• With rice, stiff porridge or boiled bananas, depending on the household and region.
• Portioned onto the plate next to the starch, so the sauce can be taken up with it.

How to write it on the menu

• Name the main ingredient, cassava leaves, and say it is a vegetable dish.
• Flag peanuts, the one allergen in the classic recipe.
• Name the red palm oil, since guests often ask what gives the sauce its colour.
• State what is standard: cassava leaves, red palm oil, peanuts, onion, tomato and salt, served with a named starch.
• Label it vegan only if no stock, meat or fish has been added to your pot.