National Dish · Pounded Meat

Seswaa

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It's traditionally pounded by men with a wooden pestle — the physical labor of shredding the meat is considered part of the dish's identity.

Beef (or goat or lamb) is slow-boiled in a three-legged iron pot until fall-apart tender, then pounded with a large wooden mortar and pestle until finely shredded and simply salted. Served heaped over stiff maize porridge.

Why it's made this way: Cooking tough cuts low and slow in a shared pot, then pounding them by hand, turned modest meat into a generous, easily portioned dish suited to weddings, funerals, and independence-day gatherings.