Chagga Soup · Banana & Beef
Mtori
Photo: LittleT889 / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Mtori is made with green cooking bananas rather than sweet ripe ones, which is why the soup is savory and starchy instead of sweet.
Green bananas are boiled until soft, then mashed together with beef, potatoes and a little milk into a thick, pale soup. Originating with the Chagga people on Kilimanjaro's slopes, it's become a common breakfast and celebration dish served in cafes across Arusha.
Why it's made this way: The Chagga developed mtori as an energy-dense morning meal to fuel a day of farming on Kilimanjaro's terraced fields, and it's traditionally given to new and nursing mothers for its nutritional value.
More from Tanzania
Part of World of Street Food — 3443 dishes from 118 countries.
Something wrong here? Tell us in the comments below.
Photo credits.