Matoke

Matoke, locally also known asmatooke,amatookein Buganda (Central Uganda),ekitookyein southwesternUganda,ekitookein westernUganda,kamatoreinLugisu(Eastern Uganda),ebitookein northwesternTanzania,igitokiinRwanda,Burundiand by the cultivar nameEast African Highland banana, are a group ofstarchytriploidbananacultivars, originating from theAfrican Great Lakes. The fruit is harvested green, carefully peeled, and then cooked and often mashed or pounded into a meal. In Uganda and Rwanda, the fruit is steam-cooked, and the mashed meal is considered a national dish in both countries.
Matoke bananas are a staplefood cropinUganda,Kenya,Tanzaniaand other Great Lakes countries. They are also known as the Mutika/Lujugira subgroup.
The medium-sized green fruits, which are of a specific group of banana, the East African Highland bananas (MusaAAA-EA),are known in theBantu languagesofUgandaand WesternKenyaasmatoke.
Cooking bananas have long been and still are a common staple crop around theLake Victoriaarea of Kenya and Uganda, and in the West and Kilimanjaro regions of Tanzania.
In Uganda, East African Highland bananas are easily distinguishable from other banana cultivars by the numerous black (or more rarely brown or bronze) blotches on theirpseudostems, giving them the appearance of polished metal. The outermost sheath of their pseudostems is a medium green, superimposed over the pink to purple underlying sheaths.
Their leaves are also darker green and dull, a difference more apparent when comparing them side by side with other banana cultivars from a distance.
Theinflorescencehaspedunclescovered with coarse hair. Thebractsare ovate to lanceolate in shape with outer surfaces that are purple to brown and inner surfaces which are red fading to yellow towards the base. The male flowers have cream coloredtepalswith yellow lobes. Theanthersare pink, while thestigmataare orange.
The fruits are recurved and can vary in length. They are inflated with blunt tips. The pulp is white in unripe fruits and cream-colored in ripe fruits.
East African Highland bananas are triploid (AAA) cultivars. Their official designation isMusa acuminataColla(AAA-EA).SynonymsincludeMusa brieyiDe Wild. Their paternal parent is theblood bananasubspecies(M. acuminatassp.zebrina) of the wild bananaspeciesMusa acuminata.
East African Highland bananas are a subgroup that refers to about 200 individual banana cultivars (or clones).They can be subdivided into five distinct groups of clones known as clone sets:
Over 500 local names are known for cultivars from the EAHB subgroup.
East African Highland bananas were introduced early intoAfricafromSoutheast Asiaduring the first to sixth centuries AD, probably via trade.They are genetically distinct from the other AAA cultivars, having evolved locally in the African Great Lakes region for over a millennium. They are found nowhere else in the world, and the African Great Lakes has been called the secondary center of banana diversity because of this (with Southeast Asia being the first). East African Highland bananas are considered to be especially diverse inUganda,Burundi, andRwanda.However, genetic analysis has revealed that all East African Highland bananas are genetically uniform, having most likely originated from a single ancestral clone (introduced to Africa within the past 2000 years) that underwent population expansion by vegetative propagation.The triploid East African Highland banana gene pool arose from a single hybridization event, which generated a genetic bottleneck during the foundation of the crop genepool. Triploid East African Highland bananas are sterile, and have been asexually vegetatively propagated for generations by successive generations of farmers since their introduction to Africa. This has likely led to the emergence of the genetically near-isogenic somatic mutants (i.e. today's East African Highland banana varieties) that have been selected by farmers and environments across East Africa.
East African Highland bananas are one of the most important staple food crops in the African Great Lakes region, particularly for Uganda,Tanzania, Kenya, Burundi, and Rwanda.Per capitaannual consumption of bananas in Uganda is the highest in the world at 0.70 kg (1.5 lb) daily per person.Including Rwanda and Burundi, consumption is about 250 to 400 kg (550 to 880 lb) per person annually (about three to 11 bananas each day).Uganda is the second-largest producer of bananas in the world. It is, however, one of the smallest exporters, with the crops being used mostly for domestic consumption.
East African Highland bananas are so important as food crops, the local namematoke(or more commonlymatooke) is synonymous for the word "food" in Uganda. Also, a portion of the East African Highland bananas locally known asmbiddeis used to produce juice and beer.
Matokeare peeled using a knife, wrapped in the plant's leaves (or plastic bags), and set in a cooking pot (Swahili:sufuria) atop the banana stalks. The pot is then placed on acharcoalor wood fire and thematokeis steamed for a couple of hours; water is poured into the bottom of the cooking pot multiple times. The stalks in the bottom of the pot keep the leaf-wrapped fruits above the level of the hot water. While uncooked, thematokeis white and fairly hard; cooking turns it soft and yellow. Thematokeis then mashed while still wrapped in the leaves or bags and often served on a fresh banana leaf. It is typically eaten with a sauce made of vegetables, groundpeanut, or some type of meat (goatorbeef).
Matokeare also used to make a popular breakfast dish calledkatogoinUganda.Katogois commonly cooked as a combination of peeled bananas andpeanutsorbeef, though offal or goat meat are also common.
InBukoba,Tanzania,matoke(orebitooke) are cooked with meat or smokedcatfish, and beans orgroundnuts. This method eliminates the need for preparing a separate sauce. In this recipe, thematokeare not mashed. Until the early 1980s, this was the most common meal in Bukoba and would be eaten all year.