#28 - Burundi

This week we "visited" what is arguably the poorest country on earth. Since Burundi gained independence from Belgium in 1962 (ceded from Germany after WW1), there have been 2 civil wars and genocides as well as multiple coups. The current government is considered corrupt, and in addition to poverty Burundians live with little to no access to health care or education. The World Happiness Report of 2018 ranked Burundi as the least happy country on earth (#156, Canada ranked 7th).

No surprisingly, when we were researching what they commonly eat in Burundi the answer was "maize meal". And nothing else.... As appealing as an entire meal of nothing but cornmeal sounds, we elected to use our position of privilege and look further. What we found was a "typical dish" that is eaten by the majority of the population when they are able to access more than cornmeal. Beans & Plantains and Burundian Chapati.

The Beans & Plantains is exactly what it sounds like. Red kidney beans, boiled with some onion and plantains. It was pretty bland, in fact Andrew & Jack added some hot sauce to theirs. The chapati was actually really tasty. This was only our second attempt at making a bread-like component of the meal, and after the disaster that was Armenia Lavash, this was pretty good!

And with that, we have closed the chapter on "B". Moving on up into the C's now and starting with Cabo Verde. Stay tuned.