Skip to main content

Table 9 The cultural enset foods and recipes of Wolaita, Southern Ethiopia

From: Indigenous knowledge, use and on-farm management of enset (Ensete ventricosum (Welw.) Cheesman) diversity in Wolaita, Southern Ethiopia

Primary enset products‡ Food items Processing and preparation descriptions Use remarks
Uncca (Kocho) Gola Uncca A sort of bread prepared from chopped Uncca which has no Itima Fibrous and darker in color relative to Godeta Uncca
Godeta Uncca A sort of bread prepared from an Uncca, which is processed from mixtures of Itima and inner most leaf-sheath of the pseudostem Higher quality Uncca relative to Gola Uncca
Kintahuwa A sort of bread prepared from inferior quality Uncca (i.e. not fully fermented) mainly eaten in seasons of food shortage Considered as poor-man’s food
Bilanduwa Prepared from chopped, sieved and roasted Uncca by mixing with bean, cabbage, spices and butter Served as regular staple meal
Saretta Is a sort of bread prepared from blend of lower quality Uncca mixed with maize flour and backed Considered as poor-man’s food
Itima (Bula) Muchuwa Prepared form lightly roasted and cooked Itima mixed with butter and spices Considered as specialty-dish
Baccira Prepared from Itima by mixing it with milk, butter and spices; it is wetter than Muchuwa Eaten on the eve of Gifaata, the Wolaita New Year
Eretta* Is a porridge prepared from Itima, mixed with butter, especially prepared for a postnatal mother (for Kaacca) Considered of high medicinal and nutritional value
Shendera* A sort of porridge prepared from Itima mixed with butter, but unlike Eretta it is commonly eaten by any family member Prepared for any family members or guests
Unkuwa (Amicho) Doyisa uutta Prepared by boiling underground corm (Unkuwa), often served with other root crops and vegetables 'Female landraces' are preferred
  1. ‡Primary products are given in Wolaita language (Wolaitato Donaa) and in parenthesis Amharic (National language of Ethiopia); *those two foods can be prepared from maize and barley, but the rest are specific for enset.
Back to article page