Lesotho
Mountain-kingdom cooking: maize pap and wild greens, sour sorghum drinks, and mutton grilled high in the sky.
In the 'Kingdom in the Sky', food is highland food — plain, warming and grain-based. The national plate is papa ka moroho: papa, a stiff maize porridge stirred hard with a wooden stick, served with moroho, wild leafy greens sautéed down soft. It's the everyday meal in every Basotho home, eaten by hand, hearty enough for a herder's day on the mountain.
Sorghum is what sets Lesotho apart from its maize-only neighbours: fermented into motoho, a sour, tangy drink taken cold, and into joala, the traditional beer poured at gatherings. Mutton, from the sheep that dot the high pastures, is grilled or stewed when there's cause to celebrate. Eat it after a pony trek — ideally with a Maluti beer at Sani Top, which at nearly 2,900m is the highest pub in Africa.
- Papa ka moroho (maize pap with wild greens)
- Moroho (sautéed leafy greens)
- Motoho (sour fermented-sorghum drink)
- Likhobe (sorghum
- maize and bean stew)
- Nyekoe (sorghum-bean-pumpkin stew)
- Makoenya (fried dough cakes)
- Joala (traditional sorghum beer)
