In the Great Lakes region the French word 'brochette' names a whole bar culture: goat meat (occasionally fish or beef) salted, skewered, and grilled over charcoal, served with grilled banana or fried potatoes and cold beer. Goat brochettes are effectively Rwanda's national dish.
Also known as: brochette, goat brochettes, Rwandan brochettes, urubingo, Brochettes (Rwanda & Burundi Goat Skewers), brochettes, Burundian brochettes, akabenzi skewers, mbuzi skewers
Ingredients
- 800 g goat shoulder or leg, in 3 cm pieces with some fat left on
- 1 onion, grated, plus 1 onion in petals for threading
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 30 ml oil
- 1.5 tsp salt
- pili-pili: 4 bird's-eye chillies pounded with 1 garlic clove, 30 ml oil and a squeeze of lemon
- grilled plantain or fries, to serve
How to make it
- 1
Work the grated onion, garlic and oil into the goat and marinate 3 h.
- 2
Skewer the pieces with onion petals between, keeping any fat edges outward.
- 3
Grill over medium-hot coals 12-15 min, salting midway; goat is served well-done here but must still bead juice.
- 4
Rest the brochettes 5 min under foil or a plate.
- 5
Serve bar-style with pili-pili on the side and grilled plantain or a pile of fries.
Pro tip: Pull the skewers the moment the meat is firm with clear juice and rest them; goat has little fat to hide behind, and five extra minutes on the grill turns it to rope.
The story of Brochettes
In the Great Lakes region — Rwanda, Burundi and eastern Congo — the French word brochette names an entire bar culture rather than just a dish. Goat meat, occasionally fish or beef, is salted, skewered and grilled over charcoal, served with grilled banana or fried potatoes and a cold beer. Goat brochettes are effectively Rwanda's national dish.
The word arrived with Belgian colonial administration and attached itself to grilling practices that long predated it. What makes the East African brochette distinctive is the pairing with ibitoke — the cooking banana grilled alongside on its own skewer — which is a genuinely local combination found nowhere in the French tradition the name came from.
The technique that defines it
The seasoning is minimal — salt, sometimes a little oil and garlic — and the technique is a slow grill over moderate charcoal rather than a fast sear. Goat is a lean, worked meat and it needs time; a Rwandan brochette typically spends fifteen to twenty minutes over the coals with regular turning.
The banana is grilled on its own skewer alongside, peeled and cut into thick rounds, until it softens and caramelises at the edges. It absorbs smoke and a little of the fat dripping around it, and eating the two together is the intended experience rather than a serving suggestion.
Choosing your ingredients
Goat, from a younger animal, in cubes of three centimetres with fat left on. Beef and tilapia are the alternatives. Cooking bananas — plantain-adjacent but starchier — for grilling alongside; green plantain is the nearest substitute.
Salt, oil, and often a little crushed garlic. Some bars add a light marinade of oil, garlic, salt and lemon. Pili-pili — the chilli condiment — on the side. Charcoal, and a grill that allows a moderate steady heat rather than a blast.
Mistakes that ruin it
Grilling goat fast
It is lean and worked. Fifteen to twenty minutes over moderate coals with turning; a hard sear makes it tough.
Skipping the grilled banana
It is half the dish in the Great Lakes region, not a garnish. Grill it on its own skewer alongside.
Heavy marinades
The tradition is salt and smoke. Elaborate marinades are not the local idiom.
Old goat
A younger animal makes a large difference here, since there is no acid marinade to tenderise.
How it is served
By the skewer at a bar, with grilled banana or fried potatoes, pili-pili sauce and a large cold beer. It is evening and social food, ordered in rounds as the night goes on, and the brochette bar is a genuine institution in Kigali and Bujumbura.
Questions about Brochettes
What meat is used?
Goat, most commonly, from a younger animal. Beef and tilapia are the usual alternatives.
What is served with brochettes?
Grilled cooking banana (ibitoke) on its own skewer, or fried potatoes, with pili-pili chilli sauce and beer.
Why the French name?
It arrived with Belgian colonial administration and attached to grilling practices that already existed in the region.
How long do goat brochettes take?
Fifteen to twenty minutes over moderate charcoal with regular turning. Goat is lean and does not suit a fast sear.
