CONGO LINE
Pickering restaurant serving Congolese fare attracts patrons from across the GTA — and NBA,
When former Raptors fan favourite Bismack Biyombo walked into her restaurant almost two years ago, Yvette Kavungu didn’t know who he was. But when she heard another Congolese basketball player was coming to Toronto’s beloved team, she had already learned his name by the time he called in with a food order. Now, Kavungu calls powerforward Serge Ibaka a loyal customer.
Ma Yvé Grill in Pickering has been serving up authentic Congolese food for the past six years. It’s probably the only Congolese restaurant in the GTA, as far as Kavungu’s count goes, after a place downtown and another in Scarborough closed down.
“We really want for people to know Congolese food, because there’s not many (restaurants),” Kavungu said.
Kavungu grew up in the restaurant business, helping her parents serve food in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital city, Kinshasa. She came to Canada 22 years ago, and is joined in the kitchen by her sister. They’ve cooked for Canadians of all backgrounds, she said, but, of course, are popular among the GTA’s Congolese community.
Ibaka’s go-to meal is grilled goat and fumbwa — a stew made with dried wild spinach, botanically named Gnetum africanum, and peanut butter cooked with smoked fish. Kavungu tweaked her recipe to include smoked turkey instead of fish, and occasionally adds palm oil for extra flavour.
“My mom, sometimes, she used to ask us, ‘OK guys, what do you guys want to eat today?’ I used to say this every time. Every time,” Ibaka said in a video interview with Vice Sports, pointing to the fumbwa that Kavungu had delivered in a glass container.
Ma Yvé Grill doesn’t usually do delivery, but Kavungu makes an exception for Ibaka. She calls both him and Biyombo “genuine” personalities.
“I’m happy to see that they are still attached to their culture even if they’ve been out of their country for years,” she said. “Their presence is really boosting business and we hope to have their support forever.”
Kavungu didn’t clue into Biyombo’s star power, or know who he was at all until he came to a party she hosted at the restaurant. “I said, ‘Bismack, you never told me that you were famous!’ He said, ‘I thought you knew,’ ” Kavungu recounts, laughing. “It was so funny. It was a good moment that we had in the restaurant that day.”
Biyombo’s favourite foods are the grilled chicken and pondu, a dish made of cassava leaves and other vegetables cooked in palm oil, and mixed with fish or meat.
Stews such as pondu or fumbwa can be eaten with chikwangue, a paste made out of cassava soaked in water for a few days, then grated and pounded down. The paste is laid on banana leaves, wrapped to form a cylinder, and tied. The mini-baguette shaped bundles are then steam-cooked and the leaves are removed, revealing a doughy log that can be cut into small pieces and used to mop up a stew, or accompany another main course.
And, for dessert? Beignets (the French word for doughnut), which Kavungu makes into dumpling-shaped treats.