Haven't tried fufu yet but when I had Ethiopian food the thing I wanted to try the most was injera. I ate it first by itself and of course it had a bland, neutral taste.
You see people talk about these dishes and to us the starch looks like something exotic because it's not something we eat. The stews and soups are something we relate to but we don't eat them with our hands so the uncommon element is what we expect to wow us.
It's like someone trying gumbo and being excited about the white rice.