from the midwest i began
19 hours later landing in kenya
excited to be in east africa for the first time
alone, except for a few contacts from a dear friend
one thing was for sure
kenyan cuisine and its culinary traditions
i needed to experience
with the locals
nairobi felt familiar
from the fast swerving painted matatus, similar to haitian tap-taps
to the red earth and fertile farmland i saw
it felt like a place i already knew
yet when i was approached and asked questions by the locals
with swahili words i would come to learn later
i stood in silence
unable to respond back in words other than english
it was then i decided
that swahili would be amongst the languages i spoke
a few days into my trip
i met up with alice, my nairobi cooking host, on a hot afternoon
a few minutes walk from her house
near a small corner grocery store
the night before we decided on making ugali
as i had asked her for a nice intro dish to kenya
we proceeded to purchase the beef along with the kale and collards mixture
and headed to her home kitchen
where the other ingredients awaited us
ugali and sukuma wiki with beef
kachumbari
all ingredients i love and know
white corn meal // kale // collards // tomatoes // onions // avocados
ugali
a firm corn based fufu
reminds me of haitian mayi moulin and venezuelan arepas
the textures may all be different
but the corn base is the same
sukuma wiki
a greens mixture simmered with spices and tomatoes
reminding me of slow cooked southern greens
but with a nice acid component
kachumbari
identical to mexican pico de gallo
but eaten along side your meal as opposed to being a dip
as alice and i became fast friends
i was invited to her husband's family village for christmas
as i was traveling in the middle of the holidays
and knew people would be out of town gathering with loved ones
kibirigwi
a village about 2 hours north of nairobi
with plenty of coffee plants and fertile land
where the goat had been slaughtered the day we arrived
and the women prepared themselves to cook the meals
i sat close by, observing and ready to help if needed
one dish i learned to prepare, chapati
a flatbread very similar to indian naan, but unleavened
and just as delicious
this would later be eaten with goat and kachumbari late into the night
with a hefty cup of muratina
a light brown kenyan wine made of honey, sugarcane and muratina, a kenyan fruit
before leaving them and heading back to nairobi
alice and i spoke about the similarities between our cultural cuisines
especially the use of matoké, plantains, which i saw everywhere
something i grew up eating, either boiled for breakfast or fried at parties
alice said she'd never had them fried
so as night approached I made some bannann pézé, haitian fied plantains
cooking for her and her family this time, even if just a side dish
arriving back in nairobi
i checked out the malls that people mentioned to me before my trip
ate lots of pastries at artcaffé, a local chain restaurant
and took in all of the scenic spots
where giraffes, hippos and rhinos roamed
while taking in the abundance of flora and fauna native to the region
***NOTE***
If you find yourself in Nairobi, be sure to book a cooking experience with Alice, you’ll love it!