Learn all about the top five dishes you just have to try while traveling in Kenya
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Medina: Hi everyone! Welcome back to SwahiliPod101.com! I’m Medina. |
| Joshua: And I’m Joshua. This is All About, Lesson 7 - Top 5 Kenyan Dishes. |
| Medina: As you know Joshua, Kenyans really love their cuisine. |
| Joshua: Kenyan culture has some unique dishes and is often praised by foreigners as great cuisine. That’s because food is a central theme in Kenyan tradition. |
| Medina: It really is! It's hard to summarize Kenyan culture without talking specifically about food. |
| Joshua: Since you might not find typical Kenyan dishes that easily in restaurants, learning them from recipes or eating them at someone’s home is the best way to experience them. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Medina: When they think Kenyan food, most people probably think of ‘ugali’ which is “baked corn” and ‘sukumawiki’ which is “kale”. |
| Joshua: Yeah, but there is really so much more to it. |
| Medina: There sure is, and we'll give you a great starting point for getting some of the best Kenyan food out there. Let’s start with the basics. |
| Medina: Kenya’s is a unique cuisine, because it’s an original food dating back from times when fishing, hunting and agriculture were the only way of acquiring your own food. |
| Joshua: Most meals are a variation on this basic theme. And believe me, there are variations. |
| Medina: Kenyans are famous for eating a lot of beef, pork, mutton, and even wild game, but there is also a lot of fish and other seafood. |
| Joshua: Vegetarian food is also very easy to find, and so are fresh fruits and vegetables, since the weather and soil favor their natural growth. |
| Medina: Kenyans don't typically use recipes when they cook. That means the recipes you see in cookbooks, on the Internet, or even in these lessons are just one version, or one part of one Kenyan meal. |
| Joshua: That said, Kenyans really like bread. |
| Medina: True. Bread is a large part of Kenya’s food tradition. |
| Joshua: Yes, especially for breakfast, which is considered the most important meal of the day for Kenyans. |
| Medina: Bread is most often the main food at breakfast, and comes with many kinds of spreads. |
| Joshua: Apart from bread, we have ‘Mandazi’, a semisweet, flat doughnut. |
| Medina: Normally bread and ‘Mandazi’ are served with ‘kahawa’ or ‘chai’ - “coffee” and “tea” respectively in Swahili. Chai is very milky and sweet. The tea, milk, and sugar are put into cold water and brought to a boil. |
| Joshua: Ah, now I'm getting hungry. Let’s move on to popular food items. Now, most towns in Kenya have bakeries that supply bread to their neighbouring regions. |
| Medina: In these bakeries, you will find different kinds of breads and doughnuts. |
| Joshua: You will never miss ‘mkate’, "bread"! |
| Medina: This standard part of every Kenyan meal comes in many different varieties. |
| Joshua: As a side note, Kenya has a diverse immigrant culture, but in spite of this, the chances of finding places that serve traditional Kenyan food is still high. And Kenyans will happily eat other varieties of foods too. |
| Medina: And that’s why Nairobi, for example, has kebab shops, French bakeries, and Italian pizzerias in most of its areas. |
| Joshua: Sounds great, but let’s get back to Kenyan food. Next we’ll talk about seasonal dishes. |
| Medina: Christmas is a big food holiday in Kenya. The Kenyan Christmas is celebrated by eating goat meat, ‘nyama ya mbuzi’, a tradition that’s common in almost every part of Kenya. In other parts, you will probably have ‘nyama ya kondoo’, a mutton dish that’s often served with ‘ugali’ and rice. |
| Joshua: Yeah, and those who want a drink often have this dish with ‘bia’ - that is beer - or a spirit of their choice. |
| Medina: Ugh, yeah I remember that. Watch out, you can quickly get drunk! |
| Joshua: Another part of Christmas is ‘nyama choma’ or “roasted meat.” |
| Medina: Yum, it’s one of my favorite Christmas dishes, very sweet and spicy. |
| Joshua: Christmas dinner is likely to be fish or ‘nyama choma’. Goat or beef is used for ‘nyama choma’, although goat is considered a greater delicacy. |
| Medina: Now let’s talk about table etiquette. |
| Joshua: While it may seem like a disorganized mix of plates, food, and conversation, table etiquette in Kenya is important. The basic rules apply, such as don't talk with your mouth full, sit up straight, don't put your feet on the table - but there is one thing Kenyans do that may look weird to others. |
| Medina: It is normal for Kenyans to eat food using their hands. It is not offensive, however, for others to use cutlery. It is understandable. |
| Joshua: Also be careful not to chew with your mouth open. |
| Medina: Kenyans despise the sight of a person eating with their mouth wide open. So it’s best to close it! |
| Joshua: Okay! Now let’s go through our list of Top 5 Foods to Try in Kenya . |
| Medina: The staff here at swahiliPod101.com and some Kenyan chefs I know chose this list. So, it's not based on official research or anything! |
| Medina: So, basically, these are the foods we think the listeners should try. Alright, what's on the list? |
| Joshua: Okay, number one… |
| Medina: ‘ugali’ “baked corn” - The Kenyan national dish, or at least one that is very popular. It is made from fine corn flour. |
| Joshua: Many Kenyans eat this on a daily basis. It takes a lot of practice to boil the porridge without burning it. ‘Ugali’ is usually eaten with meat, stews, or ‘sukuma wiki’, which literally translates to "stretch the week." This means that the food is used to stretch meals to last for the week. |
| Medina: ‘Sukuma wiki’ is a combination of chopped spinach or kale that is fried with onions, tomatoes, maybe a green pepper, and any leftover meat, if available. |
| Joshua: The traditional way of eating ‘ugali’ is to pinch off a piece of the dough with the right hand, and shape it into a scoop by pressing an indentation into the dough with the thumb. The ‘ugali’ is used to scoop sauces or stew. |
| Joshua: Ok. Number two… |
| Medina: ‘irio.’ This is made by cooking then mashing together corn, beans, potatoes, and greens. To eat it, you can roll ‘irio’ into balls and dip them into meat or vegetable stews. It’s very common to eat this with the family. It is very popular among the Kikuyu's. |
| Joshua: Sounds great! What’s number three… |
| Medina: ‘Nyama choma’ is roasted or grilled meat, usually goat. |
| Joshua: The process of grilling meat in Kenya is different from the process of barbecuing meat in the United States. |
| Medina: When eating ‘nyama choma’ at a restaurant, the diner chooses from a selection of meat that is shown on the menu. It is grilled, and depending on your taste, spices can be added. It is then brought to the table already sliced into bite-sized pieces. It is often served with mashed vegetables. |
| Joshua: Mmmm! Number four… |
| Medina: ‘Fårikål’ - "Lamb and Cabbage Stew" - This is very common in Kenya, and often eaten during holidays and especially during the cold season. The dish is a stew made of cabbage and mutton. |
| Joshua: And lastly, number five… |
| Medina: ‘githeri’, a mix of beans - usually red kidney beans - and corn, and ‘matoke’, or “mashed banana.” |
| Joshua: A typical Kenyan ‘chakula’ meaning “meal” is usually a heavy staple food, such as ‘ugali’ or potatoes, with side vegetables. ‘Ugali’ is typically served on a large dish that everyone can reach. |
| Medina: Do you have something after the meals? |
| Joshua: Of course. Fruit is usually eaten for dessert in place of sweets. |
| Medina: Lunch is the main ‘chakula’ of the day. Usually, foods served at dinner are a lot like what is served at lunch. |
| Joshua: I love the powerful flavors and variety of textures. Kenyan food is always an experience to be remembered. |
| Medina: It sure is. |
| Joshua Attention perfectionists! You're about to learn how to perfect your pronunciation. |
| Medina Lesson Review Audio Tracks. |
| Joshua Increase fluency and vocabulary fast with these short, effective audio tracks. |
| Medina Super simple to use. Listen to the Swahili word or phrase... |
| Joshua then repeat it out loud in a loud clear voice. |
| Medina You'll speak with confidence knowing that you're speaking Swahili like the locals. |
| Joshua Go to SwahiliPod101.com, and download the Review Audio Tracks right on the lessons page today! |
Outro |
| Joshua We’ve come to the end of this lesson. Thanks for listening, everyone! See you next time! |
| Medina: Bye! |
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