Kenya’s cuisine is a reflection of intercultural traditions. In the 16th century, the ships of the Portuguese Vasco da Gama docked off the coast of the country. The Portuguese used the local port cities as an entrepot on their way to India. Naturally, they introduced Kenyans to European recipes.
In the seventeenth century, Kenya attracted the interest of the Omani Sultanate. The Arabs expelled the Portuguese and established their rule, and at the same time colored the food with the flavorful brightness of spices. By the 1970s, the British came to Kenya, making it their colony and instilling the tradition of English tea drinking.
Kenyan cuisine is quite simple in terms of execution. The most common way of cooking is charcoal frying. So just like at 22Bet, you don’t need to understand it in detail to get an unprecedented enjoyment.
Ugali
Ugali is a cornmeal porridge, a simple and hearty dish. It can be easily cut with a knife, although cutlery is not particularly welcomed among locals – everyone here is used to eating with hands.
Ugali has a neutral taste, so it is rather boring to eat it as a separate dish. You may eat it that way, though. We remember that Kenya is not a country of high prosperity and corn is not expensive. A more interesting variant is to roll the ugali into balls and stuff them with vegetables or meat and then dip them into sauce.
Mataa
Mataa is another popular Kenyan dish, something between pasta and mashed potatoes. An economical version is made from pulses (most often peas or beans) and corn. An affluent Kenyan will replace corn with potatoes and add meat.
Matoke
Matoke can be called banana stew. Originally a dish from Uganda, but it has caught on here as well, so much so that few people remember its geographical origin. It is made from a special unsweetened variety of green bananas. They cut the fruit, put it in a pot, add broth, tomatoes, onions and garlic, season it with hot peppers and stew it in a charcoal stew or, with the advent of civilization, over low heat for a long time. Serve with chapati tortillas or ugali.
Sukuma
Sukuma is a simple dish which is eaten as a side dish and on its own. It’s elementary, so you might as well make it yourself. Finely chopped spinach leaves are stewed in vegetable oil and a little water.
Nyama Choma
Nyama Choma is large chunks of goat meat roasted over an open fire. The already cooked meat is very finely chopped and always served on wooden plates. Besides Nyama Choma, Kuku Choma is also cooked: chicken meat is fried instead of goat meat. The garnish for nyama choma is made of boiled green peas and potatoes which are mashed and mixed with corn kernels after boiling.
