A Taste of the Kenyan Culture

Ugali is the most common of all Kenyan cuisines since the Portuguese introduced maize in this East African country during the 18th century, making it a part of the culture of more than 54 million people.

When you visit a Kenyan family like I did in Qatar – a country that has embraced diverse cultures under its minute geographical space – you are not only assured of warm hospitality, but a hearty ugali meal too!!

?It is their way of saying ‘Taste Kenya’.

They take pride in preparing the meal, with each member of the family we visited playing a part in it. ?Just another way of saying welcome to our abode.

When dinner was ready, each of us served themselves.

?As we enjoyed the tasty delight, we talked about how in Zimbabwe, our staple ‘sadza’ is a thinner version of their ugali.

We laughed when we told our hosts that in Zimbabwe, if a daughter-in-law cooked sadza as thick as ugali on the day she is introduced to her new matrimonial family, she would be the subject of unpleasant village gossip for the rest of her life.

We discovered that our languages, both of Bantu origin, have many words in common.

Just from the menu alone, we discovered that we both call chicken, meat, and tripe by similar vernacular names. Huku/Kuku, nyama, matumbu!

Indeed, Africa is one!

By the time our plates had diminished, we had warmed up to each other so much that we asked for more.

Forget Oliver Twist!

Now in her element, our hostess served us ugali the true Kenyan way, cutting it with a knife, and then picking the morsel with her bare hands before placing it onto our plates.

She didn’t even have to tell us. We just figured out that it is the way ugali is correctly served.

To us, we felt that in Kenyan #culture, this was a way of conveying trust, friendship, and warmth.

Such is the relationship between food and culture.

#africa #kenya #qatar2022 #zimbabwe