Regardless of Kenya’s complicated cultural influences drawn from as far afield because the Center East, Asia and Europe, its delicacies remains to be comparatively unknown – no less than outdoors of East Africa. Because of an extended historical past of commerce alongside the Swahili coast, spices from India and the Persian Gulf have permeated Kenya’s cooking tradition, and the Indian staff introduced in by the British Empire in the course of the development of the Uganda Railway launched one other layer of spicy complexity.
What’s true is that the standard of meals in Kenya can range broadly. Someday you could be feasting on tuna steaks or wealthy curries with Indian chapatis (flatbread) on the coast or fantastic eating within the upscale eating places of Nairobi; the subsequent, you could be restricted to “starch and gravy” in a roadhouse at a junction city en path to a nationwide park.
Search out Kenya’s Muslim-run eating places – often identifiable by their inexperienced paint and proximity to native mosques – for the richest flavors and most assorted spices. That stated, the meals you’ll most likely keep in mind most are served round a campfire on safaris, with the noises of the savannah including a soundtrack that might not be matched by any restaurant. Listed here are the perfect issues to eat and drink in Kenya to get you began on the East African culinary journey.
Make the perfect of starch and gravy
It’s secure to say that ugali – Kenya’s ubiquitous carb repair of maize (or generally cassava) flour that’s boiled right into a thick, dough-like combine – is one thing that takes slightly getting used to. It’s the default starch, stodgy however filling, and served alongside an enormous vary of sides from grilled fish to spicy meat and vegetable sauces. The truth that some eating places promote it as “starch and gravy” doesn’t assist the gross sales pitch.
However when you get used to the heavy consistency, ugali grows on you, particularly when served with high quality sauces. Eat it along with your fingers, breaking off hunks of the sticky combination to dip into the sauce. Keep away from sporting white whenever you do that and don’t depart the ugali within the sauce for lengthy, or the combination will begin to break aside.
One other starch supply you’ll see in every single place is irio, a mash comprised of potatoes and peas, with sweetcorn so as to add chew. Githeri – boiled beans and corn – is one other fill-you-up dish that bulks up smaller parts of meat or fish. Then there’s matoke, one other starchy stodge comprised of mashed inexperienced plantains. Plantains additionally crop up within the hash-like mukimo, alongside candy potatoes, corn and beans. Your alternative of starch and sauce will typically include a facet of sukuma wiki (braised or stewed spinach), offered some welcome roughage.
The place to attempt it: You’ll be able to’t keep away from ugali – it’s served in every single place, notably at roadhouses alongside Kenya’s highways and in finances eateries. Typically the perfect model is made by Muslim-run eating places, the place the standard of the sauces elevates the blandness of the starch.
Expertise Kenya’s Indian influences
The affect of India has seeped into Kenyan cooking tradition, thanks each to commerce throughout the Indian Ocean and the Indian railway staff introduced over by the British in colonial instances (a lot of whom stayed and have become an important a part of the Kenyan financial system). Spiced rice dishes reminiscent of biryani and pilau are in every single place, typically served with a hunk of rooster or meat in a spicy sauce. Chapatis – a skinny wheat flatbread – are one other Indian sauce soaker-upper you’ll discover all around the nation.
For essentially the most satisfyingly complicated cooking in Kenya, search out Indian-run eating places on the coast round Mombasa, the place richly spiced meat kebabs cooked within the tandoor (clay oven), varied kinds of dal (stewed lentils) and aromatic sauces with meat, fish and greens are the mainstay.
What you received’t discover too broadly is the pure veg delicacies of South India – a lot of the Indian settlers who got here to Kenya arrived from Gujarat and Punjab. Nevertheless, a vegetable thali (a plated meal with rice or chapatis and a mixture of veg curries) isn’t exhausting to search out. Samosas (deep-fried pastry triangles filled with spiced potatoes and peas or beef) are additionally ubiquitous.
The place to attempt it: The ever-popular Haandi Restaurant has branches in Nairobi and Mombasa, serving satisfying Mughlai curries, kebabs from the tandoor and a few tasty veg dishes. Mombasa’s Shehnai Restaurant is one other prime place for a curry repair, however as at many Indian-run eating places in Kenya, no alcohol is served.
Meat, meat and extra meat
Kenyans are meat-eaters to the core, and meat sometimes types a part of lunch or a night meal, even when it’s solely a small portion. Goat is the default protein, however you’ll additionally see loads of rooster and beef alongside Kenya’s two formally sanctioned recreation meats: ostrich and crocodile. Meaty sauces are sometimes soaked up with ugali, chapatis, rice and different starchy sides.
Essentially the most visceral Kenyan meat dish is nyama choma (barbecued meat) – a nondescript hunk of muscle crudely chopped into bite-sized chunks, bone and gristle included. A half-kilo portion ought to kind out your meat cravings, with salad or mash and greens on the facet to help digestion. Nyama choma is served at innumerable meals stands and native cafes to accompany chilly beers, however it’s often slightly leaner at sit-down eating places.
The place to attempt it: Nairobi is a good place to get your repair of flesh (however don’t fear – vegetarians are well-catered for right here too). Expertise two poles of the carnivore expertise at Roadhouse Grill in Kilimani, the place the nyama choma is extra tender than standard and modestly priced, and Carnivore, a eating establishment in Langata, the place enormous joints of beef, lamb, pork, rooster, and meats from farmed ostriches and crocodiles are barbecued on spears and served carvery fashion.
Feast on seafood on the Kenyan coast
The waters off the coast of Kenya are wealthy in seafood, notably giant recreation fish reminiscent of marlin, wahoo and tuna. The lakes and rivers present plentiful freshwater fish, reminiscent of tilapia. In resorts on the coast, barbecued seafood is the go-to, however you’ll additionally discover fish, kamba (prawns), uduvi (shrimp), kaa (crab) and pweza (octopus) served wa kupaka fashion in a coconut-rich curry sauce. Because of the affect of seafaring Swahili spice merchants, flavorings reminiscent of coconut, cloves and cinnamon function prominently.
The place to attempt it: The coast is predictably the place to go for excellent seafood. You’ll discover all the things from oysters and barbecued tuna to coconut prawn curry and English-style fish and chips at eating places reminiscent of Nautilus and Boatyard in Kilifi and upmarket seashore bars reminiscent of Nomad and Sails in Diani Seashore. For freshwater fish, attempt Trout Tree Restaurant on the Naro Moru to Nanyuki freeway.
Begin the day the Kenyan manner
Breakfast in Kenya is usually a easy affair. Many locals begin the day with chai (candy, milky tea) accompanied by a mandazi, a semisweet, triangular doughnut. Take pleasure in them very first thing within the morning once they’re freshly made – they turn into ever extra rubbery and fewer appetizing because the day goes on. One other conventional breakfast dish is uji, a skinny, candy porridge comprised of millet and corn or sorghum flour, served heat with milk and brown sugar.
The place to attempt it: Uji and different conventional Kenyan breakfast dishes typically seem on the menu at Amaica in Westlands. This restaurant flies the flag for genuine African cooking (views of the Karura Forest are one other perk).
European influences
The British and different European colonizers didn’t exit Kenya with out leaving a mark. Colonial-era resorts nonetheless serve excessive tea, sandwiches and cake, and Kenya Railways runs a tea service on the in a single day prepare from Nairobi to Mombasa. If we’re trustworthy, although, it’s the Individuals and Italians who left the most important footprint on Kenya’s delicacies within the type of pizzas, burgers and fries, which crop up in every single place, although typically on the fast-food finish of the spectrum.
The place to attempt it: For European flavors, attempt Le Rustique in Nanyuki for high quality pizzas, Mediterranean dishes and crepes, Talisman in Nairobi for imaginative European fusion cooking, or Child Marrow in Malindi to take in the Italian influences on the coast.
Sink a post-safari Tusker beer
Tusker Beer – a pale, German-style lager – is a nationwide establishment. The brewery was based in 1922 and served its first pint on the Stanley Resort in Nairobi; the identify is a reference to the elephant that trampled the brewery’s founder to dying when a looking expedition went awry. It is available in three varieties: normal Tusker, sturdy Tusker export and full-flavored Tusker Malt.
Kenya has a energetic after-work pub tradition, and women and men drink collectively (besides in Muslim communities the place alcohol is averted). Craft beers are beginning to seem on the scene, and you can even discover regionally brewed Guinness and varied imported beers, most from South Africa.
Kenyan wines have gotten more and more revered, with some strong whites and reds produced by the vineyards round Lake Naivasha. Nevertheless, keep away from the native papaya wine; it tastes as sickly because it sounds. In any other case, South African and European imports are the norm.
Spirits vary from whiskies, rums and gin to native cocktail creations reminiscent of dawa, which interprets from Kiswahili as “medication” – comprised of vodka, lime and honey. Be very cautious sampling Kenya’s alcoholic homebrews. Pombe beer comprised of bananas or millet is often secure sufficient, however keep away from chang’a, a probably lethal brew that’s typically laced with methyl alcohol.
For nonalcoholic drinks, the native fruit juices are wonderful, notably on the coast, the place freshly blended smoothies comprised of ardour fruit and different tropical delights are all the fashion. Regionally grown teas and coffees are additionally wonderful.
The place to attempt it: For a nod to the times when massive recreation hunters would collect on the lodge bar to commerce tales of shut brushes with dying, head to the Lord Delamere Terrace & Bar on the Norfolk Resort, then shake off the historical past at hip, fashionable Nairobi hangouts reminiscent of The Alchemist, Brew Bistro & Lounge and the Havana Bar, the place DJ units, cool cocktails and craft beers are the order of the day.
Vegans and vegetarians
Vegetarian guests are prone to battle, as meat options in most meals and plenty of vegetable dishes are cooked in meat inventory. However, with a little bit of scouting round, it is best to be capable to discover one thing. You might end up consuming a whole lot of sukuma wiki (stewed spinach) and githeri (a bean-and-corn combine) – each hearty, if not notably inspiring, vegetable choices. Search for dishes made with beans and avocado to flee Kenya’s carnivorous tendencies.
Many Indian eating places will present a vegetarian thali (an all-you-can-eat meal, often with lentils) that ought to fill you up. Shopping for contemporary fruit and greens in native markets can assist relieve the tedium of attempting to order across the meat on restaurant menus. Notice that the majority tour operators can cater to particular dietary requests (vegetarian, vegan, kosher, halal) with advance discover.
