Zuku bids to promote local cookery

‘Tales from Bush Larder’  has been locally produced and is hosted by Kenyan born and internationally trained chef, Kiran Jethwa. It takes viewers on a tour of Kenya’s unusual and unknown gastronomic delights.

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It is expected to play part in putting Kenyan recipes on the global map and amongst the countries known for their local cuisine such as India, China and Thailand. It is also expected to play in part in boosting tourism marketing efforts. Culinary tourism is now considered a vital component of the tourism experience especially among countries famed for their delicacies.

Speaking at the premiere of the show in Nairobi, the host and the brain behind the show, Jethwa said the show showcases Kenyan cuisine to the world.

“There is an opportunity for us to showcase Kenyan cuisine to the world and demonstrate to Kenyans that there is so much they can do with the variety of foods they have,” said Jethwa.

He added that, Kenya has incredible ingredients that attract international tourists and it is a step forward to promote the cuisine market. The host traverses the country in search of the origins of some of the ingredients that he likes to cook in his restaurant.

While Kenya is not known for its cuisine, it is rich in unique and prized raw ingredients, which, in most cases, are still organically cultivated and hand harvested.  Such ingredients vary from Nile perch and sailfish to African wild honey to mud crabs to guinea fowl. It is these ingredients, the people who grow and harvest them, and the gorgeous landscapes that Kiran explores.

Jethwa participates in the harvesting process, and then uses the ingredients to cook, first a simple bush meal and then a more refined restaurant version.

“It showcases Kenya in an off-the-beaten track way at a time when Kenya is striving to diversify its tourism appeal. We were also attracted to the way the show portrays Kenya with unusual intimacy and affection,” said Hannelie Bekker, Head of Zuku TV.

Information and Communication Permanent Secretary Bitange Ndemo, compared culinary tourism to food science. “We are in an era that food is not going to be referred to as a meal, this is because somebody has brought the invented the science of cooking, which as a country we can earn a foreign exchange,” explained Ndemo.

The PS has been on the frontline encouraging local TV content that promotes Kenya diversity at the wake of negative reporting by the western countries. 

In July, during the inauguration of Chefs Delight Award in Nairobi, Kenya Tourism Board Managing Director Muriithi Ndegwa termed award scheme as ‘an ideal platform’ for promoting culinary tourism in the country. Bell added the company would continue investing in local content.

“We know that nothing  appeals like local content. While our offering is rich in content from around the world, we have structured our offering, operations and investment to  engage with the regional production industry and create content that will raise the bar on regional programming and development of the industry,” he said.