Zuku bids to promote local cookery

By Macharia Kamau

A new programme is expected to showcase Kenyan culinary delights to global audiences following a deal between local pay TV operator Zuku and an Amsterdam based television content distribution company.

The programme, Tales from Bush Larder, is airing on Zuku TV but the company has also handed international distribution rights to Off the Fence (OTF), a firm that specialises in distribution of documentaries and factual entertainment.

The deal with OTF is for five years.

William Bell chief executive Wanachi Group – the firm that owns Zuku – said Wananchi will retain distribution rights in Africa while OTF will have the international broadcast rights. The international broadcast rights will be available from December.

‘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.

Global map
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.

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