Why food and culture are low-lying fruits in tourism

Mombasa is a great place to visit if you want to relax and enjoy the warm weather, admire scenic nature and have a taste of Kenyan history entombed in Fort Jesus and other historical sites.

The sea, its waves and strange creatures add to the attractions. 

Less talked about are the local delicacies. Like Swahili language, the dishes are influenced by the many cultures that once made the east coast home.

That includes Arabs, Portuguese and Indians and recently confirmed, the Chinese who visited in 1418 AD led by Admiral Zheng He.

One top hotel has noted the economic fortunes embedded in the local cultures, particularly food.

They have hired locals to prepare traditional cuisine such as Biryani, vitumbua, viazi kara, mahamri, mkate wa sinia and chapati. They prepare food as you wait!

In my most recent visit there, I was fascinated by the long queue of mostly upcountry Kenyans waiting to get a taste of authentic coastal food.

One expected them to be taking exotic foods. Interestingly, among the buffet is ugali and other traditional foods such as mukimo and mushenye.

While health worry is driving us back to traditional foods, the search for culturally authentic food is a factor.

Could this be a shift to self identity among Kenyans? Has the pendulum shifted too far to the West? This hotel has taken a bold step and shown how food is prepared.  

Other hotels just serve nduma, ngwaci, boiled maize and more recently ‘machakula’ but do not show how it is prepared.

Preparing traditional food in a Mombasa hotel. Such food can be a great tourist attraction (XN Iraki: Standard)

They even state “Usiingie Jikoni.” Preparing food is more fun than eating it. That is why kitchens ought to big enough to allow those interested to sit and admire the cooking.

Top notch restaurants are also shifting to an open kitchen; for hygiene or fun?

These top hotels are laggards; the hustlers long patented”the open kitchen” system.

They slaughter goats or chicken as you wait. You watch as they roast or choma. That assures you of quality and, some would add, whets your appetite.

Why can’t we think without a box, and go beyond the Big Five and use traditional foods as tourist attractions?

Great foods

When I lasted visited Morocco (I am informing you, not showing off), they kept reminding us that their county is second in the world on gastronomy, the art or science of good eating as defined by a dictionary.

Moroccans have great food, mostly Mediterranean. Culturally and gastronomically, Morocco seemed more European than African.

Not so surprising considering the nearness to Europe and great divide, Sahara desert, from the rest of Africa.  

Once you visit a new place, be it a country or even homes, memories of what you ate linger more than what you saw.

That should not surprise us. Once we have made money, and satisfied the basic needs, we take food and its taste as fun.

That is why high-end hotels have lots of variety unlike the rural hotels where mandazi and tea are the staple with variations like kipasuo (quarter loaf in the neighbourhood of Happy Valley).  

The good news is that last weekend, it was reported that ‘KDF’ finally reached my village whose name I can’t disclose for security reasons.

One young man narrated how only two KDFs will satisfy you.  Who invented the KDF (the hard, mandazi-like snack)? Does he or she have a patent?

Kenya can make food or gastronomy a low-lying fruit in tourism. The investment is almost zero. With so many communities, each with its delicacies, Kenya could become a gastronomy Mecca.

We just need to package our traditional foods. Ask Ranalo or Kosewe. Many local and foreign tourists would not mind learning how mukimo, kimanga, injera, ugali, muthokoi, mushenye and other delicacies are prepared, or even partake in preparation.

Other countries have hamburgers, macaroni, sushi, matoke, chips mayai (in Tanzania).

Why can’t we brand the Kenyan foods including ugali and take them to the world like Ethiopians, Thai, Chinese, Indians, Vietnamese or even Nigerians and their hot soups?

Little competition

I doubt if an American is interested in eating Kenya hamburgers. I doubt if a Japanese wants to eat sushi in Kenya.

We can’t make these foods better than them. Why not prepare what we are good at, with little competition.

No American or Briton can prepare uji or mursik better than us. Let us think outside the box or, better, without a box.

We could make our food more interesting by spicing it up with quality traditional brews like muratina or busaa.

Why can’t these brews be ISO certified?  Every country has its brews with Russians and Vodka, Uganda and Waragi, TZ and Konyagi, Kenya has Tusker, Canada has Moose Head, USA has Budweiser and Japanese have Sake.

The beauty about food and drinks is that they are a necessity, and source of money - and not exhaustible like oil. What are we waiting for?

-The writer teaches at the University of Nairobi

 

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