After many requests and full mailboxes ;-)
Here is a start to talk about the food in Kenya and of course drinks too!
It is going to be totally random unfortunately, just what we tasted, saw and what crossed our path so far during our stay. But the aim is to cover everything from;
A- Avocado (seen a lot everywhere & fresh) and Apples (small, green or red/yellow all imported) to Z- Zucchini-Zebra meat, the first being a chain of greengrocers, the latter served at the Carnivore restaurant in Nairobi with loads of other (bred espescially for the purpose) meats like impala and crocodile.
(We went to the restaurant by the same name and concept in South Africa)
Oh, I will try to keep to an English-International spelling with it...
(except for when running out of inspiration and Dutch comes first a couple of times ;-)
Here the first instalment A till M.
In time we will add some new foods (drinks) we might try out along the way.
Questions, remarks, and additions more than welcome!
nederlands-dutch ( = NL)
Dit zal voornamelijk in het Engels geschreven worden, de meesten van jullie weten wel de weg te vinden op een menukaart of in een keuken in het Engels denk ik ?
Met af en toe wat toevoegingen in Nederlands of een woordje in het Swahili ertussen.
Hier deel 1 van A tot en met M.
We zullen ongetwijfeld nog eea toevoegen als we meer geproefd hebben.
Vragen, opmerkingen en toevoegingen meer dan welkom!
Chakula (food) & Vinywaji (drinks).
A-it
Alcohol: As quite some of you know it is unavoidable to start with something close to my heart ...
Alcohol is sold in a separate, closed-off space in the supermarkets. (And there are a few wine and spirits shops in the shopping centres like Haven & Monty's). This is to keep an eye on the age of people buying.
Konyagi:
35% alcohol and produced in Tanzania, the bottle says: " exceptionally smooth clear spirit with a citrus and spicy nose". Well clear it is, I personally smell more alcohol than citrus, the taste is a bit citrus, a bit spice and a lot of alcohol again.Safe to say not my favourite! (can be mixed, but still ;-)
Kenya Cane:
40% alcohol and produced in Kenya of course! Smooth Cane spirit, Triple distilled with fresh sugar cane hearts for a clean taste and a full flavour. Again it is clear, a 'sweetish smell' and same taste like a sugarry rum I suppose, not bad, even better in the mix!
KWV Van Der Hum Liquer:
25% alcohol and produced in South Africa.Brandy, tangerines (Naartjies) herbs, spices and other citrus extracts. (tasting notes to follow)
Apples: all small and mainly inported from South Africa.
(NL) Jammer! (Taco) Smaakvolle appels van een normale grote heb ik nog niet gezien !
Voordeel is dat ze in Matthew zijn lunchbox passen, nadeel is dat ze vrij snel gaan rotten. Waarschijnlijk door het geconditioneerde vervoer vanuit Zuid-Afrika.
B-
Beers: bia,
Tusker, the beer of Kenia (to my and many more peoples) opinion.
Nice Lager, for me a shame that is mainly sold in 500cl cans & bottles.
Tusker Malt, is not a beer without alcohol, but instead an even tastier version of the big brother this in a 33cl bottle.
Tusker Lite, indeed a light beer like a malt, lots of (too many?) bubbles, not a lot of foam, 4%
Quenches the thirst Yes, Nice, No.
White Cap, another Kenyan favourite but a bit more bitter to my taste.
Also (like Tusker) sold in a lite / light version.
Sierra, sold in different " tastes " which I do not quite follow, nice and trendy brand not as good as Tusker in my humble opinion and a bit lighter in taste compared to other Kenya brands.
Castle, South African by origin but brewed in Tanzania. Apart from Tusker of course! My favourite, in 33cl cans and bottles.
Summit Malt,....hmm lost my notes what a shame! have try it again ;-) ..............
Bread: The bread here, to us, seems to go old very quickly, it is not as firm as we are used to (in the Netherlands) and is easily stale. (Prepackaged loaves of 'supermarket' bread).
Of course it is possible to buy fresh bread from bakeries, like Alexandre at Yaya and Tusky's at the Tmall but this is only good for one day. One of the reasons we eat a lot of toasted bread with...
Butter:
Blue Band made by Unilver in Nairobi (see I, imports)
Brookside, a giant in dairy with milk, buttter, yoghurts etc.
Beans: one of the national staples in Kenya. The choice is amazing and many cheap, of good quality and fresh too.
Breakfast cereals:
Weetabix, Cornflakes etc. all sold here! In both International and Local brands.
(big) Brands, see I for imports...
C-
Chilli Sauce:
Tiger- All Gold SA or Chain Kwo from Thailand, the last one is our favourite!
Espescially because Tiger claims that their bottle does not clogg! (NOT TRUE) * see I imports.
Cookies: zie koekjes K - see K for koekjes NL
Cheese: Brown's! Do we need to say more ;-)
Yes, of course after the tasting at their stand at the Nairobi Wine & Cheese Fair we could not say anything else... There are more and other brands, but their diversity and quality does not really have an equal as far as we can discover. (There are some imported cheese brands which are quite expensive!)
Blue Vein, Cream with Garlic, Cheese Dip, Feta with Lemon&Pepper Oil {the best according to Jane, who says we will try their whole assortment}. Anyway try it yourself! Now or later...
Corn: The snack to take when out on the street. (Corn on the cob cooked on a fire on every street corner).
Sold everywhere, fresh, good quality and another staple of the Kenyan diet.
Chapati: the boys absolutely love them, that is freshly made by Mama Elizabeth! It is one of the many examples of Indian influences to be found in Kenya.
Coffee:
Java: great coffee, mostly 'dark' / stronger roasted than other brands. Unfortunately only to be bought in 250 gram packets.Only three taste distinctions.
Dormans: A coffee company before they too started with coffee houses.
Great coffee range which can be bought in 250 and 500 gram packages my favourite for price/value.
Out of Africa: Great nuts, do not buy their coffee if you do not have to, that's all, great nuts!
(started as a Nut Company with possibly the best Macademia Nuts on the continent - try the honey coated)
Crisps:
Ripples, we like these very much, Nyama Choma taste, Funky Chicken, Cheddar Cheese.
Pringles can also be found
D-
Dates; fresh, in a paste, dried, anyway you like! Unfortunately not enjoyed by everybody in the Rison household.
Dill; a favourite in the Swedish kitchen and also used by us in several recipes, not (as yet) to be found in Nairobi by me.
Drinks, Non-Alcoholic, (no tea or coffee) loads of choice in (fresh) fruit juices and squash or syrups.
Great for the boys and us! Favourites are Passion and Mango juice.
Brands:
Excel Quencher Fitzo
Highlands
There is a lot of difference between these as in how much water needs to be added, lots of different tastes of any fruits you can think of!
Desserts: not a great choice really, we think, except for the great yoghurts (see Y).
All (espescially ice cream) rather expensive, probably because most have to be imported into Kenya with heavy duties and tax.
{ a slight lack of inspiration here at the D }
E-
Eggs: Eaten a lot, and to be bought anywhere on the street, at the market or in a supermarket.
Chicken and Quails eggs are both widely available in the supermarkets.
F-
Fruit: Matunda
banana: any size and any taste, and very cheap too.(they even grow in our garden here)
pretty good, but they can go brown & soft very quickly.
mango: there are two different kinds of mango on sale here the apple mango and ngonwe.
The first (Apple) is a bit more coloured and oval than the last and is originally from the Malindi coast area.
The Ngonwe is originally from Zanzibar.
Both juicy and great to eat when ripe.
melon: any kind is for sale, smaller canteloupe to enormous watermelons.
passion fruits: in yellow and black variety, I do not know the difference as yet ......
paw paw: a fruit originally from the USA now also grown here.( NL = prairiebanaan of room appel)
pineapple: great when fresh, but can go off quickly, brown and hard is the result.
tomatoes: maybe the odd one out, but the quality here is not so great...
Mostly oval shaped quite often very green, not much juice either...
(NL, in NL kunnen we wel eens klagen over de "kas tomaten" maar zelfs die zijn beter dan die hier)
Apple mangoes
Paw paw
Black and yellow Passion fruitFish:Samaki, zie/see Vis
G-
Ginger, fresh used a lot in dishes, cookies and drinks, and sold fresh everywhere.
Giteri: Kenyan staple, a mix of beans and corn
H-
Honey, 2 different kinds are for sale in a Supermarket:
Real bees honey which always shows some bees on the packaging.
Processed stuff made purely in a factory production line. (We had some great Honey from Kitui from Dick)
I-
Irio: vegetable rolls with beans,corn, potatoes, spinach and salt & pepper.
Icecream: too expensive, not so very much choice either. All imported from Belgium hence the price.
Imports:
* Tiger Brands is the biggest food company in South Africa and (part) owns (food) companies in Kenya, Zimbabwe and other countries in the world. They sell anything and everything from Baby Products to Toiletries. They market under different brands, but I bet there are no people who have none of their products at home in Kenya!
Lots of products are imported and because of that fairly expensive..
Mainly South-Africa wines and 'big brands', Europe espescially Turkey for toileteries, also Egypt for clothes.
Unilever, the ANGLO-DUTCH giant also produce a lot of products in South-Africa so lots of well known brands to be seen everywhere.
These can be found easily in any supermarket are roadside stall for some products like Cola.
BERTOLI, olive oil, sauces and pasta are quite common.
BISTO, for sauces is easliy found.
COCA COLA, for drinks
HARIBO, for sweets
HELLEMA, for cookies (Speculaas!)
INA PAARMAN'S, sauces and seasoning
MARS, with all the chocolate bars
McCAIN, frozen potato products produced in India
PRINGLES, crisps can be found in the Supermarket just like anywhere else in the world ;-)
(made in Belgium by Procter & Gamble)
REMIA, for sauces and salad cream
J-
Jam:Some are great, some not to the taste of the boys.
Red Plum: great espescially from Peptang.
Also Apricot from Zesta and yes English Hartleys, recently I even saw HERO from Holland!
Juice:
Splash from Kampala, Uganda
Packets with a straw for the boys from Egypt but also the DelMonte brand is available.
K-
Kachumbari is a fresh tomato and onion salad dish in East and Southern African cuisine. It is an uncooked salad dish consisting of chopped tomatoes, onions, and chili peppers (and salt to taste). Variations of Kachumbari can be found in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda and in central African countries of Malawi and Congo. In Latin America, it is a variation of pico de gallo, or salsa fresca.
Koekjes = Cookies & Cakes
Hellema (Hallum-Holland) Great biscuits, peanut and choclate cookies and cookies for kids.
NuVita, small packets with 3 in are great for school! sold in a plastic box.
Muffins are quite popular, but can be very dry very quickly!
The Cakes from Alexandre at Yaya are the best some money can buy, to our opinion!
L-
Light Products:only for some drinks and for instance mayonaise not widely available.
Than again if one only eats Ugali, Corn and sometime Goat there is not much need for them!
Lollipops: one of Matthews favourites, going down to the kiosk down the road (alone, while being watched by us from the gate) and buy a couple of lollipops with his own pocket money!
Lots of different flavours local, chupa chups etc. some with bubblegum in.(bah, yucky)
M-
Mandazi: Kenyan donuts, very nice depending on the brand and freshness of course!
Marula: nuts, fruits and of course the drink brought to fame by the (South African) brand Amarula
In "our" garden there is also a Marula tree, and we tried both the Marula (local) and Amarula brands of the alcoholic drink, quite alright if you like cream liqueurs.
Matoke: mashed plantains with coriander, pepper, lemon juice and butter.
Milk: muziwa
We usually stick with plain brookside, but sold a lot in half liter triangular packets from tuzo, another brand from Brookside owned by the Uhuru family.
Meats:
Beef, nyama not as common as in Europe and pricey.
Minced meat, meatballs quite often mixed with pork (NL = half om half) is common.
What is also nice is the South-African "styled" boerwors, beef sausage with spices like pepper, nutmeg,cloves and coriander.
Goat = Mbuzi seen a lot at the Nyama Choma (literally Burned Meat) place the Kenyan version of a "Braai" or BBQ restaurant.I have tasted it and it was okay.
Kuku = Chicken, Kip is something we eat a lot.Widely available "fresh" (see earlier post) and in filets in a packet of about 5 kilo's.Which Nakumatt claims is "deboned" but one of us has to clean the packet out before that is true :-) Seen a lot through the Kenyan KenChic fastfood chain, the local answer to KFC.
Lamb, kondoo, we had some great lamb, in sausages, burgers etc.
Pork, nyama ya nguruwe, sausages are pretty good, no cutlets or anything like that.
Sandwich meats; not a lot of choice really, mainly polony (NL=Boterham worst), Ham and Salami.
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In N-Z more about things we are missing ;-) .... and should be imported!
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Thanks to the website:
http://allthingskenyan.com/food.html
