Move Over Martha Stewart

A post by Karen Timothy, July expeditioner with Koins for Kenya.

A typical Koins meal of chipati, rice, beans, veggie stew and fruit

One of the unknowns about our trip to Africa was the food.  As it turns out, there were four African women who cooked for us at the KCC and they did a great job.   We had heard a lot about ugali and chapati and weren’t sure there would be much we could or would want to eat.  We absolutely loved chapati , though, which is just like Indian flatbread or a thick tortilla and it was made fresh for us each morning. Ugali is the staple food there.  It is simply cornmeal mixed with water then cooked until it is firm enough to cut.  They like to dip it in sauces or eat it with cooked vegetables.  We only had this as part of our dinner one night so we all got to taste it and it really wasn’t bad.  When an African man asked a small group of us how we liked ugali we told him that we’d only had it once but we liked it well enough.  He smiled and asked us how we’d like it if we had it 3 times a day every day of our lives.  Not so much.  The sad thing is that so many WISH they could have it three times a day!  This year’s corn crop is failing due to drought and many will go hungry – again.  (See the Koins for Kenya blog about Candace’s experience with water.)

Emily in her kitchen

Ester (notice the cell phone holder around her neck)

The Koins kitchen

            The cooks worked day and night feeding such a large group 2 meals a day plus boiling water for us to shower in.  They made a bean and corn dish we all liked as well as a savory one with plantains (look like bananas) and potatoes.  We had stringy chicken one night (5 of our group, including Tara, killed a chicken for dinner) and mystery beef another. I probably spent too much time in the kitchen so I had a hard time eating the fruit everyone so enjoyed.  After cutting it up, all of it was rinsed in a weak bleach solution to prevent any of us from getting sick.  I could always taste the bleach so I went a couple of weeks without much in the way of fruits or vegetables.  

One of the cooks many jobs is providing hot water for our bucket baths

Tara holds the main course for dinner

            The real bright spot for the head cook, Emily, was that after we’d been there a few days, Baba Bret bought her a 4-burner gas stove with an oven!  Up until now, they had been doing all of the cooking over a fire….for all of their lives!!!  I seriously doubt there is another range in the entire string of villages since there was some electricity required to run it and the KCC is one of the few places that have electricity.  I believe the purchase was inspired by Anthony’s craving for pizza.  Anthony is an African man that is on the Koins for Kenya board.  He has been to America and tasted pizza and can’t get enough of it.  (Costco pizza, no less!) He so wanted us to teach mama Emily how to make pizza so Bret bought an oven.  I had to smile….there were no numbers on the dial to adjust the temperature - you just turned it to the picture of the big flame or the little flame or somewhere in between!  They’ll get the hang of it – it’s not all that different from working over a fire.

Emily in front of her new oven, with a pizza baking inside

            My sister, Sue, took charge of this new bakery.  She managed to have some recipes sent to her phone and was able to find most of the ingredients she needed to make Lion House rolls, banana bread and pizza!  Cute little Emily told her that she hadn’t been able to sleep the night before cooking lessons began because she was so excited. The first thing we made was a banana cake from a box mix.  Bret had purchased a cake mix along with an assortment of baking pans and with a ton of over ripe bananas at our disposal, we substituted most of the liquid with mashed bananas.  The cooks were puzzled about how this was going to make a cake and were quite surprised to learn that the box mix had sugar and leavening already in it.  I doubt they even knew box mixes existed.  

Emily with a pizza ready for baking

            All of the bakery goods turned out superb – even the pizza!  Anthony was in heaven, as were a couple of Americans who had been there much longer than we had.  But the crowning jewel was the moment Emily stepped proudly out of the kitchen bearing 3 beautiful loaves on banana bread on a plate.  We were just about ready to leave for home and she wanted us to see what she had baked.  We all “oohed and aaahed” but it was Burt that started the auction!  “I’ll give $20 for a loaf of this banana bread,” he shouted.  Well, that started an auction that ended in Emily receiving $61 for a small loaf of banana bread…the first ever to be made in the village.  I wish you could have seen Emily’s face.  She is not a smiler and it was all she could do to keep from busting into a wide grin.  She just kept asking, “ For one loaf???”  She was incredulous.  What fun it was to watch Cindy pull out $61 dollars then proceed to give everyone a bite.  As Emily turned and walked the other two loaves back to the kitchen I know I saw a smile spread across her beautiful face.  She could only be thinking, “Crazy Americans!!!”

Emily proudly holds her first batch of banana bread