Chipati Saves the Day!

My first trip to Kenya in '07 was filled with new experiences. Each day we partnered with translators and walked the trails visiting with people in their homes talking to them about Jesus then we came back together around 2:00 for lunch. Our hostess, Aidah Ogenga was (and is still) very protective of her Mzungu guests and makes sure to prepare American food that will not upset their systems (FYI, Mzungu means 'white man' in Swahili).


Then one day after a long dusty walk along the trails we were offered something new - a standard African meal - red beans and chipati bread. That, coupled with a bottled Orange Fanta or Bitter Lemon was like manna from heaven! Today, that manna came to our house.


The day started shaky with a breakfast of ugali. In the American South it is known as corn grits and in Italy it is known as polenta. Corn meal (prominently white, not yellow) is a main ingredient of the Kenyan diet. For breakfast it is prepared like grits and I think served with milk. Today I served it with a variety of toppings to try. Everyone ate it but I think I heard more than once, "So Mom, how many times a week do we eat this?"


[If any of you have ideas for topping our ugali breakfast gruel, please send us the love!]


For lunch I prepared a roasted vegetable stew that is technically Navajo, but utilizes all African ingredients. Since Africans make a lot of vegetable stews, I decided to go for it. To make it authentic, I made my first batch of chipati bread.


Chipati is an unleavened bread made from white flour and cooked in oil. NOT a healthy dish, but oh it is YUMMY (note the thumbs up in Eli's picture above). Chipati is another staple to the Kenyan diet and it serves as both food and utensil at a meal. We used it to scoop our stew and a few people actually fought over the two pieces we had leftover. I enjoyed making the chipati dough and I felt "one" with the bread and with my African sisters. Now if I can get my hands on a coke bottle to use as a rolling pin - that would be authentic!


Lunch was a totally different experience from breakfast yet it ended with the same question, "How many times a week do we eat this?" I noted a more optimistic tone over the chipati than I did over the ugali.


Just wait until they get the dinner version of ugali this weekend. I'll leave you with a hint: it is prepared so thick that it too serves as both food and utensil at the meal. Yum?


Until next time,

Julie