Nairobi food and drink guide
If it weren't for foreign influences Nairobi 's kitchen would be a disaster area. Poverty has restricted indigenous cuisine to a starchy subsistence of maize, beans and potato. Meanwhile the bulk of produce grown in the fertile soils of the Rift valley, Kenya 's agricultural basket, is destined for the export market. Those vegetables arriving in the capital lend a colourful swatch city markets before being snapped up by accomplished Indian, Far Eastern and European chefs. Indian cuisine is particularly good and well established, largely as a result of the post war influx of Indians, drafted over to aid in the railway building program. The Mombassa - Nairobi railway also brought the Swahili culinary heritage closer to the capital and with it a regular supply of imported spices and fresh Indian Ocean fish. Gripes aside there are still some dishes worth keeping an eye open for.
Ethiopian influence
Aside form the culinary influence of Kenya 's Indian population most other imported recipes come from their northerly neighbour, Ethiopia. Their palate is an acquired one, but the experience alone makes it a worthwhile gamble. The first hurdle comes with injera, the cornerstone of any Ethiopian meal. Sometimes fancifully likened to a pancake, injera is a flat spongy bread which shares the same dimensions as a dustbin lid and is made from a fermented local grain, teff. Injera is typically served with wat a fiery red stew, washed down with conical flasks of tej - an opaque yellow mead that bears more than a passing resemblance to a urine sample. Many of Nairobi 's top end hotels have a weekly Ethiopian night, but if you can't wait then catch a taxi to Daas Ethiopia Restaurant, Kirichwa Rd, off Ngong Rd.
Nyama choma
It's now voguish among anthropologists to subscribe to the idea that man's first real bunk up the evolutionary ladder came with collective hunting. It accelerated socialisation, encouraged language development, freed up time to pursue more creative endeavours.and developed an appetite for meat. Today this taste hasn't died as exemplified in Nyama Choma, an assortment of barbecued ribs, chops, haunches, shanks, fillets and flanks. Here the vegetable is an unwelcome guest, unless dressed as a salsa of peppers, onions and tomato, locally known as kachumbari.
Irio
While most national staples are comfortable with their blandness, irio breaks the rules. The recipe book goes out of the window, as the dish bends to fit in seasonal vegetables. Irio presents itself as a colourful mountain of 'mash', mostly potato or cassava, crammed with pumpkin leaves, corn on the cob, spinach, pulses and whatever else happens to be in the vegetable basket.
Maharagwe
You're unlikely to find Maharagwe on menus aimed at tourists. OK, so the dishes' ingredients do tend towards the pedestrian, but don't let this put you off. The best way to track down a portion of Maharagwe is to head for one of the busier roadside cafes where you'll be confronted with a stew of red kidney beans spiced with chilli, turmeric and cayenne pepper steeped in a coconut milk sauce. Maharagwe is typically served with ugali - maize meal boiled until it takes on the consistency of a dumpling.
Mtuza wa Samaki
As well as the Indian Ocean Kenya has Lake Victoria, which swells their catch to include freshwater fish such as perch, talipia and catfish, some of which are destined to end up as mtuza wa samaki - baked fish curry. The fish is coated in a tomato paste, flavoured with cardamom, cumin and garlic and zipped up with crushed chillies. A slow bake wrapped in banana leaves and the fish is ready to be served on a bed of rice.
