Chakula - Swahili for food
Chakura - Swahili for food with an ethnic inflexion causing a mispronunciation of the word
Machakura - A colloquial reference ( mostly derogatory) of a mash-up of vegetables and meats fried and flooded with water into a dish common among the Kikuyu ethnicity in Kenya.
In the second episode of LET's BE HONEST Bitesize, Rose and Mary explore the history of ethnic Kikuyu food and the origins of machakura - a meal born out of the adaptation of an oppressed Kikuyu population in colonial Kenya. Even as this meal is a butt end of jokes in Kenya, the origin of it is extremely sad. But it serves as a lesson of what was truly lost as a result of historical injustices, and the opportunities that exist to really tap into and revive the rich and healthy diet our ancestors consumed and made them whole. After all, you are, what you eat!
Enjoy another slice of Kenyan history Bitesize!
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