Читать книгу Out of an African Kitchen - Nicky Fitzgerald - Страница 8

OUR GOOD NEIGHBOURS

Guests often ask us how we get our fresh produce here, in the middle of nowhere. We are tempted to answer, ‘as if by magic’, but the truth is we order the finest ingredients from Nairobi, fresh seafood from the coast, and Kenya’s famed beef from the north. But peskier products, like sumac and black quinoa, come from South Africa. After all, how could our guests survive without sumac and black quinoa?

But our best suppliers are neighbours and friends from the heart of Maasailand. A few times a week, farmer Joseph Oseko putters into camp on his small motorbike, laden with sacks of cabbages, kale, tomatoes, bananas, onions, watermelons and the biggest, most delicious avocados under the sun. How he fits it all on the back of his bike is nothing short of a miracle. At our Forest Barbecue, we serve Joseph’s avocados whole and guests not only devour them, but sneak them back to their tents to take to their next destination.

Maasailand is the land of milk and honey. Julius Mokita, another neighbour, works with a collective of Maasai beekeepers and honey producers from villages surrounding our lodge. They combine their 100 per cent-organic honey with a lovely smoky flavour, producing enough to supply lodges around the Mara, all delivered in five-litre buckets swinging on the handlebars of a motorbike. Maasai honey is the hero in two recipes in this book: a classical Kenyan cocktail, the Dawa, and our much-loved Maasai Honey Biscuits.

The whole Angama team is fuelled by Kenya’s famous chai – tea stewed with fresh cow’s milk and heaps of sugar – an acquired taste enjoyed by more and more of our guests. The mother of our storekeeper, Joshua, delivers fresh milk daily for 4 o’clock tea. That’s five litres every day, rain or shine, and Mama Joshua walks from her manyatta to the lodge. To prepare 25 litres of Kenyan chai, you need 15 litres unpasteurized milk, 10 litres water, 200g tea leaves and 2.5kg sugar. Pour the milk into a large pot, bring to the boil, add the water and bring back to the boil. Add the tea leaves and sugar and boil until the tea turns brown. Sieve into a very large kettle ready to serve.