Elizabeth’s friend, Samuel, invited us over for a mokimo dinner and to meet his wife and son. My favorite Kenyan food is mokimo, a sage-color paste of mashed cooked potatoes, mashed cooked peas, mashed cooked pumpkin leaves, and whole cooked maize kernels, all mixed together with onions sauteed in oil. Mokimo is unique to the Kenyan Kikuyu tribe. The Kikuyu, stereotyped as good in business and are musical, also contributed githeri (a mixture of maize and beans) to the Kenyan cuisine.
Gravel walkway leading to Samuel's home.
(From right to left) -- Samuel holding his baby Timothy; his wife Regina; and his 2 nieces.
Samuel and baby Timothy. Samuel is a school teacher. He's getting ready to take the GMAT, part of his plan to get an MBA in America.
The nieces watch the baby while Regina cooks.
Regina is leaning over the "fireplace," where she cooks mokimo using atop a jico (coal burning stove). The woman at the right is Jane, the house help, who cooks, cleans, babysits, and lives with the family.
A closer look at Regina and her stove.
A new jiko for sale at an outdoor market.
Regina is a nurse.
Dinner is served! We ate at a large coffee table in the living room. There is no dining room. Everyone helps himself/herself by scooping mokimo, sauteed chicken, and soup into his/her own bowl and eat.
Mokimo.
Sauteed chicken.
Light and brothy tomato-based soup.
My Adventures in Kenya 