Kuku Chakula

I've been away on the Kenyan coast for a few days, and decided to add some photos my chicken dinner (kuku chakula). It all started over a conversation with the local police officer (a friend of mine) of what we eat in Canada. I have repeatedly been asked the questions, 'what do you grow?' 'what are your staple foods?' and 'what do you mean you don't have ugali?' After some lengthy discussion over how in Canada just 5% of Canadians are farmers compared to about 75% in Kenya (and my estimate of about 90+% in Kisayani) it led to further discussion on our radically different food systems (localized vs. globalized; small family farms vs. industrialized factories; meat-centred diet vs. non-meat diets). I also explained how I have never killed a cow, or goat, or chicken; rather, I buy them by the skinless/boneless pieces in a super market. So I told them I had no idea what to do.

Not only were my friends stunned, they decided to host a feast (also in lieu of Thanksgiving). The first step was to find a chicken. Very few people raise them here. The ones I see running around town are being shipped to Nairobi where they fetch a good price. After making a call to a friend, who made another call we found a chicken about 5km away. The owner used his bicycle to bring it to town. The next day we bargained and ended up paying 400KSH (~$4) for the bird. However, since the feast was growing in size, as more and more people wanted to come, I ended up buying 2 more the next evening. Splurging $12 on chicken is a bit extravagant, thus many wanted to come. It is also a reflexion of why so few people eat chicken here--expensive. While nyama (beef) and mbuzi (goat) are readily available at the butcher, chicken is not easily found.

Patiently waiting.

Finally the day arrived. But when I went to pick up the two new chickens, the first had got away. After about 20 minutes we found him hiding under a nearby shop, cowering from his inevitable fate. Once the chickens were assembled, I was called to the police officer's home, where he has prepared a cooker for bbqing (called 'choma' here) and had some boiling water ready do de-feather the birds. He insisted I watch him butcher the first bird and then carry on with the last two. ...

The victims.

while pinning the two legs with one foot and the
wings with the other, it's prevented from running 

there are now blood stains on my pants

After about 1 minute of struggling, when the chicken is limp
I put it into a bowl of boiling water to loosen the feathers

at peace 

Mmm...

Not so handsome anymore

Cutting each of the joints

kuku choma

The three day journey comes to an end!

By the end of the meal, I was quite satisfied and had a new appreciation for Safeway's $8.99 chicken specials ready to eat. The chicken was dry, tough, feathery, thin, but delicious. Happy belated thanksgiving! I hope you all enjoyed your 20lb turkeys.