A friend of a friend in Maine used an
online dating site, Afro Introductions. He was an American adventurer who had
sailed half way around the world and loved to hang glide. A woman in Kenya responded
to his profile. She was an emergency room nurse in Nairobi. She didn’t like hang
gliding but considered herself adventurous. The two hit it off. He visited her
in Nairobi five times and the last time surprised her with a marriage proposal.
“When I remembered how to speak, I said yes,” recalls Mariah Stone. They had a
child, got married, and moved to his home in Maine. Just a month after arriving
here, she offered to teach me how to make a favorite Kenyan meal. She didn’t
know what ingredients she would be able to find, but she was happy to try.
First we went to an African market where
all the ingredients were dried or frozen. In Nairobi, she did her grocery
shopping year round at an outdoor market that went further than the eye could
see with fresh meats and vegetables -- one of the benefits of living near the
equator. “You’ll find a lot of Kenyan food cooked in a simple way. Not a lot of
spices, maybe one or two.” We left with only a box of Kenyan tea. Next I took
her to Whole Foods where she became more inspired. She decided that fresh,
leafy, green chard would substitute nicely for pumpkin greens, the leaves of a
kind of pumpkin plant. She also added to the cart fresh, local lamb from North
Star Farm, potatoes, parsley, tomatoes, onions, cabbage, an ear of corn, peas and
garlic. In Kenya peas grow fresh all year round. She would try frozen peas for
the first time.
Out of that simple set of fresh ingredients,
she made three separate components that she would serve next to each other on the plate. In Swahili she called the lamb, Nyama ya mbuzi. It was sautéed chunks of lamb in a red pan sauce
made of onions and tomatoes that had been cooked until they disintegrated. Kabichi was what she called the shredded cabbage sautéed
with onions, chopped fresh tomatoes, and parsley. She called the bright green mashed potatoes studded with corn and peas, Mukimo. She made the potatoes green by mashing chopped, cooked chard right into them.
Each of the components was super satisfying on its own, and even more fun with the different flavors to switch between on the plate. The North Star lamb was much more tender than what she was used to. In Kenya, she explained, people keep their animals for a long time. They like their meat tough. “Chew until your veins come out and you’re happy,” She said. “If you give people something soft, they’re like ‘What’s the difference between this and a potato?’” Good point!
Each of the components was super satisfying on its own, and even more fun with the different flavors to switch between on the plate. The North Star lamb was much more tender than what she was used to. In Kenya, she explained, people keep their animals for a long time. They like their meat tough. “Chew until your veins come out and you’re happy,” She said. “If you give people something soft, they’re like ‘What’s the difference between this and a potato?’” Good point!
I asked where she learned how to
cook these dishes and was surprised when she answered, “The orphanage.” Her
parents died when she was a toddler. Mariah was raised at Dagoretti Children’s
Home in Nairobi, which is supported by the nonprofit, Feed the Children. Some
of the kids would go to the kitchen to help out whenever they could. “We
learned from the ladies who worked at the institution. They saw our willingness
to learn and taught us. It was a good orphanage.”
Keep reading for the recipes.
