Jamhuri day – Kaluhi's Kitchen

Last year, Heron Portico threw a challenge to myself and other food bloggers in the country to create a Kenyan Themed burger. For various reasons, we were not able to rise to the ocasion then. I couldnt because I had so much going on and I was still singlehandedly polishing up on my then 3 month old blog. Pendo la mama made her Kenyan themed burger a couple of weeks ago and she totally aced it! I have always looked up to her and I feel after she took it up (so well I might add) that gave me the courage to make my own Kenyan Burger.

Are you able to create a Kenyan-themed burger? #BurgerCompetition @KaluhisKitchen pic.twitter.com/bqfwtM4je0

— The Heron Portico (@theheronportico) November 27, 2014

For my burger, I decided to focus more on what I call the Tastes of Kenya. The things/ foods you eat that will always remind you of Kenya; remind you of home no matter which corner of the world you have this. Flavors that will give you a taste of our beautiful coast, and those that reminded me of family kuku barbecues in majestic Maragoli hills of Western Kenya. On the eve on Jamhuri day, I present to you my Kenyan Burger: Kachumbari and Kuku choma burger with a sweet and sour Ukwaju sauce.

Like majority of Kenyan teenagers, I lived out my high school years in boarding school. I was in a Catholic boarding school and it was strict, to say the least. One of the things that I found really bizarre, was how it was imposed on us to carry the same things (snacks, jam, hair tiers, etc) and the many things we were not allowed to have at all (perfume, deodorant, face wash etc). The logic was that they were trying to make us all equal, and that the things we carry from home may go against that. Their intentions were good, but this made some of us mischievous and wildly creative about how we could sneak in the “forbidden” things. One of the snacks we were allowed to carry were these biscuits, only two packets, to last until the next time we returned home, which was about 6-8 weeks away. To break the monotony, we would put tastier snacks in the boxes of the marie biscuits so that they pass past inspection without raising any suspicion. One of my favorite to sneak in were Oreos. I mean, they are so tasty!!! That worked until we were caught and had to get more creative ways of sneaking them in.

When I posted a sneak peek of today’s post on Facebook and Twitter, I got the impression that majority of you thought we shall be baking oreos. Sorry to disappoint you, but that will not be what is going on. I have oven issues as highlighted in this post. However, we are going to use oreos that are ready made and reinvent them into something even tastier.

I decided to make an oreo icebox cake, incorporating kiwi fruit and strawberries, which happen to be the colors of our national flag- black green and red. On this Jamuhuri day, this post is so befitting. I think its an interesting recipe, read on 🙂