Am I the only one who gets mesmerized when someone speaks fluent Swahili with the coastal accent. It sounds almost musical; almost like poetry. Granted, we Nairobi folk fully understand Kiswahili, but we mix it we so much English and sometimes our vernacular languages so it sounds like a whole other language. I was purchasing some produce from a certain coastal lady and I just spoke to her so that I could listen to her speak. She was a talkative lady and spoke with so much theatrics that I just couldn’t get enough of. It was lunch time and she was eating some meat with chapati. She asked me if I know how to cook and I told her that I in fact love cooking. We exchanged tips and later told me that I have to taste meat cooked with kaarafuu. “Karafuu?” I asked. “Nyinyi wanabara mwaziita cloves” (None coastal people refer to them as cloves.) I told her I had not tried that yet, but promised to cook more with it. Hence the birth of my button mushroom and karafuu spaghetti. Cloves have a very very assertive taste. But when used right and in moderation, it brings out the taste of whatever it is cooked with so so well.
For today, some spaghetti, with button mushroom and the amazing flavor of karafuu (cloves).
Hey there! My name is Kaluhi and I love food! Through my blog, I am happy to share with you my self-taught recipes, steeped in nostalgia and the happiest of memories. I hope each recipe you try out is as addictive as the previous one and is shared on a table full of love and hearty laughs!
