Robert was in Kenya recently visiting some of the charitable projects that the Real Africa Trust supports. Its not all hard work, as this account of a memorable dinner prepared and cooked for him by the students of the Karen Blixen Cookery School demonstrates.
I’ve stayed at the Karen Blixen Camp before and was looking forward to returning – its one of my favourite camps anywhere in Africa. Situated on a bend in the Mara River, every tent overlooks the water and the escarpment rising up behind. The main lodge overlooks a hippo pool and watering spot used by elephants and many other animals, and there is always something to see. It strikes that balance I think good lodges/camps are always striving for – luxury but not at the expense of the authentic atmosphere.
This time I was not here for the game-viewing (although I enjoyed that too). The Real Africa Trust is a supporter of the Cooking School based at the camp. The purpose of the School is to train local Masai youngsters skills that will enable they to work in the tourism industry that is now so important to the economy of their villages. It’s all very well, and a worthwhile enterprise, creating primary education available to all, but it’s important to give those children the opportunities to further their education and give them careers.
Becoming a camp cook is now regarded as a high status position
The reserves that abut the main Masai Mara Reserve are partnerships between the villages that own the land and the camps and lodges who bring in the tourists to game-view. The land under management is roughly divided into three areas. An area where the villagers can live, an area where they can graze their livestock and an area that is left for the wild animals. The lodges/camps pay a rent for the use of the land, as well as various profit sharing schemes, so the next logical stage is to train up these local people to be able to work in the camps themselves in some of the skilled positions. What could be more important than being the chef?
The first intake was in January 2012, and these eight students were reaching the end of their 18 month course. They’d just returned from taking their Government exams in Nairobi, giving them the necessary qualifications to work in a professional kitchen. When the idea of a cookery school had first been suggested there had been a reluctance from Masai men to apply as cooking had always been viewed as being one of the jobs that women did within the household. By the time applications started however this had changed. The villagers, working in the camps in unskilled roles, had seen the esteem within the lodge with which a cook was held, and probably the comparable salary they earned, and any such thoughts had gone.
The first intake was 6 boys and 2 girls. When we arrived in early April 2013 they were practicing for the course exams on all they had leant and, happily for us, we were to be the guinea pig guests at a formal bush supper they’d been made to plan, prepare, cook, serve and explain.
A candlelit table under the stars, like a scene from “out of Africa”
We were driven from the camp in two safari vehicles to our beautifully laid table on the edge of the camp grounds, adjacent to the cookery school itself, where we and our two guides Nicholas and Lorna were seated. It was lit by hurricane lamps and candles. After a short welcome from the charming Cookery teacher Rune Eriksen on what to expect, the students started serving.
We started with a delicious squash soup, the plate initially served empty except for a small island of cheese and herb covered croutons. The students then appeared and carefully poured in the soup from individual jugs, leaving the croutons fresh and crispy, floating on the soup.
The main course was a pork dish, cooked in a fruity sauce and served on mash (potato and sweet potato) and accompanied with several fresh vegetables prepared and cooked in different ways and styles. The presentation was stunning, each plate beautifully constructed and every item on the plate adding to the dish.
For desert we had five types of freshly made ice-creams, served with a large home-made birthday cake for one of our party. It was ended (and us finished off with) by coffee and handmade biscuits.
The students explained their dishes, more nervous of us than burning the dishes
Before each dish the students responsible had to introduce themselves and explain the dishes to us, explaining the flavours used and how the dish should work. While shy – I think this is the bit they had dreaded most – they all had excellent English and managed to do so concisely and with charm – an important skill for a chef to have as people want to know about food.
At the end of the meal we were left so full and so impressed I found it hard to stagger to my feet and find the correct words of thanks. If these students can go from the basics of the first week – Food hygiene and how to wash a pot – to food of this standard it bodes very well for the future of this excellent project and the students themselves.
Real Africa is proud to support the Karen Blixen Camp and their Cookery School. Any client who visits the Camp is invited to visit the students, and can even join a class if they wish. To see the enthusiasm of the young students is truly inspiring. And many thanks and congratulations to Julius, David, James, Wilson, Florence, Lepore, Christine and Inka for their hard work on this first intake. If following students are as successful then the project will change the lives of many Masai families in these vital conservation zones, truly letting the local peoples benefit from their proximity with the wild. And of course congratulations to Rune for his hard work and burning enthusiasm.
Updates and diary of the Cookery course
We will over the course of the next few months be publishing a diary kept by the main Cookery teacher Rune, giving an insight into the skills and techniques they have learn. It includes how Rune managed to get the students to cook fish, a creature that the Masai never eat, believing it to be part of the snake family and chicken, a staple for us but an alien thing to the red meat eating tribesmen.