{"id":3190,"date":"2022-12-02T06:21:47","date_gmt":"2022-12-02T06:21:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/countysplash.co.ke\/?p=3190"},"modified":"2022-12-02T06:21:47","modified_gmt":"2022-12-02T06:21:47","slug":"mshenye-the-famous-luhya-traditional-cuisine-almost-getting-extinct","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/?p=3190","title":{"rendered":"‘Mshenye’ the famous Luhya traditional cuisine almost getting extinct"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In western Kenya for example, 'mshenye' was a significant food among the abaluhya community, its aroma left someone with the urge of having a pinch of it.<\/code><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Dennis Chagala, Kakamega <\/code><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The advent of new Technology has\nmade traditional African culture and heritage slowly fade into extinction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coveted traditions such as rain and\nmedicine making that used to be performed by forefathers have long shrank with\nno one at this age willing to take up the craft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Mshenye being cooked<\/code><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, a norm by our ancestors\nwho used to closely maintain a diet of traditionally prepared meals has become\na thing of the past with the advent of microwaves and the genetically modified\nfoods in the shelves in the name of invention and modernization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Mzee Ayub Oremo an\nelder of the ‘Batsotso’ clan in Lurambi, Kakamega county, the new technology\nhas not only affected our culture but tradition at large including the clothes\nwe wear and what we eat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“Most people of this current\ngeneration suffer from diseases brought by what they eat as food, we have\nforgotten our traditional foods that not only served as food but also as\nmedicine, diseases such as cancer never existed before”, said Oremo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In western Kenya for example,\n‘mshenye’ was a significant food among the abaluhya community, its aroma left\nsomeone with the urge of having a pinch of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is Mshenye<\/code><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mshenye is a cooked mixture of beans\nand local potatoes that has been pounded together to form a sphere shape. It\nwas a significant meal among the luhya community due to its tendency of making\nsomeone certified by eating a small pinch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Mshenye<\/code><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“We only used to eat twice a\nday, either in the morning or late in the evening, we were to find a food that\nif we eat once would carry us to the next meal,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How is mshenye cooked?\u00a0<\/code><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Selective varieties of beans such as\nAlulu, Omugasa and Ofuchunjuni were to be used during the cooking of mshenye,\nwhich was later mixed with sweet potatoes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After harvesting the beans, they\nwere peeled out of their pods omungokolo and then dried, the pods were dried\nand stored for later use, making of omushereka, ash obtained after burning the\npods of the beans, it was used in place of salt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Ingredients for cooking Mshenye<\/code><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“We start by cooking beans,\nwhen half cooked, add unpeeled sweet potatoes to the mixture, turn the mixture\nto ensure has a uniform ratio, add some ‘omushereka’ a local alkaline to give\nit taste, give it some time to allow the sweet potato to cook\u201d, Explained\nMagaret Ondiso, an elder woman in the maragoli subtribe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the mixture is ready, it will\nbe marshed by  using a cooking stick to form a sticky one called mshenye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUnlike now, we had no steel\nsufurias, we cooked our food using clay pots,\u201d She added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
An elder explaining how Mshenye is cooked<\/strong><\/code><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mshenye was specifically cooked by\nthe family woman due to the traditions and cultures surrounding the three\ncooking stones. A stranger nor daughter to the family wasn\u2019t permitted to cook\nusing the same stones her mum uses. It was served with fermented milk or\ntraditional vegetables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We used plates called\n‘umeshevano’, round curved wood made with a hole on the upper side, we would\neat it with vegetables such as ‘mseveve’ “, She added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Extinction of mushenye<\/code><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, mshenye is at the verge of\nextinction after being overtaken by the foreign foods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Sweet potatoes have been overtaken\nby irish potatoes while beans have been overtaken by other legumes brought by\nthe colonialists,” Said Oremo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Oremo however linked the hunger\ncrisis facing the nation to people rejecting the cultivation of ancient foods,\nassociating these modern ones with diseases that are emerging every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Traditional foods such as\ncassava, sorghum and arrow roots have the ability to withstand harsh climate\nchanges, as well as being grown with no chemicals compared to the current\nones,” he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Their request now is for the\ngovernment to develop a method that will enable them to protect their\ntraditional food heritage from extinction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“If the Ministry of Education initiates cooking lessons of traditional foods in schools it will help safeguard the extinction of our traditional foods not only for future generations but also for the benefit of our health”, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/td><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In western Kenya for example, ‘mshenye’ was a significant food among the abaluhya community, its aroma left someone with the urge of having a pinch of it. By Dennis Chagala, Kakamega The advent of new Technology has made traditional African culture and heritage slowly fade into extinction. Coveted traditions such as rain and medicine making […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3199,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-kenya-news"],"yoast_head":"\n'Mshenye' the famous Luhya traditional cuisine almost getting extinct - Horizon News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/horizonnews.co.ke\/?p=3190\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"'Mshenye' the famous Luhya traditional cuisine almost getting extinct - Horizon News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In western Kenya for example, 'mshenye' was a significant food among the abaluhya community, its aroma left someone with the urge of having a pinch of it. 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