Initially I was under the impression that the mushrooming restaurant business in urban centres had to do with a growing middle class that has growing disposable income. It is now emerging that it is not the emerging middle class but simply a generation that avoided the kitchen while growing up , never learning how to cook and must now find refuge in restaurants and their take-aways! Now where will my luhya men find wives who know how to ‘khutekha’ (cook) like some of us found in our wives? A newly married wife in luhya culture was not allowed to cook for her husband during their first six months of marriage. When they got married, she spent six months learning from the husband’s mother how to cook in a way that pleases the husband. All this time they would eat from ‘Mwatai” ( The other house- parents’ house). On the last day of the sixth month, she prepared the first meal for her husband in their house. They ate this first meal in their “Esimba” that converted to “Enju” with this meal. The wife took a piece of ugali and meat and fed her husband. After tasking the food, the husband gave her a special name of love and endearment as the secret to her heart. The husband took turn to feed the wife and she also gave him a special name as a password to his heart. After this meal, the home was now ready to host guests . A man who had a wife who didn’t know how to organize hospitality in her house was despised. How can we help equip our girls to take charge of their lives and homes instead of this perennial ‘takeaway’?
Posted on: Sat, 26 Apr 2014 12:57:26 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015