Expatriate chefs whip up Spanish, Afghan to Indian dishes from their home kitchens and drop the food off on your table in traditional serving pots with someone who will serve it.
For years, trying exotic foods has been the privy of those who leave their homes to dine in restaurants.
Expatriate chefs have, however, brought from Afghan, Spanish to Indian dishes to the dining rooms of experimental Nairobi residents or those who have missed home food.
Mehnaz Sarwar and her husband Abubakar Rahman have been making home-made Afghan dishes for the last two years and delivering it to dinner tables of expatriates and well-travelled Kenyans.
“Cooking authentic Afghan cuisine seemed the most logical thing to do after trying so hard to get jobs when we returned from the United Kingdom three years ago. Since my husband had been a baker most of his life it was not that difficult,” she said.
Her delicacy consisting mainly rice is influenced by various cultures including Persia, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Kazkhatsan. Raisins and carrots are added to almost all her dishes and most of the meat served is in fatty chunks as “traditional Afghans use more fatty lamb in their cooking unlike here where meals with goat are more popular.”
Abubakar Rahman makes dishes influenced by various cultures, including Persia, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Kazkhatsan.
Picky palates
The sophistication of well-travelled Kenyans who are no longer impressed by traditional cuisines have led these chefs back to their roots.
“People want to introduce their loved ones to a new dish during a social gathering like a birthday or dinner party that they are hosting,” Ms Sarwar, who has now opened Afghan House at The Hub to reach more customers says.
Before moving to a commercial kitchen at The Hub food court, all meals were prepared from their home.
Ms Sarwar, a mother of three, mostly does the marketing of the food business while her Afghan husband along with some employees do the cooking, once orders have come in.
They cook on order and the requests are made at least a day or five hours earlier.
Flying off their menu is the baklava, a small baked pastry made of nuts and honey that is eaten after the main meal and mostly with sugarless tea or coffee.
“Kenyans are becoming more adventurous with their food, unlike Indian food, Afghan cuisine is moderately spiced, we never thought we would break into the market but now a majority of our customers are actually Kenyans,” she said.
She is happy to modify dishes for newbies or those with picky palates. Since the original Turkish recipe was deemed too sweet, the couple came up with a version that includes coconut to complement the imported pistachio and walnuts, while making it perfect for those with a moderate sweet tooth.
Ms Sarwar said she imports 10 kilogrammes of walnuts and pistachios from Dubai to minimise costs, and uses them for the pastries.
The pastries were the first that the couple introduced to the exotic food hunters who now make orders from as far as Mombasa.
Pulao, kababs, naans and coconut chicken curry, she said, are also on high demand.
Online marketing
At the start their business, it was wholly dependent on social media marketing where Ms Sarwar would post photos of the food and wait to see if they would get any orders.
“As the business grew, customers would ask for the food to be served in chaffing dishes, have a person to serve with more of a traditional setting. Others would just ask for food for a particular number of guests and we would pick up the dishes once they are done,” she said.
The couple has kept the pricing modest with a mixed platter for the adventurous foodies looking to try out everything going for about Sh1,400.
Another expat chef
Evita Manso, a Spaniard is another expatriate chef who whips up exotic cuisines and serves it on your dining table on traditional paelleras dishes accompanied with Spanish wines.
Ms Manso with her Kenyan husband, Wanjau Wachira, are well travelled, having met and stayed in England for eight years before they moved to Spain and coming back two years ago.
Before setting up Taste of Spain, a home-made food business, they were importing Spanish wine and selling it to friends.
They later started selling online an array of white and red wines including the Rioja Red, the Sangria White and the famous Chacoli which is listed among the top 20 good wines globally.
“It has been a year and a half of trying to bring Spanish wine into the country but six months after we started we opted to introduce the whole Spanish cuisine. That’s when we decided to setup the food business to pair with the wines,” she said.
Spanish food influenced by the Mediterranean, Greek and Portuguese cultures, is largely natural, with tomatoes, olive oil and wine hardly missing as main ingredients.
“The food is simple and nice, without adding all the spices it is still tasty. There is a big variety, I guess that is why so many people have taken a liking to it. Though others are always asking us to spice it,” she said.
Seafood paella.
Her busiest days run from Thursday to Sunday which she attributes to ‘‘a weekend party food.’’
“We recently introduced the bocadillos which are more of a fast food that can come with either stuffing of sirloin steak or calamaris which can be eaten at any time of day. Sea food is more popular in Spain and the steak cooked very rare but here people love their meat well done,” she said.
Most of her customers are expatriates working and living in the country with very few Kenyans making orders.
The couple prepares the ingredients together and Ms Manso cooks the main meals while Mr Wachira, a trained pastry chef, makes the desserts.
Fresh food is sourced locally, from the fruits and vegetables to the meat and sea food, however the couple gets olives, paprika and olive oil from Spain.
“We had to do a lot of testing with the flour and rice before we could settle on products that would give an almost similar result if we were to cook the dish back home,” she said.
The traditional paella, a rice dish that comes with meat, seafood or vegetarian variety, takes an hour to prepare and is served in a large skillet that can have up to 20 servings.
Spanish wines
Croquetas and churros are their most popular appetisers and desserts respectively though they have a variety of eclairs, cakes and tarts to choose from.
The wines range between Sh2,500 and Sh4,000 while the different meals are priced depending on the servings and portions.
Even for the culinary thrill-seekers, not all exotic meals are visually appealing. A meal like the calamari in its ink or the black paella can be quite hard to swallow since the food is literally black, though it tastes delicious.
Ms Manso said when customers try to order this for a party with children, she advises them to pick other meals for them.
Having built their online niche, Taste of Spain has no plans to open a restaurant, but they are considering getting a commercial kitchen that can help them expand their cooking.
Her main challenge, though, is delivery.
“Getting the deliveries on time is difficult especially for the smaller ones which we outsource, sometimes the drivers get lost, other times they are late but we are trying to find reliable systems to get the food delivered on time,” she said.
