Food the main basic need of any human being raised and born anywhere in the world which we all have called our “Little Earth Heaven”. What you are about to indulge your beautiful eyes to and have a taste is a journey on paper through time of a young creative chef who believes it’s not about where you are born that should define the length of your success wings but the determination to get out there explore and meet new people, feel and get to experience a new world that is worth exploring.
We all love a well prepared meal and that being said, in Kenya for ages, I would write since beginning of time it has always been a narrative that the kitchen to where the birth of truly delicious delicacies are birthed has always been a woman’s territory. In Kenya many cultural sets have a common agreement that the woman should be the only gender with the acceptance of dominance in matters of kitchen affairs. When I was born and as I grew I also learnt that and experienced this told stories of the woman as the ‘Queen’ of the Kitchen space. With years and with a change of illiteracy into a new dawn of literacy the narrative seems to be taking a shift and we have seen a rise of the boy child and adult men taking a step to experiencing and getting creative in the kitchen spaces.
Ladies and Gentlemen allow me to introduce my character by the Name ‘ZAY’, a 30 year old young adult entering into a stage in life of having his own family, discovering a new stage of his life, an inspiring journey he is curious to explore. Zay’s love for cooking began when he was in his younger days age 10 there about, with guidance from his parents, noting that it’s not common for families to allow young boys to begin exploring and rediscovering their hidden abilities in the world of cooking, he was blessed to have had parents who never keenly paid attention or should I say his parents were religious that the traditional values were overshadowed by the Biblical values. He had his early exposure to matters of the kitchen from such a tender age and he grew up with time to be a young boy with abilities of preparing well thought out and well prepared delicacies for not just his parents and siblings but also he began earning the trust of parents to prepare Kenyan meals like, ‘mchele na Nyama (Rice and Beef), Chai (Tea), Mukimo (Kenyan food popular by the Kikuyu), Muthokoi (Kenyan food popular by the Kamba Community), Pilau (Popular by the Coast Community), he truly had his early days of his childhood mentored the right way and his love for cooking had began taking such a good path to excellence. He grew through time and trust and finally in his young adult life his love for cooking had grown and he was no longer just cooking as an amateur but he had developed the confidence to build an identity in the cooking industry for himself and re-write narratives that cooking is a one gender dominance industry in Kenya. He represents a group of young Kenyan Men who in their own narratives are reshaping the course of what it means to be in the cooking industry and actually excelling and preparing delicious African foods with a taste of love rooted in deep their DNA. His journey portrays a journey of a young Kenyan boy who grows up loving the art of cooking but never does he get the opportunity but then finds a way to believe in himself and redefine his capabilities, he also represents a generation of young Kenyan Men who come from families where parents are willing to give their son’s an opportunity to discover their hidden gifts of cooking and through the course of time that build confidence in them to be better and to never look back in chasing the dream that seems like untouchable. I believe that Zay’s journey inspires all of us to know that the world chef artistry is an all gender affair and it’s not about competition of which gender comes out at the top but it is a staircase of believing that when a man is given an opportunity to be great in the kitchen as he takes the leading role in other Biblical defined roles, he can also inspire and become supportive in matters of kitchen affairs mentorship.
SPACED IN MY SPACE 