Passport & Plate - Shai
Kenya | Friday, March 6, 2015 | 5 photos
Ingredients
– 2 cups Whole Milk
-4 Kenyan Tea bags or Loose Tea
-2 tbls Cane Sugar
- 1 cup Water
How to prepare this recipeStep one: bring water to a boil, add tea bags and simmer for 3-5 minutes.
Step two: Add milk and cook until frothy
Step three: Turn down heat and add sugar, stir until combined
Step four: remove tea bags or strain tealeaves
Step five: Serve and enjoy!
The story behind this recipeWhen I think of Kenya I think of shai. Shai is so much more than just tea. It is warmth, community, family,
acceptance, and love. It is sweet, warm and creamy - one of the most comforting combinations.
Shai confused me at first. When spoken it sounds almost the same as chai, the spicy tea I am accustomed to drinking
here in Canada. But when I sat down in a traditional Maasai home, cuddled up next to a slowly burning fire to have
my first glass of shai, I was surprised to sip a tea that was not chai at all. It was simply a small amount of water
boiled with plain Kenyan tea leaves. Once the water was boiled and the tea had transformed the water into a strong
dark liquid, a large bowl of fresh whole milk is added to the boiling liquid, cooking until frothy and smooth. The
final and most important part of this shai is the sugar. Not just a little bit of sugar – a lot of sugar. The food eaten
by the Maasai in Loodariak includes almost no sugar; it is only in shai that they consume sugar. This drink is had at
breakfast, mid-day, after dinner, when guests come over - there is never an occasion that doesn’t call for shai.
Shai and milk go hand in hand for the Maasai. The community’s lifestyle revolves around raising cows and
livestock. Fresh milk is their backbone and they support their families with it. Children often go to school with
nothing more than a belly full of milk and shai that their mothers got moments before from their cows and goats as
the sun rose that morning.
Shai is a beautiful tradition and one that constantly brings me back to the incredible time I spent in Loodariak,
Kenya.
