Breaking Bread

When he learned how to make a seemingly simple childhood favourite, EUGENE YIGA also rediscovered his mother’s love.

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As a Ugandan born and raised in South Africa, one thing that kept me in touch with my East African roots was Sunday lunch. It was then that we often ate chapatis, unleavened flatbreads (similar to rotis and naan) that Indian expatriates brought to the region. But although I loved eating them – with meat stew and roasted veg – I never paid much attention to how my mom or sisters made them. Indeed, I didn’t realise how much effort and care went into the process until I visited Kenya as an adult and learned how to make them myself.

“We’re going to make a local kind of chapati based on ingredients that people can afford,” said Cecilia, the woman whose home I was visiting as part of a cultural tour. “Chapatis use a lot of oil and many people cannot afford vegetable oil. So they use less expensive solid vegetable fat made from sunflowers.”