Travel to a place where meat never spoils

In my many trips to Northern Kenya, I have come across numerous coping strategies that locals have devised to come to terms with and tame harsh Northern Kenya. But I guess the most fascinating thing I’ve witnessed so far is their food preservation techniques. Here, technologies such as cold chains are not part of a standard kitchen in most homes (the rapid electrification and paving of the Isiolo-Moyale highway may change this soon).

Dried meat (otkac or nyirnyir) is usually prepared from camel meat (gel hilib). Strips are cut and left to dry in the sun and then cut into small pieces which are fried (usually in oil with garlic and iliki) until dry. The dry-fried meat is then dipped in camel ghee (subag) where the fatty mixture condenses and can be stored for at least 2-3 months without spoiling in bags made from camel skin and hooves.

A camel slaughtered and preserved in this way can be eaten for up to 6 months. For use, it is collected into potions and melted down to serve as a stew with mashed cornmeal, rice, beans (when available), or simply eaten on its own as a full meal. During breakfast, nyirnyir is only served to men.

But, interestingly, this method of meat preservation is not exclusive to the pastoralists of northern Kenya. Among the Luo of Kenya, this dried meat, known as aliya, is made into a stew eaten with ugali. The Sudanese also have a similar meat they call shermout. But the Sudanese are even more innovative.

The layer of fat around the stomach of a slaughtered animal (miriss) also dries up. The internal organs are also dried in the sun, pounded, mixed with a little potash, and molded into a ball that is left to dry slowly to make twini-digla. The large intestine can also be cleaned and stuffed with fat and hung to dry like a kind of sausage.

The preservation of the milk is also a novelty: the wooden protectors are rubbed on the inside with sticks of smoked herbs several times (at least five times). They are then left to dry without cleaning. These herbs spread on the guards act as food preservatives, especially for milk, which then remains suitable for consumption for a long time regardless of climatic conditions. I have eaten nyirnyir on several occasions and it is really very good. I have yet to work up the strength to try canned milk! I’ll keep you posted when I get around to doing this!