Foods of Kenya (Taste of Culture) Library Binding – June 4, 2010

This is a nicely illustrated and very informative book. However, I was expecting a cookbook for adults; instead, this is primarily a review of foods, agriculture, and daily cooking life in Kenya written for a children's/young teen audience; a few receipes of common foods are included througout the text. A nice summary, however, for anyone who has lived in Kenya or wants more detailed but basic information about its foods. This is NOT a cookbook in the usual sense; however, there does not appear to be much in the way of actual Kenyan cookbooks on the market. This is an alternative to consider.

What does AIDS have to do with a cookbook? I tried to like this book, but was angered by something I found when flipping through the index.Agriculture, 8AIDS, 32This caught me off-guard because, initially, I had flipped through the small book (only 64 pages) and could not see what this was doing in a cookbook meant to celebrate the food and culture of Kenya. Going to said page, right before the recipe for milky tea, there was a call-out box with the text below. And that was that!What an offense to the Kenyan people and such a pity someone did not have the sense to remove it.It's like having a cookbook of American food culture and just putting a blurb about slavery. Or a book on German cuisine and having a box stating "by the way, our former leader took it upon himself to eradicate Jews and other people he saw unfit." Every one know Africa is a continent with developing countries. And just like Kenya, many countries including the USA has a high rate of HIV and AIDS. If you want to talk about health and diseases, find the appropriate medium - not a cookbook.This book is not worth $32 or even $1."Many ChallengesKenya is a developing nation. As such, itfaces many challenges. Many Kenyans livein poverty. About 39 percent of the populationlacks safe drinking water. In somecommunities women often walk miles tofetch water, which comes from unsanitarywells. Poverty also keeps some children from attendingschool. Their parents cannot afford to pay for the requireduniforms or books.Disease is also a problem. Human immunodeficiency virus(HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)are common here. Although the percentage of Kenyanssuffering from HIV and AIDS has dropped recently, thereare currently about 900,000 orphans in Kenya, many ofwhom lost their parents to AIDS. A shortage of medicaldoctors worsens the problem."