Obe Soup

Chef Tom invited me to Vuky Foods for an Introductory meeting to explore possible collaboration. I couldn’t have imagined that I would spend a whole four hours at the restaurant. It was a both joyous and productive. I tasted all manner of things in between our numerous topics from products to politics of food. I also tasted foods and drinks. The most balanced drink I have had this season. It’s been one interesting season when the most prevalent creative concept has been matching taste, rhythm and memory.

This particular drink neatly combines all three concepts. My first thought upon taking the first sip brought memories of the best times with my oldest brother who was full of humor and an infectious laughter. Then one day I read a book of poetry that was just laying around. It belonged to my sister-in-law, a high school teacher of literature, which was about strong bonds of love between brothers. That poem ended with a phrase “wa Nyina”. That poem captured my deepest feelings towards my brother. The next time I talked to him, I addressed him by that phrase and it became his title to this day.

Then I took the second sip and it drove me deeper into the recesses of my excited memory bank and I remembered the earliest rhythms I associate with our strong bonds. I should clarify that it’s always been difficult to think or write about Wanyina without thinking about music. This time, even though miles away, nothing was different. What was different however was the song that came to mind. I remembered a song by Fela Kuti titled OBE, a rather short song by Fela Kuti’s standard but with hypnotic sounds. I later came to learn that Obe is the Yoruba word for soup or stew.

The third sip narrowed done to the connection between the flavor and color. I looked at the color of the drink and then analyzed the various notes as the drink first touched the tongue, then the checks and the roof of the mouth before hitting the throat like a waterfall. The first impression was of the fermentation of the kefir drink and the shift in color of the beet root juice in the drink. The color seemed to mimics the story of a multiracial relationship that is behind the concept behind @vunkyfoods. I imagine that the present color might as well be the brightest expression of the blood-like color of beet root juice.

My thinking is that historical division along race robbed us great possibilities. Obe is song that was born out of a relationship between Fela Kuti and Sandra Izadore, with influences of the Black Panthers. On their part, the Black Panthers were quite progressive in their activism and initiatives a breakfast program for African Americans students even before the school feeding program was implemented in American schools. They would later extend their food program to include adults. Obe is considered to be Fela Kuti’s first Afro Beat song and it’s equally fitting to me that he started with food.

I took pause and then finished my glass of kefir knowing that a culinary relationship similar to that between Wanyina and I was brewing. I look forward to building relationships in Germany and like Obe, I hope to use food to build those relationships but that will as poetic as Wa Nyina. Figuratively, Chef Tom and I had our Obe Soup together. The soup was bright, blood-like and had the power of bonding. We were ready to move consciously and without fear. That has always been the spirit behind Afro Futuristic Conscious cuisine and I could feel the same vibe at Vuky Foods the very first time I set foot inside the restaurant. I felt a rhythm of that reminded me of Wanyina and I slowly realized that it’s because the two spoke to my soul. Obe then became more than soup but rather a state of the soul.

Fela was right that that fear is not for man. Eating anything but food is like fear and not for man. Bad soup equals bad soul. Vuky Foods embodies that fearless spirit and hence a soul that feels right to me.

Chef Kabui

The Hex Kitchen is a collaboration between Chef Kabui and the Hex community in a bid to promote food literacy, mindful eating and wealth creation. There is a natural connection between those who are fighting against fiat currency and those engaged in the struggle against fiat food. The two social ills of fiat currency and fiat food are at the heart of the tyrannic global world system we are now living in. That tyranny is directly connected to the climate crisis we face and there is no way we can solve one part of the problem without being mindful of the whole system, For a start, the Hex Kitchen is keen on addressing the issues of real money and real food as a basis on regaining our sovereign power. It is no accident that the struggle for food justice would find allies in cryptography and more specifically cryptocurrency. It is not a usual collaboration but yet it is one that makes sense on many levels. Chef Kabui has been studying and applying the power of food literacy, mindful eating and food justice in the struggle against oppression in general and specifically to people of African descent.

Chef Kabui has studied the disciplines of politics, anthropology and culinary arts and has designed a cuisine or rather an approach to food that is informed by the above experience and the indigenous knowledge that he gained from his Kenyan family’s history as sustainable farmers for generations. The combined experience and education resulted in the creation of a cuisine called Afro Futuristic Conscious Cuisine. It is a combination of the most sustainable practices in the growing, preparation of food with the goal of causing the least damage to the environment and maximizing the health benefits of the food. Those two conditions are necessary for a mindful community that ensures that justice thrives.

Chef Kabui has been pushing organic food and healthy eating based on his research and his own experience. The idea of healthy food and justice is not something that chef Kabui got into but was born in it. His family operated a farm and his father ran a restaurant in the capital city of Nairobi. Kabui grew up in the village with his mother where they grew almost all the food they consumed. It was at his family farm that he Kabui developed a love for fresh food and the art of consuming food following the natural cycles of seasons.

The collaboration aims to share the skills for healthy food to the Hex community and beyond. No community can survive without food and the Hex community is no different. The Hex Kitchen is another assembly point for the community to be nourished both physically and socially. While wealth is private, food is social and having a kitchen for the community to assemble is a great option for a community that is causing ripples across the world.

What to Expect

The Kitchen will have virtual classes, content on Youtube and other social media presence for a start. The goal is that the Kitchen will have a physical place that will have a kitchen in a farm that will grown food and have space that guest can visit. The farm will have a demonstration farm for the vegetables, fruits and herbs,

For the schedule of upcoming classes please visit our events section and find a class that is fit for your schedule.