The first time I went to Vunky Foods, a vegetarian restaurant in Cologne, it turned out to be a great surprise but in a very soft way. I say so because I enjoy being served as a chef incognito. That way I can also experience the food and service as an ordinary guest. Yet from the service and flavors, I could genuinely feel welcome in the space but beyond that, I could attest to the enormous effort that had gone into creating what I was experiencing. Even deeper, the experience was like a mirror and a song all at the same time. Every bite was full of history of the farmers I might never know on one hand and a primordial exercise in chewing that has a soft, inaudible rhythm that is unique to each guest.
The theme of rhythm somehow lasted as long as I kept chewing. That obviously was a long time for a six course dinner. The conclusion of the rhythm ended in the long story of the siege of Leningrad which lasted from 1941 to 1944. The Germans were unable to break the siege and ultimately lost the war. Food was one scarce commodity on both sides.
What was not scarce behind the walls of Leningrad was rhythm. In fact the scarcity of food seemed to inspire rhythms in a more profound way. One composer by the name of Dimitri Shostakovich was composing music to keep the hopes and spirits of hungry Russian from dying. The most powerful of his compositions was symphony number 7, which had to be moved to a new location after the original venue was bombed. Even more tragic, some of the performers actually died during the rehearsal for the show due to hunger. But Shostakovich wasn’t one to give up, and the performance actually took place. It was an incredible feat and the audience, hungry or not knew it. A standing ovation of one hour, by hungry audience, marked the finish of the Seventh symphony. The single act of bravery caught the attention of the Russians propagandist and they decided to play the Seventh symphony to the equally hungry Russian soldiers on the frontline. The power of rhythm didn’t fail and the Russian soldiers were victorious.
My ancestors at the time had their own battles against colonialism. One of the ways in which they protested was through music. One such song that came to mind was Mũthĩrĩgũ, a song that castigated the colonial forces intruding upon the indigenous cultures. The song was immediately banned and so the rhythms of the song gained prominence as a form of double protest against the ban and colonial rule. Many were arrested for singing the song but the more they were arrested the bigger and louder the choir of protest sound grew from jail. The colonialist turned to one of their own who had been born and even gone through the rights of passage amongst the Agĩkũyũ, earning himself the name “karwĩgĩ ( a small eagle/also a word for airplane). Karĩgĩ’s real name was Louis Leakey and had grown up to be an anthropologist and writer of a prominent 3-volume epic book entitled “Southern Kikuyu Before 1903”. Leakey advised the colonialist to change tactics and switch from arresting those singing Mũthĩgiũ as it was only increasing the popularity of the song and making it a rallying call and instead fight the song with another song. That is how a new dance known as Mwomboko became the first form of counter intelligence rhythms. Accordions were purchased and dished out to various promising musicians, amongst the most famous being Shida Wa Gĩkombe.
I always found it as an interesting coincidence that Shida’s first name means to win in Gĩkũyũ and predicament in Swahili, while his last name means “cup”. In reality, Shida lived up to his name as a poisoned chalice. Mwoboko gained traction for a while but could not stop the fight for justice. Not even “Karwĩgĩ” would stump out the flames of justice. The rhythmic music of Kamaru Wa Wanjiru would later roast the unjust rhythms of Mwomboko to become the most influential music of the era in the history of the Agĩkũyũ. I can be forgiven for calling Karwĩgĩ “Karũgĩo”(frying pan) as his plans were turned into ashes considering that the struggle for liberation made some major strides. Yet the colonial ashes are still hot and may even contain embers that pose serious danger to the descendants of those who fought diligently for justice. One of the biggest threat to justice amongst that community and the continent as a whole is the issue of food sovereignty.
It’s on that ground that I appreciated the opportunity to share my version of the one-hour standing ovation and the true “Shida Gĩkombe” (winning Trophy) in collaboration with a gallant chef and co-owner of Vukys Foods in February.
While the refrain of Mwomboko was “Merĩ na Kuuna” (meaning two steps and a fold) describing the three steps rhythm, our Afro Futuristic dinner at Vuky Foods will be in double threes. It will be one Kenyan and American chef with a German couple on one hand and two Africans and one German and two male chefs, one African and one European under the guidance of an African choir mistress from Gambia, the land of the most important African instrument known as the Kora.
Interestingly the Kora has 21 strings and fits perfectly with the rhythm of 2 and 1 but actually taking two spirits and bringing the best in both. Thayù