Smocha: Kenya’s new delicacy gaining popularity among office workers

Some 15 people are competing to place their orders at this Kibanda.

“This is my lunch,” offers Mbithi who is in the company of a few female colleagues – all of them lining to buy the famous Kenyan wrap.

Smocha is a common and loved meal for office workers in Nairobi, college students – and is a darling of Nairobi’s single men and women – good Kenyans who don’t like to cook or carry food.

The food does not take much effort and money to prepare – and that’s why many people like it.

“All you need are smokies, chapatis, kachumbari; a combination of chopped-up tomatoes and onions, and your favourite source to prepare a good wrap,” says Mbithi.

Mbithi says he has tried preparing chapati smokie at home – but the taste is never the same.

The street smochas cost between Sh 60 and Sh70 – which is why many office workers prefer them to carrying food to the office.

“I like it because it’s a bundle of affordable foods all rolled into one. I also like the fact that I can dig in as I walk,” said Mbithi.

Some of the veteran Smocha lovers told Wananchi Reporting that the ‘street food’ was godsend especially now that many are grappling with high cost of living.

Office workers in upmarket areas where good food is very expensive are often forced to settle for smochas.

According to nutritionist Juliet Njeri Ndung'u, of Juliet Ronica Nutrition Services (JRNS), people go for smochas for two main reasons; they are cheap and fills the stomach well.

She, however, advises lovers of smochas to consider eating nutritious and balanced diet foods to better their health.

“Smokies and chapati are both made from wheat which contains gluten, a natural form of protein that can cause hormonal imbalance in humans, leading to obesity and struggles with weight gain,” says Juliet.

“These smokies contain high salts; it is simply processed food. As for chapatis, I would rather they go for brown ones, but again people like white chapos because they are cheaper,” she says.

A report released in March by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) Consumer Price Indices (CPI) showed a significant increase in the prices of food items. The data showed that increasing food prices in Kenya continued to put households under pressure and raise the cost of living.

Prices of foodstuffs like maize flour, sugar and sukuma wiki rose significantly at the time due to effects of the prolonged drought and other factors. 

Kenyans living in urban settings have had to change their eating habits in an attempt to  cut spending and survive the high cost of living. 

Things are however expected to look up especially now that we are in the harvesting season, and basic food prices like maize are expected to go down significantly.