By Prudence Minayo
Alice Taabu rose to fame thanks to her cooking show Mke Nyumbani which aired on Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC). The program taught Kenyans how to cook various recipes.
Her rise to becoming a renowned television cook was just a matter of when. Growing up, her grandmother was in awe of her cooking skills and told her this special gift needed to be shared by the world. She heeded this advice and went on to host a cooking show for over two decades.
Alice perfected her cooking by watching her mother and grandmother cook.
Background & Education
Alice was born and brought up in the Coastal region of Kenya. She is one of eight children and her parents believed they each deserved a chance at education. She attended Ribe Primary School until Standard Seven.
Alice then proceeded to Ribe Intermediate where she trained as a nurse. She was later employed as a nurse at the Coast General Hospital where she served for eight months before quitting.
“I guess I wasn’t cut out to be a nurse. I had to go back to my first love, which is cooking,” she said.
Alice then joined the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) where she pursued home craft and home science courses for two years.
Career
In 1967, East African Power and Lighting, now Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC), reached out to her with a job offer. The qualification for the job was someone who could cook and speak fluently in both English and Swahili. The approved candidate for the job was supposed to provide cooking classes and teach people how to use electricity and electrical equipment in the right way.
She underwent training for four months before relocating to Mombasa and began doing public demonstrations. For 37 years, she diligently worked for Kenya Power and loved the job.
Despite the triumphs, she had a couple of challenges. Once, she missed an important step while baking bread. She failed to add yeast and her instructor made her repeat the process eight times before she got it right.
Mke Nyumbani
In 1976, Voice of Kenya, now KBC, approached her to host Mke Nyumbani since Maggie Gona, who was the host at the time, was about to retire. Thanks to her experience at Kenya Power, she was used to cooking in front of a huge crowd and was not nervous. She now had two jobs; doing demonstrations and hosting Mke Nyumbani, which was being sponsored by Kenya Power.
Alice took it in stride and had amazing moments. There were also a few mishaps along the way. For instance, on one occasion, the salt lid was not corked properly. As she was adding it to the stew, all of it poured out. Instead of panicking, she just demonstrated what to do in such a situation. She scooped as much soup as possible and added raw potatoes to the remaining then removed them. That way, most of the salt was absorbed by the potatoes.
According to her, the show was a hit due to its simplicity, it was about affordable dishes cooked in a simple way.
Mke Nyumbani aired every Sunday on KBC for about twenty years. It showcased various recipes cooked with a different touch compared to what most people were used to.
Book
Alice also authored a cookbook titled Mke Nyumbani which won the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in 2002. The book has a list of over 500 recipes she has showcased in the show.
The inspiration for the book came from people wanting the recipes. They used to publish recipes in the newspaper and others would ask why they couldn’t be put in a book.
In 2017, she made her debut on Citizen in the cooking show Pika na Power alongside chef Daniel.
Navigating through the jobs, she has successfully raised up two kids, who are now adults. Her nephew is Nimrod Taabu-a popular Swahili news anchor.
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