His social media speaks loudly about his passion- cooking and serving delicious meals. Chef Mark Kaheru is a lover of things nice. A father, husband and writer, his day job entails Strategic Communications as a Public Information Officer.
What is the treasure in Ugandan foods?
The treasure lies in abundance and variety. I cannot point to one specific food but, a skilled cook/chef, can create a whole lot of tasty dishes with the wealth of fresh food we have in this country.
When and how did you discover the foodie in you?
It was probably in 1985 or 1986. I liked watching my mother cook and she explained a lot to me. She cooks the best food up till this date. She bakes as well. Whenever I got the chance, I helped.
Back then she used to pre-cook and freeze the food and we took turns thawing it out and cooking lunch for ourselves as kids. Then when I finished my O levels, I enrolled in a Culinary Institute and now here we are.
When did you start earing from cooking?
In 1993 after graduating from culinary school, I started to cook and earn money off it. Now I cook almost every day and for whoever needs me to prepare a meal for them.
How were you able to nurture the hobby and passion of cooking?
I think acknowledging that everyone has to eat is a good motivator. Also, I am rather picky when it comes to what I eat and where I eat that I had to learn to cook what I would like to eat. I also like flavour so I like to use a number of flavours to deliver my offerings and I am not afraid to experiment.
What does it feel preparing meals for your children, friends and associates?
It is always a challenge. My children too are rather picky and they do not hold back on the criticism when they get something they do not like. But I enjoy preparing meals for them and watch them as they enjoy the offering.
Since lockdown in March 2020, I have been hosting a barbeque every Saturday and the children would get involved. They like cooking with me and they even have notebooks where they write down the steps as we cook.
After lockdown was eased, I expanded the BBQs to include friends and I have a full day of cooking which is exciting because I get to prepare different recipes every weekend. It is always great when you feed the people.
Where does food and tourism and travel meet?
To me, they are the same thing. Every region in Uganda, In Africa and in the world has their cuisine or different methods of treating their ingredients to prepare meals.
Every time I travel, I like to sample the local cuisine just to taste different preparations. It would be very sad to travel to Ethiopia and have chips and chicken or to France and ask for a tilapia dish.
That is not tourism. If you want to travel, taste the local cuisine. Take in the sights as you are at it and maybe purchase a local spice, come back and incorporate it into your cooking. Learn something new.
What are your favourite Ugandan foods and why?
The first time I went to Kumi, my host’s wife served us pasted chicken. I have never had it better than that dish and I fell in love with it. But my ultimate meal is steamed rice with beans made in ghee with a side of any kind of greens. If served hot, I can have rice and beans every day.
How have you promoted Ugandan cuisines?
Oh yes. With the My 
Food Network and Round Bob, we started hosting Culinary Tours that took tourists to different parts of Uganda and showed them the sites while we had a dish indigenous to the area prepared for them.
Our dream was to take this all the way to the global market by hosting a Ugan
da Culinary Week event where we would invite cooks and chefs from all over Uganda to showcase to a global audience.
What was the response and reaction to these efforts?
We managed to host half a dozen tours and we met resistance especially from local tourism bodies that felt we were trying to do their jobs and they made it hard for us. We tried getting support from companie
s and organisations we thought would benefit from this but they were short sighted and all we got was verbal support. From the tourist side, we had a number of people signing up and each trip hosted close to 24 people per trip.
What’s the feeling of being too busy not to do what you love as often as you’d like to?
I make the time. I have learnt how to make meals in minutes so when I get back home and I have to prepare a meal, I make the time. I do not have the time to cook at events as I used to two or more years ago and that sucks but I still try to make time to cook when I can.
What are your top travel destinations, and why?
- West Nile for their pasted foods and a chance to go through Murchison Falls National Park
- Mombasa for the sea and the spice
- Jinja for the Nile and the fresh fish
- Thailand for the street food
- Germany for Oktoberfest
What would you like to see being done better in Uganda’s hospitality sector?
We should acknowledge that culinary tourism is important. The world has millions of foodies that would love to come and taste malewa, pasted fish, atapa and dodo, omugoyo and many other foods.
Also, the powers that be can start paying attention to the hotels and lodges, ensuring they have a set and acceptable standard. The need to offer training to all and make it conducive for companies like Uganda Breweries Limited (UBL), Nile Breweries Limited (NBL), Serena Hotels, Marasa Holdings and all to have training programmes for the smaller establishments.
What aspect of your culture are you most fond of?
I am most fond of our lifestyle. We are a free and fun-loving people and we live in the largest and oldest national park in Uganda. We have beautiful forests, the longest river, the most powerful waterfalls and the largest concentration of chimpanzees in Uganda.
