Traditionally, in every Kikuyu homestead you visited, there was this one ram in whose entire life was never let out of its pen (gicegu).
According to Gikuyu Centre of Cultural Studies (GCCS) which documents and archives Kikuyu culture, "the ram was purely fed on sweet potato vines hung with a rope or on other kitchen waste like peelings and food stock".
The ram mainly belonged to the woman of the house and, therefore, the fat it produced after it was finally slaughtered was used to measure the woman's hard work, GCCS notes.
"Many people have queried why the ram was an integral part of the house. Well, its major function was as the nyumba’s fat production unit. Unlike ewes, the fattened ram (ndurume ya gicegu) was let to grow a heavy fat tail, that would measure over three kilograms," writes GCCS.
To be able to use the fat extracted from the fatty tail, first it had to be cut into small pieces before frying them in a pot till those pieces dried up floating on the oil that they produced.
After that, GCCS adds, the fat would be left to cool down before being transferred into a fat storage container christened 'kinandu kia maguta' while the dried up pieces (ngarango) were eaten after they cooled.
"This fat was highly valued and formed the main source of fat in the Gikuyu diet. Women would add it into children’s gruel or use it in kneading roasted bananas into balls (ngumba cia marigu) which was the food of choice for travellers and lunch in the fields," the cultural centre adds.
The nutritional benefits of this fat to suckling babies, children and adults were simply unrivalled and as such, no Gikuyu homestead would dare go without this 'fattened ram' at any particular time.
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