Past guest, Flora, comes to The Safari Series to work in our kitchen and improve our food

During late January, we welcomed previous guest, Flora, to join us at the camp for six nights to work with Head Chef, Stella, in our kitchen to improve and update our menus. Flora, who is an expert in private kitchens and well known restaurants from Barbados to London, spend the days in our bush kitchen making some incredible creations. 

Vegetarian & vegan offerings

Flora worked to improve and become more creative with our vegetarian and vegan menu, adding in more herbs, different sauces and dressings and helped the team to learn more about nuts and seeds and how they can be used more in savoury dishes. 

A top favourite has been over overnight oats, made using either almond milk, yogurt or cows milk, topped with tropical fruit, chia seeds and delicious local honey. We also added some gluten-free granola on top too for an extra crunch.

With so much local, fresh and organic fruit and veggies, it's no wonder we choose to do a totally vegetarian lunch every day. 

Making a 'no waste' menu

The UNEP says that 'estimates suggest that 8-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions are associated with food that is not consumed' - a shockingly high statistic. Making food that uses leftovers and works remaining bits into good things makes sure that as little as possible is put in the bin.

With this in mind, here are some ideas that our Head Chef Stella and Flora came up with together:

Any remaining fruit --> homemade fruit ice cream (our favourite is tree tomato flavour)
Uneaten bread from breakfast and lunch --> bread crumbs for chicken or fish goujons on our Kids Menu
Peelings from veggies --> stock to make the base of soups

We also made our compost pit deeper and wider with a more secure lid (those pesky hyenas had been eyeing it up for a while now!), and the end result will be used to improve our herb garden and flower garden - where we grow many of the flowers for the camp.

Locally produced produce

Supporting local economies has always been a cornerstone of The Safari Series' ethos, and that reflects into the food that we serve at the camp. By purchasing local ingredients we support both small-scale and regenerative farming practises. 

All of our fruit and vegetables comes from a local farmer who grows organic produce - which arrives on the back of a motorbike to the gate of the conservancy once a week. This means Head Chef Stella has to be agile in her menus, making use of what has been delivered that week. 

Meat comes from local providers - some which even come from within Laikipia - including Well Hung Butcher lamb and beef, Farmer Max chicken, Highland Castle pork and Kentuna seafood. By supporting regenerative and holistic farming practises across protected areas, this is produce that is (in the words of WHB) is: 'better for the farmer, better for the animal, better for the environment and better for you.'