Kenyan chef Dennis Ombachi, popularly known as Roaming Chef, has taken to social media to recreate the infamous high school meal that many Kenyans fondly remember. The video, posted on September 29, 2026, shows Ombachi preparing the dish in a satirical cooking tutorial style, complete with deliberately burnt pots and unwashed greens cooked in the same water. The video has sparked nostalgia among millennials, who have shared their own experiences of the meal on social media.
The video was filmed on a high-rise balcony overlooking a city skyline, adding a touch of humor to the mock-serious cooking tutorial. Ombachi roughly chops sukuma wiki before tossing it into a preheated pot, making sure the bottom layer scorches before the greens are even done. He describes this as the high school cook's method for achieving an "authentic smoky vegan barbecue flavor." The ugali also gets brutal treatment, with maize meal going into boiling water and stirred vigorously.
According to Ombachi, the goal of cooking the ugali is to "somehow overcook it while simultaneously undercooking it, a culinary contradiction perfected by high school chefs." He also revisits the boarding school tradition of skipping the washing step entirely, pointing out that efficiency dictated that you could "wash, cook and clean at the same time, in the same pot, using the same water." This method, although humorous, highlights the resourcefulness of high school cooks.
Ombachi's motivation for recreating the dish was partly parental strategy. His son had been pushing to attend boarding school, and the video was his attempt at "transferring generational trauma, hoping fear succeeds where parenting failed." However, the plan backfired spectacularly, as his son tasted the finished dish and pronounced it genuinely good. He even added a cheeky dig at his father's generation, saying they "don't look young because of the food they ate, but are just malnourished and stopped growing."
The comment section of the video filled quickly with Kenyans reliving their own boarding school scars. Many shared their own experiences of the meal, with some expressing nostalgia and others humorously recalling the trauma. The video has sparked a conversation about the infamous high school meal and its impact on those who experienced it.
Ombachi's culinary skills were also showcased in another video where he prepared ostrich meat from scratch. The former Kenyan rugby player grilled the meat over charcoal using goose fat before serving pulled ostrich coleslaw burgers to university students in Juja. His children sampled the burgers first, giving them a thumbs-up.
The Roaming Chef's video has become a viral sensation, with many Kenyans sharing their own experiences of the infamous high school meal. The video has also sparked a conversation about the culinary skills of Ombachi, who has become a popular figure on social media.
Key points
- The Roaming Chef's video has sparked nostalgia among millennials who fondly remember the infamous high school meal.
- Ombachi's motivation for recreating the dish was to deter his son from attending boarding school.
- The video has become a viral sensation, with many Kenyans sharing their own experiences of the meal.
