Oregon Culture Keepers Roster Menu

Wambui Machua is a traditional cook, chef, and business owner. Born in Nairobi and a member of the Kikuyu people, Kenya's largest ethnic group, Machua learned to cook from the matriarchs of her family -- her mother and grandmother. By age ten, she was cooking for the household. Wambui Machua grew up living in both urban Nairobi and rural Gachie, Kenya. She attended school in Nairobi and later came to Oregon as an exchange student before moving to Portland and pursing a degree in business management. Machua first started Spice of Africa in 2008 as a class project, eventually expanding the business to include catering and cooking classes. In addition to her work as a chef, Machua teaches classes at Portland Community College and was heavily involved in philanthropic work with Beaverton's Rotary Club and her own non-profit organization; Village Community Development. In 2015, she oversaw the shipment of 100,000 donated books to 30 rural schools in Kenya. She also donated funds to build a community center, a community kitchen, and a sewing project in Gachie. Machua is an expert in Kenyan cuisine, particularly that of her Kikuyu heritage. She prepares all of her dishes using traditional methods. Favorites include a Kenyan take on some foods traditionally associated with Asian Indian and Pacific Rim cultures, such as samosas (vegetable and meat-filled fried pastry triangles), muchele pilau (curry rice pilaf), and chapati (flat bread) with vegetable stew. She also prepares the traditional sukuma wiki (collard greens). In addition to Kenyan foodways, Machua also prepares and teaches dishes from Ethiopia, Nigeria, Ghana, and Morocco. Machua learned to make these foods by seeking out other chefs from those countries to ensure that her restaurant continued to serve authentic cuisine from all over the African continent. Machua also teaches about traditional Kenyan foods by creating hands-on, interactive dinners and classes.