Delicious Virenje has Nakuru residents licking their lips
A photo showing a plate of Virenje prepared.
It is not uncommon to see a group of people probably surrounding a stall selling various snacks. Most of them are usually trying to get something to eat before going home for dinner.
This phenomenon has grown in popularity over time, thanks to the range of delicious street food that can be found on every busy street corner.
One that has become a local favourite is Virenje (chicken legs), usually fried in cooking oil and eaten as a snack.
Mtaa wangu spoke to Mr Michael King'ori, one of the virenje vendors, a father of three who has been in the business for 20 years.
He says to attract more customers he has added other parts of the chicken he sells, including the neck, gizzard and liver.
Virenjee, he says, is basically chicken legs and necks and the name has been around for so long.
"At the market, I buy 50 sets of liver, gizzard and virenjee at Sh40, which makes a total of Sh2,000. For liver and gizzard, he buys them at Sh10 each and ends up selling them at Sh20, while for virenjee he buys it at Sh20 and sells it at Sh30," Mr King'ori said.
According to Mr King'ori, he makes a profit of more than Sh1,000 if he works three days a week. The business is an extra source of income that enables him to pay school fees and other bills.
"The reason people prefer Virenje is because it is cheaper than chicken in restaurants and it is very tasty." he said.
Mr King'ori not only sells virenje, but also buys chickens, slaughters them to extract the parts (gizzard, liver and virenje) and distributes them to other vendors.
According to Mr King'ori, he slaughters 50-100 chickens and distributes them to his fellow vendors.
Despite the benefits Mr King'ori gets, he also complains about the disadvantage of transport, as he is sometimes forced to travel as far as Njoro to get stock.