The snack that tells the time
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The snack that tells the time
A brief history of Rolex
Hello, Snackers. Today on Snack Stack:
Rolex
Credit: Teefe Timothy Mulindwa / Wikipedia Commons
The basics
A wrap sandwich consisting of an omelet inside a chapati. The name is a pun on “rolled eggs.” No fancy watches here.
Find it in
Uganda
The intel
Sometime in the 1990s, in the Busoga region of Uganda, a chapati vendor tried something new, cooking an omelet and rolling it up in the flatbread to make a wrap sandwich. It was filling, it was easy to make, it was cheap, and it was immediately popular. More vendors started selling them, including near the campus of Makerere University, in Kampala, where it turned out to be the perfect quick meal for students. One vendor, named Sula, sold Rolex outside clubs on Friday and Saturday nights, and is generally credited with the being the guy who made the dish a big deal in Uganda.
These days, there are all kinds of variations on the Rolex across Uganda, from regional specialties to the behemoth known as “Swazzneggar Rolex,” named for Arnold Schwarzenegger and featuring an omelet made from six to eight eggs. The dish has even become a national symbol of sorts, as Ugandan officials have started promoting the Rolex to tourists as a distinctive local food, and established an annual Rolex Festival in Kampala, featuring chefs from around Uganda and other countries (Kenya, India, and Mexico were recent featured guests) to show off their own takes on the savory snack.
Get it here
Food stands across Uganda, or the Rolex Festival.
Will you like it?
Probably!
Read more
Daily Monitor: “In Uganda, ‘Rolex’ Means Time for an Egg Snack”
Ozy: “How to Eat a Rolex”
From The Economic Times, some background on how chapati made its way from India to become a popular street food in East Africa
Trevor Noah is a fan of Rolex:
Happy snacking!