Street Food Discourses and the Case of the Ugandan “Rolex”.

This article examines the multiple ideological and symbolic meanings associated with the Ugandan street food called “rolex”. Rolex is a popular street food that was declared a tourist attraction in Uganda by the then Minister for Tourism after the snack was ranked by CNN as the fastest-growing street food in Africa in 2016. Rolex seems to derive its name not from the Swiss watch brand, but from the act of rolling the omelette inside a chapati. The article discusses the evolving identities of this snack, and analyses how the street food is constructed in Uganda’s press. I argue that the street food serves a number of cultural functions: it serves as a delicious meal, a celebration of national identity and resilience, a marker of economic activity, an index of Asian influences, and a symbol of diplomacy. In addition, it creates nostalgia and longing from outside the country. The article shows how this street food for the urban poor has become a national delicacy that tells the story of Uganda’s attempt to produce an identity and unity constructed around a “national meal” that caters to different ethnic and social groups.