Food in Tanzania

You may have come across someone who told you, “Oh my you are going to Africa, you will starve to death because there is no food there.” But, if you listened to that person, they were wrong. Africa is a beautiful continent with many different foods. Africa is the land of the freshest, sweetest and most ripe fruits in the world.

Tanzania has a variety of cultures and each culture has a great selection of food. From your eating experiences of each culture, the descriptions are unlimited. Some start from being very dry, some are very wet and heavy. Some of the food is very light and at times it can be heavy or fluffy.

Dar es Salaam has great local meal called Ugali. Ugali is made of local flour that is mixed with boiling water and is cooked until it begins to become a little bit solid. Not as solid as rock but just as solid enough for you to hold in the palm of your hand and be able to mush around. Ugali is eaten with meat, fish, chicken and a number of different vegetables. Ugali is not like your everyday McDonald’s burger but it is a fantastic meal that is loved by many Tanzanians.

They are many other great local meals that you can have. Here is a list of a few:

• Mandazi

Next we move onto Mandazi. Mandazi is mostly popular in the city part of Dar Es Salaam. Mandazi is a type of bread, which is made of flour, milk, sugar and eggs. Makes your mouth water doesn’t it?

• Mishkaki

Mishkaki is very popular among Tanzanians and foreigners. It is very similar to a Shish Kebab but it is not as dry. Mishkaki is made of roasted beef or chicken on a stick. It is cooked in tasty seasoning. Now that’s mouth watering.

• Maharage

Maharage is not the most popular among towns but it is eaten regularly by country folk. It is made of boiled red beans.

• Fruits

Last but not least we talk about fruit. Fruits are very common and cheap because they grow almost anywhere. Most of the fruits you know about are found here. Passion fruit is one fruit that is not very common elsewhere in the world.

Other dishes include:

*Vutari – sweet potatoes mixed with coconut milk

*Vitumbuwa – deep fried rice cakes

*Uji - porridge

*Nyama-Choma – game meat (zebra, ostrich, antelope etc.)

*Chipsi-mayai – fried eggs over French fries

If you don't like anything else on the menu, then it is always possible to fetch a plate of rice and beans. We particularly enjoy mishikaki (a charcoal-broiled meat dish) and wali na nyama (curried beef). The only meat available in rural areas is goat meat and cow meat.

Samaki is the Swahili word for fish and mchuzi means curry (or gravy, sauce, soup). A fish curry from Zanzibar shouldn't come as a surprise, since Zanzibar is an African island in the Indian Ocean. the most common is mchuzi ya samaki.