Surely you wonder what to eat in Tanzania . As in most African countries, the population’s poor access to resources has been an obstacle to the development of a gastronomy with its own personality. With the exception of some typical Tanzania food, with a rustic and simple elaboration, the national cuisine is mostly made up of Asian and European contribution. If you want to get more information about Tanzania food, great post to read.

The most traditional Tanzanian cuisine in the country is Swahili cuisine that is located on the coast and is a combination of Indian and Arab influences. Many of its typical dishes are typical of Indian cuisine but adapted to the ingredients of the area. The British influence is also accused in the gastronomic customs of the country. Organizing what Tanzania food to eat if you are a vegetarian can be a bit more complicated.

Meat and fish

In Tanzania’s cuisine, dishes made with meat prevail, in the interior areas and with fish on the coast. While it is true that these are not very elaborate recipes, the raw material is very fresh, so the quality is excellent. Usually the meat is cooked grilled or roasted, especially the fillets of antelope, wildebeest and buffalo . For visitors who do not dare with such exotic meats, there are also options of dishes with chicken, cow, lamb, and in some places, also pork.

It is quite common to find positions of kebabs, due to Islamic influence . They are quite similar to those we all know, prepared with strips of lamb meat seasoned with different spices. It is accompanied with rice and vegetables, which can be cooked (green beans, potatoes, corn) or raw. The sauces are prepared with coconut milk or curry. Sausages are made with veal, due to the prohibition, in the culture of Islam, of consuming pork.

As for fish , the most common varieties in Tanzanian cuisine are trout, perch, tilapia, parrotfish, tigerfish and rock cod. It also stands out for its seafood, especially the Zanzibar lobster and the giant prawns.

Other specialties

When you don’t know what Tanzania food to eat, salads are a good option. They are usually made with raw fruits such as banana, apple, papaya, coconut and sweet potato. They are also usually cooked as a garnish for meat and fish. A spice that is widely used is pepper. In fact , pepper cake is one of their specialties . Bring minced beef, butter, onion, olive oil, turmeric, nutmeg and three varieties of pepper.

Another of the typical dishes of Tanzania is the ugali . It is a cassava puree that is very reminiscent of Italian polenta. It is served as an accompaniment to meat and vegetable stews.

The nyama chocan is very typical in the northern regions of the country and is a barbecue of chicken and beef. On the coast it is common to find cassava and male banana dishes with cloves and cinnamon.

It is also easy to find chapatis, typical of India. It is a type of cake-shaped bread prepared with cornmeal. The Mandazi is a kind of fried sweet bread that is usually served with coffee to take.

Tanzania food – Typical desserts

What to eat in Tanzania for desserts? Obviously, tropical fruit is the star , served in salad or natural. You can find many delicious fruits: mango, papaya, pineapple, guava, passion fruit, coconut, tamarind, orange, lime, watermelon, melon, custard apple, etc. In the hotels and restaurants the British influence is more noticeable, especially in the pastry options. If you have doubts about what to eat in Tanzania, in the accommodations you can enjoy more western flavors.

Drinks

Like all the old English colonies, tea has a great role . It is grown abundantly in the highlands of the country and exported in large quantities. It is taken with milk and sugar. Another export product of excellent quality is the coffee that is worth tasting.

The beer is pretty consuming, but it is important to ask specifically cold, because otherwise, by British custom, served hot. The national brand is Kilimanjaro and Safari Lager that comes in a half-liter bottle.

Dodoma Red and Dodoma Pink are the wines of the country, although the restaurants mainly serve wines from different origins, North Americans, Europeans and South Africans. Kenya Gold is a delicious coffee liqueur that is served with some ice and can be a great end to a hot day of excursions. The kibgayi is a liqueur made with a mixture of vodka and gin and Afrikoko is a sweet coconut liqueur and chocolate. Konyagi is a gin typical of Tanzania. It is important to know that, although alcohol is allowed, you should not drink in the street.

Cooked

It is not in the lodges that you will discover the cuisine of the country. The food they serve, as good as it is, is international cuisine (very spicy, in general). There are buffets for lunch and dinner with a wide variety of European dishes.

– Meats: no problem in lodges or establishments of European standard. If in doubt, turn to the chicken instead.

– Fish and shellfish: a treat for simplicity and taste, at low prices. They should be avoided in park lodges , where freshness is never guaranteed. On the east coast and in Zanzibar, on the other hand, the seafood is very fresh. Lobsters, sea cicadas and crabs are delicious and presented on the maps of many restaurants in Zanzibar, at very reasonable prices.

They are served in various ways: grilled, in curry or masala (mixture of spices), in coconut milk, accompanied by pilaf rice and ugali (cassava porridge). It can sometimes be quite spicy.

In the villages, the fishermen like to cook their catch themselves. Freshness guaranteed! Octopus (pweza ) is not bad either.

Further inland, you will taste the Nile perch and the essential tilapias caught in the waters of the great lakes.

– Raw vegetables and vegetables: beware of raw vegetables and uncooked vegetables. For hygiene reasons, avoid them. Prefer cooked, boiled, grilled or pan-fried vegetables. Most of the vegetables from Europe can be found on the plates of lodges and restaurants: tomatoes, carrots, cabbage, green beans. And also, fortunately, more local vegetables and tubers (sweet potato, cassava, okra …)

– Fruit:  pineapple, mango, passion fruit, papaya, banana … They are delicious and inexpensive.

Tanzania food

– The most common Tanzania food and East Africa is the ‘ ugali , a kind of polenta (mashed) based on cooked maize or cassava. Taken alone, it doesn’t really taste like. This is why it is usually accompanied by a stew, consisting of pieces of meat simmered in an onion and tomato sauce, and chopped vegetables.

– There is also pilau rice (spicy rice), much more spicy, and byriani rice (Indian style rice dish).

Difficult to find breathtaking Tanzanian cuisine. However, it deserves to be tested in restaurants that make an effort to work with local products. If you are with Tanzanians who love meat or vegetable dumplings and donuts, try the sambusas (see below) and other mishikaki (skewers).

Indian food

Several small Indian restaurants in the cities (Arusha, Moshi, Dar es-Salaam), and in Zanzibar. You can eat for three times nothing with a few samosas (or sambusas ; with vegetables rather than meat), a little masala rice (mixed with a spicy sauce), or chapatis , sometimes garnished. In general, it’s good and convenient for eating on the go at noon.

Most small street snacks or cheap cafeterias are actually run by Indians.

Drinks

Always ask for a cold drink, not iced (difficult to digest in the heat). Say ” bila barafu “: without ice. Drink cool, but not cold.

– Water: never drink tap water. Also avoid ice cubes (made with plain water) in glasses, which carry bacteria. The best solution is to drink mineral water (more expensive than a soda …) sold in encapsulated bottles.

– Tea and coffee: local tea, very full-bodied, is always served with boiled milk and already sweetened. If you want it plain, ask for a kavu chai . Coffee (arabica and robusta), also produced locally, undergoes the same treatment, but espressos are found quite easily.

– Beer: good beers are on sale almost everywhere (except in Zanzibar, in certain establishments run by particularly strict Muslims). There is a choice between Safari (quite strong), Kilimanjaro and Castle Lager (lighter, with less foam). In northern Tanzania, if you stop to drink or eat at a small local establishment, don’t hesitate to ask for banana beer. With a little luck, we will find you a few bottles prepared by hand.

– Imported wines: in most lodge restaurants , the wine comes from South Africa. We can forget the local wine.

Tanzania , officially the  United Republic of Tanzania , is a country located on the east coast of Central Africa. It borders to the north with Kenya and Uganda, to the west with Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south with Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique and to the east with the Indian Ocean. Its capital is Dodoma. The name of the country comes from the union of the words «Tangany» and «Zanzibar».

Tanzania food is characterized by the preference of meat in the interior and fish in coastal areas. The preparation of the dishes is not very elaborate but the freshness of the raw materials supplements this process.

Meats are usually grilled or roasted. The fillets of buffalo, wildebeest or antelope are very exquisite. If you prefer something less exotic you will find, without problems, lamb, cow, chicken and pork dishes. Due to the Islamic influence, restaurants and street stalls are served where kebabs, lamb strips, seasoned with strong spices are served. These meats are usually served with vegetables such as corn, green beans, potatoes and, above all, rice. Vegetables can be served cooked or raw in mincemeat. The sauces usually carry curry or, prepared with a base of coconut milk that gives the dishes a special flavor.

Salads are usually fruit. Mango, papaya, coconut, banana, apple and sweet potatoes are the most used. Cooked fruits are also used as an accompaniment to meat and fish dishes. In the coastal areas you can take fresh fish of excellent quality. The most requested varieties are tilapia, trout, perch, tiger fish, parrotfish and rock cod. The seafood is great and we invite you to try the Zanzibar lobster, the oysters and the giant prawns. In Tanzania, pepper is used a lot when it is still fresh, the beans are red and when dried they give the white pepper that we know.

A typical dish is Pepper Cake whose ingredients are minced beef, onion, olive oil, butter, nutmeg, turmeric and pepper of three types, green, of cayenne and black. It is something explosive but very tasty. Indian food is also highly appreciated and there are numerous restaurants serving Indian specialties. Curious note, in Tanzania there is no cheese.

Drinks: To accompany the meals you usually drink national beer such as Safari Lager and Pilsner and Tanzanian wines such as Dodoma Pink, rosé and Dodoma Red, red. The taste of these broths is somewhat sweet but there is no other option since import wines are prohibited. There are no problems when having a drink since you can find any type of alcoholic drinks without problems. Do not hesitate to try the liquor of the country known as kibgayi, a kind of gin and vodka mixture, very strong.

Tea has a strong flavor and coffee is usually instant. Water should be mineral but if you like soda remember that it is much cheaper. Drinks are usually served very little cold but it is advisable to avoid ice.

With a fusion of diverse cultures, Tanzania’s cuisine is one of the most varied and preferred in the African continent.

On the coast of this country, locals enjoy dishes prepared with trout, tiger fish, cod, oysters, giant prawns and lobsters.

The traditional tanzania food is ugali, a dish that is prepared with corn or cassava flour (or a mixture of both). This is usually eaten with meat, fish or vegetable sauce.

The salads prepared by the Tanzanians are usually fruit (milky, coconut, bananas …); These accompany the dishes made with meat and fish.

To cook, the Tanzanians use pepper a lot, being one of the typical dishes the pepper cake. It is prepared with minced beef, onion, olive oil, butter, nutmeg and turmeric.

Likewise, nyama-kuku, fried chicken with chopped vegetables, is on the menu. The local flavor is also expressed in a duck stewed in coconut milk, while figs are served as a garnish.

The most consumed beverages in Tanzania, as in almost all of Africa, is beer and liquor “konyagi”, a drink that has white rum as its main ingredient.

Tanzanians are meat lovers

Nyama choma, it is a meal that is prepared with grilled meats. Nyama n’gombe, grilled beef and nyama kuku, grilled chicken. It should be noted that Tanzanians usually cook meat until it is well browned.

Typical dishes from Tanzania: To suck your fingers! 

Today we are going to taste some Tanzania food. The cuisine of this area has a clear Swahili influence that combines Arab and Indian culinary elements. A real treat for the palate!

In Tanzania, vegetarian recipes are the order of the day but this does not mean that there are no meat or fish based dishes. If you like Hindu food, you will enjoy the beauty since most of the meals in this African country are inspired by this type of cuisine.

If you are a meat enthusiast you should know that here it is usually consumed grilled or stewed. The ox, the goat or the lamb are the undisputed protagonists of a good feast but they are never alone on the plate. Rice, potatoes or vegetables are usually the most common side dishes.

If you prefer fish you can not miss the tilapia, trout, perch, tiger fish or cod. If, since you are on vacation in Africa, you want to go to luxury, we recommend that you brush your teeth into seafood. The giant prawns and the Zanzibar lobster are simply spectacular.

Another of the typical dishes of Tanzania are salads. Normally, they are made with raw fruits such as papaya, banana or coconut but you can also see them served hot if they are used as an accompaniment to meat or fish.

Do you remember that on another occasion we talked about the typical dishes of Kenya ? Given the distance between Kenya and Tanzania, it is not surprising that they have some traditional foods in common.

Within this group would be the ugali and the Nyama Choma.

It is served hot for breakfast or to accompany other dishes and the second is nothing but roasted meat.

Did you know that in Tanzania they love pepper? If you dare with the strong flavors you can order a pepper cake that has minced beef, onion, olive oil, butter, nutmeg, turmeric and three different types of pepper. An explosive mixture!

And if after eating all this you feel very thirsty you will not have to settle for a simple glass of water. In the chapter of drinks are Tanzanian wines such as Dodoma Red or a mixed gin and vodka liqueur called kibgayi. Just do not forget that there is no habit of serving cold drinks.

Now that you know some typical dishes of Tanzania you have no excuse not to try them if you come from safari. Eating well before going on an excursion to see animals is essential for strength!