Cookbook:Cuisine of Tanzania

Cookbook | Ingredients | Cuisines | African Cuisines

What the Tanzanian cuisine looks like depends a lot on the region, its available foods and the cultural background of its inhabitants. Most of the foods are basic and simple to cook. The breakfast, called Chai ("tea"), often consists of a hot beverage, mostly tea (hence the name) and less often coffee, and some baked goods like toast, Vitumbua and Mandazi. For persons doing physical labor this can also be a strong food like Ugali. Lunch and dinner are always hot meals that mostly consist of two parts: a main dish and some sort of sauce.

Main dishes

These dishes are common staple foods and many of them are not served without one of the side dishes or sauces below:

Ugali
Wali (Rice)
Tambi (Spaghetti)
Pilau
Chapati (Flatbread)
Chapati za maji (Pancakes)
Chipsi (French fries)
Cooked Bananas

Side dishes and sauces

Many of the above main dishes are not very appealing without a fitting side dish or a fitting sauce. The following list is a list of frequently served foods from this category:

Kabichi (A kind of salad based on cabbage)
Maharage (A sauce that mainly consists of beans)
Mboga (Vegetables)
Mchuzi (Sauce)

Common combinations

Most of the main dishes and most of the side dishes and sauces are not served without one of the other category. For example it is called "Wali na Maharage" when the rice is served with beans. Common combinations include the following:

Ugali na Maharage (Beans), Mboga (Vegetables), Nyama (Meat), Mchuzi (Sauce)
Wali na Maharage (Beans), Mboga (Vegetables), Nyama (Meat), Mchuzi (Sauce)
Tambi na Mchuzi
Chapati na Maharage (Beans), Mchuzi (Sauce)

Common street food

Chipsi (Mayai)
Chapati

Common baked foods

Mandazi
Vitumbua

Common ingredients

Many foods are made of the following basic ingredients:

Rice
Beans
Flour (Wheat, Maize, Rice)
Bananas
Potatoes
Onions
Tomatoes
Cabbage
Carrots
Okra

The rich availability of locally growing fruits often serves as a delicious dessert on its own or more recently blended into a fresh juice:

Mango
Papaya
Bananas (a lot of very different types)
Pineapple
Jackfruit
Passionfruit
Avocado

The spicing is rather simple and mostly involves salt and/or garlic.

Tribal cuisines

There is a great variety in foods prepared and eaten by different cultures/tribes.

Maasai

Maasai are a per-se nomadic tribe of which many live in the area of Tanzania. Their kitchen is very basic and focusses on the meat of the animals which they farm and live with; mostly cows, goats and sheep. Their actual food depends strongly on the season, which determines how well the animals are fed. In the dry season, in which it is hard for the animals to find food, the Maasai turn to vegetables and crops.

Chaga

Most of the Chaga live in the Kilimanjaro Area, close to or on the foot of the Mount Kilimanjaro. Their kitchen is strongly influenced by the great varieties of bananas that grow in that area, beans and roots.