Get To Know The Foods And Drinks While On A Tanzanian Safari : Tanzania is an incredibly spectacular destination where you can spend time enjoying yourself or with your friends whenever you have a vacation. You have hundreds of spots waiting for you in this fabulous country, all of which are incredibly beautiful. On your trip through these wonderful destinations, you will actually need something to warm your stomach up and give you energy to hike through challenging peaks like Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru. If you need something for a breakfast, lunch or dinner, don’t worry you are in the right place. Tanzanians cook delicious foods and prepare flavored drinks for you while on a safari. You can order these sweet cuisines on your hotel or you can stop on a local “mgahawa” (a Swahili word for café), and eat such locally-made foods. In Tanzania, you will taste delicious cuisines with recipes from all over the world.
Tanzanians, especially mainland residents are well-known for their unique dish called ugali, which is a stiff porridge usually made of corn flour cooked with water until it becomes thick and smooth. Ugali is sometimes cooked from cassava and sorghum or millet flour and sometimes it can be made from a mixture of maize, cassava and millet flour, and you know what; this one is extra delicious.
Ugali is usually supplemented with various stews such as meat, spinach, dagaa and fish and may sometimes be associated with salads like kachumbari that is made of sliced tomatoes, onions and chili peppers. Apart from ugali, Tanzania is known for various delicious cuisines, the must-taste dishes including:
Wali
This is dish made of cooked rice. The dish is cooked in different ways including normal rice, pilau and biriani. Pilau is a rice dish usually brown in color that is made by cooking rice with a mixture of medley spices such as cumin, cloves, cardamom and cinnamon and may be mixed with meat and Irish potatoes. The dish of pilau is always served with beans, njegere (peas) and other grains to make it taste better.
Nyamachoma
This is a cuisine of grilled meat that is usually sold in the streets and in the hotels. Tanzanians sometimes called mishikaki, and is usually made from beef, goat or chicken. It tastes well when mixed with some spices or when eaten with chipsi mayai.
Chipsi Mayai
When on a walk around Tanzanian streets you will likely to see some vendors selling hot chipsi mayai. It consist of deep fried Irish potato chips mixed with eggs (mayai). Chipsi mayai is a delicious dish and it can flavored with carbonated soft drinks, chili sauce and tomato sauce.
Chapatti
This is a flatbread that resemble the Indian chapattis. Tanzanians like to use it as a breakfast bite together with tea. They are usually made from wheat flour, mixed with oil and salt, and may sometimes cooked with eggs which makes them so delicious.
Tribal cuisines
Apart from famous dishes that are available in the streets and hotels, there are sweet cuisines that may need to taste while on a Tanzanian safari. They are mainly prepared by various tribes in Tanzania.
Ndizi Kaanga (fried banana) is another common food that is commonly consumed by Wahaya, who reside the Kagera region, wachaga and some of Wanyakyusa. This dish can be supplemented with meat to make the so called ndizi nyama.
The Maasai and the Hadzabe use meat and milk products, while Nyaturu eat the ugali made from ‘mtama’ (millet). The Maasai are good at roasting meat and funny enough these communities never consumes meat from the wild. They just trust meat from their livestock.
The Nyakyusa are the major consumers of rice. Cooking of Nyakyusa community is so interesting, especially with the unique taste of their rice meal called ‘wali’ (cooked rice), the most preferred food in this region.
The Ha tribe are famous for the consumption of delicious fish called ‘migebuka’ (a Swahili word for fish found in Lake Tanganyika) while the Sukuma especially those living in Mwanza are consumers of sato and sangala, (kinds of freshwater fish found in Lake Victoria).
Drinks in Tanzania
Tanzania is home to best-selling brands of soft drinks, juices and alcoholic drinks. Brands such as Serengeti, Castle Lager, Safari and Balimi are exceptional when drunk. Raw juices of fruits such as avocado, bananas and grapes are also available. The biggest brands like Azam, Jambo and METL provides you with energy drinks to keep you up during your night game drive. A locally made alcohol called mbege which is an icon of the Chagga may be a fantastic drink for you. Tea and coffee cups are also always offered in numerous points across Tanzanian streets.
As a matter of fact, you have a lot to learn about Tanzanian foods and drinks. Taking a Tanzania trip to this splendid destination would be a shortcut for having all the guts to tell about delicious cuisines of Tanzania.
