What to eat and drink in Tanzania
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Loading... - Gloria Dotto
- 01 Feb 2023
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Tanzania’s Swahili Coast has been a hub of seafaring trade since medieval times. Its cosmopolitan culinary tradition reflects a network of maritime links that once stretched across the Indian Ocean to Arabia, Asia and, more recently, Europe.
Fresh seafood, curries and biryanis dominate the Zanzibar Archipelago, where scents of coriander, coconut and cloves drift through timeworn alleys to evoke a time when the legendary Spice Island was a focal point of seafaring trade. Further inland, foods to try include sizzling streetside barbecues, filling donut-like mandazis and some exceptional Indian restaurants. Here's what to eat and drink in Tanzania.
Sample seafood fresh from the Indian Ocean
Tanzania is a seafood lover's paradise. The country incorporates 800km of mainland Indian Ocean frontage along with a generous scattering of offshore islands. As a result, coastal cities such as Dar es Salaam, Tanga and Zanzibar are great places to feast on prawns, lobsters, calamari and meaty fish such as red snapper and yellowtail tuna. Inland, charcoal-grilled whole tilapia – a freshwater fish associated with the Rift Valley lakes – is something of a specialty.
Where to try it: For informal outdoor eating in Zanzibar Stone Town, you can’t beat the oceanfront Forodhani Gardens, where a couple of dozen small stalls specialize in freshly barbecued seafood. A relaxed favorite in Dar es Salaam is Samaki Samaki – which literally, and aptly, translates as Fish Fish!
Celebrate the pan-cultural roots of Swahili cuisine
The cuisine associated with the Swahili people of the East African coast fuses Arabic, Indian, Malay and Portuguese influences into a unique whole distinguished by the liberal use of coconut products and homegrown spices such as cloves, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, chili and pepper.
Tangy Swahili curries are usually eaten with creamy wali wa nazi (rice cooked in coconut milk). Other trademark dishes include fragrant rice-based pilau, samaki wa kupaka (grilled fish with coconut sauce), and a spicy soup called urojo. Other Swahili foods to try in Tanzania include vitambua (small pancake-like rice cakes), mkate wa kumimina (a cake-like bread made from a similar batter) and mandazis (which resemble triangular doughnuts).
Where to try it: Zanzibar is the best place for Swahili cuisine. A longstanding favorite for those on a generous budget is a lingering evening at Emerson Spice, where you’ll enjoy a Swahili seafood set menu on one of the historic Stone Town’s tallest rooftops. Other reliable favorites are the House of Spices and Beyt al Salaam.
