The national cuisine of Tanzania attracts visitors with its variety of dishes, traditional for the East African countries. In Tanzanian cuisine, there is a combination of vegetable products with products derived from the wild world. It should be noted that the culinary preferences of the inhabitants of the coast were influenced by the cuisine of European countries (for example, Great Britain, Turkey), and on the island of Zanzibar you can see a combination of culinary traditions of Africans, Arabs and Persians. Recipes of the cuisine of Tanzania are fairly simple to prepare and look very appetizing.
Meat and fish dishes
In Tanzania, you will be offered to try many exotic types of meat, for example, buffalo from buffalo meat, ostrich roast, antelope fillets, elephant and crocodile stew, fried termites and locusts. Pork and beef meat in Tanzania are less common, as these varieties are considered expensive. In comparison with them, Tanzanians prefer goat meat. It is much cheaper, and goat meals are among the most important dishes of Tanzanian cuisine. To common meat dishes in Tanzania, also include baked in the test game, veal with vegetables and grilled sausages from various types of meat.
For those who prefer poultry dishes, there is almost always a traditional dish called "nyama-kuku" on the menu, it's a fried chicken. Often in restaurants you can meet stewed in coconut milk duck (a dish called "duckling-dar es salaam") and chicken soup with green peas.
Dishes from seafood and fish are baked in banana leaves or fried fish, octopus stew, shrimps with lemon, lobsters, oysters, seashells. They are almost always accompanied by a salad of seaweed, as well as fresh fruits and vegetables to choose from.
The garnish for meat and poultry dishes is a thick porridge that has died out, which is prepared from various grain crops. It can be served on the table in a crumbly form, or in the form of small fried balls. In addition, as a side dish in the kitchen of Tanzania, corn, rice, beans and various roots, salted cabbage and fried potatoes are used.
In Tanzania , unsweetened bananas grow, which form the basis of everyday dishes. These bananas are somewhat like potatoes, and very often they are used as a garnish. Among the ways of cooking bananas are frying, stewing, languishing and baking in the oven along with meat and peanuts. Pay attention to the very popular dish in Tanzania - stew with bananas, it is called "nyama-na-ndizi".
| | |
| | |
Drinks, desserts and sauces
The influence of Indian culinary traditions can be explained by the wide spread of sauces and spices in Tanzania, for example, curry. For lunch and dinner, cereal cakes, bread "naan" or "chapati", pancakes "samosa" are also served. Bread "chapati" can be served and for sweet, for this it is folded and abundantly smeared with honey or jam.
Honey has been widely recognized in Tanzanian cuisine, it is the basis for the preparation of various kinds of sweets. From desserts you should pay attention to "maandazi" and cakes with a custard of bananas, as well as fruit ice cream, almond-coffee dessert halo, donuts.
Among the drinks presented in the menu, there are traditional tea and coffee, juices with ice. Tea is served according to the British tradition, with milk and sugar, and the offered coffee is always of excellent quality, as Tanzania is one of the leading countries in the export of coffee and tea.
Separately it is necessary to note alcoholic drinks. Here they are produced a large number. Very popular is local beer, it is inexpensive and very tasty. Try the brands Safari, Kilimanjaro, Serengeti. Of the other alcoholic beverages, local vodka "konyagi", produced from papaya, "Afriksko" and "Amarula" liqueurs, as well as "Dodoma" wine, is in greatest demand. Please note that in Tanzania in any hotel and store you can buy imported alcoholic beverages, despite the strong influence of Islamic traditions.
From non-alcoholic drinks, we recommend you try Krest tonic. Water is recommended to drink only bottled from the supermarket, any other must be boiled or disinfected in other ways.
| | |
| | |
A few words about traditions in Tanzania
- In order not to get confused when making an order at a local restaurant, you do not need to know Swahili. Just remember that the names of all meat dishes start with the word "nyama", for example, already mentioned in the article "nyama-na-ndisi" and "nyama-kuku", which means stew with bananas and fried chicken, respectively, but the name "Nyama-nkombe" means fried beef.
- Tanzanians eat with their hands, folding the three fingers of their left hand. However, in restaurants, visitors are always served with appliances.
- On the table, usually there are young shoots of cloves, which helps not only to refresh the mouth before eating, but also improves the ability to reveal the taste of each dish.
- In restaurants and cafes in Tanzania, a quiet and peaceful environment, a friendly attitude to customers and slow fulfillment of orders. The last fact needs to be considered if you want a quick snack. In this case, you should refuse to visit the restaurant and buy food in the supermarket or in the market.
Where to eat in Tanzania?
In order to satisfy hunger, you can visit restaurants at hotels and shopping centers in the cities of Tanzania. In them, as a rule, a wide assortment of local dishes and traditional dishes, including European cuisine, is presented. There are also cafes, fish restaurants and places for vegetarians in Tanzania.
The gastronomic tour already widely recognized by tourists in Tanzania will allow you to visit the island of Zanzibar , visit the local market, buy everything necessary for cooking exotic dishes on it, and then participate in the creation of culinary masterpieces. You will learn how to cook, for example, rice with raisins and spices, as well as a dish of beef liver, tongue and heart, called sorpotel.
| | |
| | |
