country Essentials · 12 foods
Tanzania Essentials
A considered first route through Tanzania: the foods that carry its everyday habits, celebrations, ingredients, and memory.
Explore all Tanzania foods →THE
ESSENTIALS
The complete shortlist
12 foods to know.
Each selection includes the reason it belongs here—so this is a guide, not just a pile of names.
Zanzibar City, Tanzania
Urojo
Mango-tamarind soup piled with fritters, crisps and egg at Zanzibar's Forodhani market.
Kenya
Nyama Choma
Goat chosen by weight, grilled slowly over charcoal and chopped with salt and chili.
Zanzibar City, Tanzania
Zanzibar Pizza
Thin dough folded around meat, egg and cheese, fried on Zanzibar griddles.
Kenya
Coconut Rice
Wali wa nazi
Rice cooked in fresh coconut milk, the Swahili coast's fragrant default accompaniment.
Tanzania
Chipsi Mayai
French fries bound with beaten egg in the pan for Tanzania's street supper.
Kenya
Samaki wa Kupaka
Whole fish grilled and repeatedly brushed with spiced coconut sauce until glazed.
Kenya
Mishkaki
Papaya-tenderised beef skewers grilled and sold by the stick at Tanzanian evening stalls.
Zanzibar City, Tanzania
Zanzibar Cloves
Karafuu
Hand-picked cloves dried on Pemba and Unguja, the islands' signature spice crop.
Arusha, Tanzania
Ndizi na Nyama
Green bananas stewed with beef into a thick Kilimanjaro household dish.
Arusha, Tanzania
Mbege
Cloudy Chagga banana-and-millet beer shared from a calabash on Kilimanjaro.
Tanzania
Kahawa
Ginger coffee poured from a brass pot by Tanzanian street vendors.
Tanzania
Kashata
Coconut or peanut set in cardamom sugar and cut into diamonds at bus stands.