Tanzania
Mainland ugali and grilled meat, then Zanzibar's clove-scented pilau and coconut curries — a spice-island coast on a safari nation.
As the sun drops over Zanzibar's Forodhani gardens, the night market fires up: skewers of mishkaki over coals, folded Zanzibar pizza crisping on griddles, bowls of tangy urojo soup loaded with fritters and chutney. This is the spice-island end of Tanzanian food, where a thousand years of Arab, Indian and Persian trade left clove-scented pilau, layered biryani and coconut curries — the islands don't call themselves the Spice Islands for nothing.
On the mainland the table is simpler and just as satisfying: ugali, the stiff maize staple, eaten by hand with nyama choma grilled meat and a fresh kachumbari, or the beloved street hack chipsi mayai, chips folded into an omelette and doused in chilli. Fresh mandazi doughnuts start the day with sweet milky chai. Drink a cold Kilimanjaro lager, or up on the mountain's slopes the Chagga banana brew, mbege.
- Ugali (stiff maize staple)
- Nyama choma (grilled meat)
- Pilau (spiced rice)
- Biryani
- Urojo (Zanzibar mix soup)
- Zanzibar pizza
- Chipsi mayai (chip omelette)
