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[kitkatgo]

I just watched Andrew Zimmern in Tanzania and he ate some pretty bizarre things...which is what he does of course.

But as a "normal" tourist, what does one eat?

[starlagurl]

I heard bananas. Lots and lots of bananas.

[kitkatgo]

Yeah, I could see that!

OK, so what else?

[travelmonster]

When I was there recently we talked a lot with our safari guide and he said that the staple there was maize or millet and that would be the basis of the meal. He said that the most popular meats were beef and goat.

[kitkatgo]

But is that what YOU ate?

[raniroo]

I was on an overland safari so we would cook normal food that we would have at home....bush camps were usually potatos, snags and baked beans (easy food) and then when we were camping in campsites, we would have BBQ's, pasta, rice, vegies, maize, casserole type dishes.....I didn't really get to eat anything real "local".....

During the day, we would stop for lunch and make sandwiches, however in the villages and towns people would sell us all sorts of foods, fruits, samosas, shish kebabs....

We came across supermarkets that were well stocked with products that we can relate to.

[ScottWoz]

I ate goat and emu and a weird melee of vegetables. Fantastic of course. Enjoy

[travelmonster]

But is that what YOU ate?

In truth I am not totally sure what I ate - for example, we ate swahili stew, I don't know what the meat in it was, I assumed it to be goat or beef.

We also ate some wonderful curries - meat based and vegetable based, but again what the meat was I don't know for sure. Actually one night it was chicken, I knew that!!

Oh and red bananas - they were delicious!!

Lots of soups too - vegetable ones.

[kitkatgo]

Wow guys, really interesting stuff!

What is a French fries omelette? That actually sounds yummy!

[benefactours]

In Moshi, go to Indoitaliano. It has both scrumptious Indian and Italian, and I could eat there every night.

Cynthia
www.benefactours.com

[kili-kelly]

The diet here is pretty healthy. Lots of fresh veggies and fruits. All natural. Lots of rice and uagali (polenta) with meat or vegetables with it. The food tends to be a bit bland, not very spicy at all. The most common meat is goat and chicken. Not too much beef due to cost and pork is very rarely found (Islamic influence). I am a vegetarian and have been able to get by the past 2 years here ok, but if I am in rural areas (especially Chagga areas) sometimes I have to visit a few places before I can find a vegetarian option. If I was a vegan, I don't think it would be possible anywhere in the country. If you are in cities, you can find a good variety of restaurants. Indian food is especially common. Feel free to contact me for any more details. If you know what city you will be staying in, I can guide you to some good restaurants.

[kitkatgo]

Thanks for the info! Very interesting!

[nandyk]

Moshi and Arusha have a lot of restaurants.. you will get pretty much anything.. pizza, local food, sandwiches.. we ate at Moshi @ indo italiono restaurant.. after being parched for 7days on the mountain, craved for some spicy food.. but good food.

[marrakeshtocape]

Hey.
The main food eaten by locals is ugali (maize flour stirred into boiling water til stiff) with things like meat sauce, fish (on the bone and best to use your fingers), beans, or just soup. Rice is also a staple food('wali' on the Tanzanian menus), eaten with similar things. Mandazis are small doughnut-type things, just not as sweet, while they also have very sweet chapatis - both served in cafes at all times of day with sweet tea (chai), and can get quite addictive! You can find plenty of Western food too - fries, omelettes, burgers, and you'll sometimes see little barbecues with meat kebab things cooking outside, but if you eat in the smaller cafes, or more out of the way places, then most of the menus (though sometimes these are verbal) comprise of ugali and rice dishes. Bananas over there are so much sweeter too!