Traditional Foods, Fruits and Drinks

Foods are mostly fresh simple and wholesome. Green boiled bananas have been the staple food for a long time although now some other foods of Tanzanians have also gained popularity. The boiled bananas are cooked with fresh fish, smoked fish, fresh meat or smoked meat. Sometimes seasonal mushrooms are on offer. A wide variety of beans or ground nuts (peanuts) are a must accompaniment to any meal. Tomatoes and green vegetables such as a variant of spinach, green beans sprouts and bean leaves, pumpkin leaves, cassava leaves and leaves of some yam plants are normally steamed by placing on top of the boiling bananas. Green banana leaves are used as a lid wrapped to cover the top of boiling bananas. These leaves issue an aroma that replaces salt or oil and as such these are not used in the cooking but are optional additions as per individual’s taste. Meat kebabs (mshikaki) is a favorite accompaniment especially with alcoholic beverages as soup made of tripe or even blood of the slaughtered animal. Cow and goat hooves may as well be treated through various processes to make a delicious gelatinous soup. Ripe roasted, boiled or fried bananas are common. Chicken is not a traditional meat as such but there are plenty free range chickens though they are notorious for killing sprouting banana plants and even the bean crops around the homestead.

Other sources of starch are maize and the most popular is roasted on the cob though it is also boiled, ground into flour for “ugali” and dry maize is also boiled until soft then mixed with beans and folded into freshly ground groundnut sauce. Palm oil is sometimes used in preparation of foods. In addition there are cassava, yams, sweet potatoes and very occasionally rice. At breakfast you may get millet porridge which is considered a delicacy. Freshly ground coffee or tea is served with boiled or roasted root plants, fat cakes or rice flour cakes. Traditional families keep very small numbers of cows which is sometimes a source of milk though the main purpose for keeping cows is production of manure on the banana plantations. Sour milk is served boiled with a little salt as an accompaniment to main meals. The milk may be mixed with uripe fruits of a an edible solanum plant (similar to a small white egg plant). Foods that have been prepared in separate cooking pots and soups are served in different bowls for each individual while the main meal such as bananas are traditionally served on a communal place on layers of well arranged banana leaves that are placed on a mat of grass. The whole family then sits on the floor around the banana leaves to eat in a combination of communal and separate serving utensils. A spice rarely used but which is sometimes grown in the banana plantations is turmeric.

From the Moslem community a variety of delicious meals are made especially during the fasting month of Ramadhan. These include “chapatti” a form of flat fried wheat flour item, and a variety of curries and sauces. On the sweets side there are “Kashatas” and other varieties.

Fruits grow with full vigor in this region and they include bananas of course (special small bananas are very sweet and considered the edible ripe bananas, other types of bananas are thrown away when they go ripe!), mangoes, passion fruit, pineapples, avocado, oranges, pawpaw, strawberries, ntuntunwa, amashasha, ensharazi ( the last three are in their Haya names) and many more.

Beverages are made from the variety of fruits but mainly from a special beverage making banana from which both soft drinks “Omulamba” and popular alcoholic ones “Olubisi” are made. A variety of fermentation stages and amounts of brewing ingredients give the olubisi all sorts of tastes including tastes similar to liquor, sherry, wine or lager. Distilling makes an interesting spirit known as “nkonyagi” name derived from “cognac”. Traditional tools for the making and serving of banana beverages are a whole interesting ritual that is very absorbing and makes interesting exploration. Other beverages are coffee and tea of course. Tea is often spiced with ginger, lemon grass, cardamon and vanilla.

Pass time snacks include the most popular chewing coffee which is boiled in herbs to give it some aroma and required taste and then dried. The greatest delicacy of all is the fried or smoked soft, seasonal grass hoppers “ensenene” and a number of people like the flying termites that are caught dewinged and fried in their own fat. Others include pan roasted groundnuts (peanuts) or jugonuts (enshoro) that may also be boiled and served in their covers especially when newly harvested. One may be served with diced sugar cane, roasted pumpkin seeds “ebiaija”, pop corn and even roasted sorghum that is filtered from fremented banana beer it comes as juicy and chewy “enkanja”.