Swahili Food

Above, oranges for sale in a Zanzibari market. 

Swahili cuisine has Indian, African, and Middle Eastern influences. Rice is a staple food, and is often cooked with coconut milk and served with tomato-based stews of chicken or goat, fish, beans, or local vegetables (like eggplant, okra, and spinach). Local fruits like mangoes, bananas, oranges, coconuts, and pineapples are also eaten at meals. Swahili food is characterized by its spices, such as cloves, cardamom, and hot pepper. The Swahili people enjoy drinking a sweet tea flavored with some of these spices (similar to chai). In fact, Zanzibar and the nearby island of Pemba are known as the “spice islands.”

You can read more about Swahili food traditions here and about Tanzanian food here.

Above, freshly picked cloves from a Zanzibari spice farm.  

Examine this Swahili recipe for fish curry.

1. Which ingredients come from Zanzibar? Which come from India/Southeast Asia? 

Above, a man on the east coast of Tanzania carries fish home at the end of the day.

2. Think about the location of Zanzibar and the Swahili coast. Why is fish such a large part of the Swahili diet?