Zanzibar's daily food habits carry the island's history in them — Arab, Indian, Persian and mainland African influence, all still on the breakfast table. Here's what a typical day of eating looks like on the island, alongside our own kitchen's take on some of the same dishes.
Breakfast the Swahili Way
The day for many Zanzibaris begins with Ugali — a firm, dense block made from cornmeal simmered in boiling water, usually eaten with coconut sauce or fish soup, and just as often the go-to lunch too, paired with fried fish or beans in coconut sauce (Ugali na Maharagwe). Our head chef Saleh's own recipe for it, with exact measurements, is in our culinary delights guide.
Many Zanzibaris eat with the right hand, washing before and after the meal — a practice that goes beyond hygiene, since eating this way is also how you're taught to judge a dish's texture as you eat it.
Cassava, Tea and the Rest of the Table
Cassava with coconut sauce is another common Swahili breakfast option — peeled, cooked, then fried or boiled, with a sauce made from coconut milk, garlic, ginger and a little chili. On the coast it's often served with freshly caught fish, and it turns up at lunch and dinner too. The usual breakfast drink is black tea with milk, sugar and a blend of spices.
Round out the breakfast table with:
- Chapati — an unleavened flatbread of flour, water and salt, cooked on a hot griddle, eaten alone or with almost anything else on the table.
- Maharagwe — baked beans simmered in coconut milk, a hearty savoury start to the day.
- Mandazi — fried bread made from flour, sugar, yeast and coconut milk, deep-fried until golden and crisp.
- Vitumbua — coconut rice pancakes, cooked in a small round mould, sold as a street snack as often as a breakfast dish.
Street Food and Everyday Main Courses
Locals eat out often, at stalls and small restaurants along the main roads — and the tropics have one rule worth following as a visitor too: peel it, cook it, or forget it.
Urojo, also known as Zanzibar Mix, is the island's best-known street food: a tangy potato soup loaded with toppings, cheap enough and simple enough that it's a genuine everyday dish for local families, not just a tourist plate.
Chips Mayai is Tanzania's answer to street food everywhere — chips and eggs cooked together into an omelette, usually with salad and sometimes squid on the side.
Mishkaki is grilled, skewered meat, marinated and cooked over charcoal at roadside stalls — simple and reliably good.
Rice Dishes With a Long History
Pilau and Biryani both trace Zanzibar's trading history back through the spice trade: Pilau is rice cooked with cinnamon, cardamom and cloves and usually chicken or beef; Biryani, by way of Indian cuisine on the island, layers basmati rice, spices, meat or vegetables, caramelised onions and boiled egg.
That's the everyday version of Zanzibari food — the version cooked at home and sold from carts, not just the one on a restaurant menu. Try the street food if you get the chance, and order the same dishes at Zatiny if you'd rather have them cooked for you.
Karibu! (Welcome!)