Today’s post is a continuation of yesterday’s description of Tanzanian Cuisine. Click here to read yesterday’s post!

A staple of the Tanzanian diet, ugali is made simply by combining corn or cassava flour with water over high heat until it develops into a blob of thick semi-dough. It is usually eaten with meat or vegetables in sauce as a scooping/dipping type vessel.

At first we were uncertain how to eat this local delight but a quick lesson from Mahko, showed us what’s what. For your viewing pleasure I present to you, how to eat ugali.

Here it is in all its glory: Ugali!

Step 1: Grab a piece and roll it into a ball. Be careful! Ugali comes out of the pot piping hot and retains heat like a beat-up Chevy Nova with windows that don’t roll down

Step 2: Press a trench into the middle of the ball with your thumb effectively fashioning yourself a spoon.

Ta da!

 Step 3: Acquire your culinary target and swoop in for the kill.

Next level food maneuver

Step 4: Enjoy! You just mastered ugali.

Discovering the many wonders of the food world has been one of the highlights of my stay here in Tanzania.  I can effectively cross several foods off of my bucket list including goat, antelope, hartebeest, tripe, papaya, jackfruit, passionfruit, cassava and okra. Without a doubt it has amplified my experience of this great country and I will miss much of it when I return home.

-Julie Mather, Youth Ambassador, Tanzania 2011

Julie has recently completed an 8-week volunteer placement with YCI in Morogoro, Tanzania working with a team of three members on a variety of youth development initiatives.

For more volunteer blogs, check out our Travel Diary category!

Advertisement