Food, Tanzania style

Today, Phil, Alison and I had lunch at a local place where I had 'mix wali' which means 'rice mix'. The rice was served with beans, a small bit of meat (probably beef or something similar), stewed cabbage and some sort of soup/vegetable broth.

Other memorable lunches: at Amani, I've had rice or ugali (some sort of basic starch, maybe corn meal based-- piled like mashed potatoes but with a consistancy not unlike that of unleavened bread) with chopped spinach and meat. I should mention that the spinach isn't really like our spinach in the US, and the meat served isn't USDA prime. I avoided eating the intestine, but the actual meat was fine if you ate around the fatty parts and the bone. I've also had rice and beans, again with the suspicious meat. We also had a tastier rice/meat dish at Amani on the first Sunday I was here. It was a special meal apparently. The kids love it all, demonstrated by their eagerness to eat whatever I (and the other staff) have left on the plate.

Better, but still somewhat traditional meals have included the lunch today, rice and beans, and spaghetti with sliced carrots, a small amount of garlic and onion, and tomatoes (no sauce). Those were all made in house though, not for the kids at Amani or at a restaurant. I'll explain what that means a bit more in a post at a later time.

I haven't taken any photos of the food because I haven't thought it would be appropriate, especially not at Amani.

On another food note, tonight, we are going to have dinner at El Rancho, Phil's favorite restaurant in town. Despite the name, El Rancho is an Indian food restaurant. Apparently, the owner of the restaurant had lined up a mexican food chef and applied for all of the necessary government permits, etc. but then at the last minute, the chef couldn't come for some reason. However, there was an Indian chef available. Thus, "El Rancho: Indian Restaurant" was born. They recently added some Chinese food and pizza to their menu apparently.

Moshi also has a tasty Chinese place called "Panda Chinese" (with some delicious spring rolls) and I've already mentioned that there are a few pizza/Italian style outlets in town and other Indian restaurants. A handful of places serve food that is fairly close to American staples like ham and cheese sandwiches and burgers (but the ketchup here is different--it has a different consistency and taste). Plenty of local food restaurants as well of course. Still no mexican food though, so there's an opportunity to break into a market here!