Pizza, Chinese, Sizzling steak ….yes we have eaten these in Mbeya. Even a cappuccino! But these are the exception rather than the rule. We have also had cooked green banana stew I guess you could call it, from one of the market ‘restaurants’and delivered to the college. And at the local market ‘food hall’ we have eaten chippsies and tomato, and chipati – like pancake - and chai, and mandasi, (I’m sure I’ve spelt that wrong!) – like donut. 
We have shared the hospitality of teachers and their families in their homes. Much of the cooking has been done on charcoal burners. Rice, boiled potatoes, vegetables such as peas, beans, pumpkin leaves and finely ground nuts, or tomato and onion salad and also some meat like chicken, goat or beef or a meat stew, have been prepared for us and we have been very appreciative of this. Depending on the area you originate from in Tanzania you may prefer rice, Ogali – made from maize flour, or cooked green bananas as the staple food. Rice is easily available in Mbeya and has been offered at every home we have visited. The meal has usually finished with fruit. At the moment bananas seem to be abundant.
Tanzanians don’t seem to snack on food as we Aussies do. They do have their takeaways here but they are not McDonalds or KFC. The many roadside cooks who ‘BBQ’ bananas or maize, or cook hot chips (chippsies) and perhaps combine them in a frypan with a beaten egg to make chippsies mayo, or the children or women who sit by the road selling Mandasi or other yeast based fried breads, these provide an abundance of takeaways. You can also buy small packets of shelled raw peanuts, sometimes popcorn or other local snacks from the young men trying to make a little money to keep them going.
A trip to the market exposes you to this and much more.
We have shared the hospitality of teachers and their families in their homes. Much of the cooking has been done on charcoal burners. Rice, boiled potatoes, vegetables such as peas, beans, pumpkin leaves and finely ground nuts, or tomato and onion salad and also some meat like chicken, goat or beef or a meat stew, have been prepared for us and we have been very appreciative of this. Depending on the area you originate from in Tanzania you may prefer rice, Ogali – made from maize flour, or cooked green bananas as the staple food. Rice is easily available in Mbeya and has been offered at every home we have visited. The meal has usually finished with fruit. At the moment bananas seem to be abundant.
Tanzanians don’t seem to snack on food as we Aussies do. They do have their takeaways here but they are not McDonalds or KFC. The many roadside cooks who ‘BBQ’ bananas or maize, or cook hot chips (chippsies) and perhaps combine them in a frypan with a beaten egg to make chippsies mayo, or the children or women who sit by the road selling Mandasi or other yeast based fried breads, these provide an abundance of takeaways. You can also buy small packets of shelled raw peanuts, sometimes popcorn or other local snacks from the young men trying to make a little money to keep them going.
A trip to the market exposes you to this and much more.
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