The Maasai people are known for their customs, but far less so for their gastronomy and traditional dishes! From ugali to supu ya ndizi to the kachumbari salad or rice bread mkate wa mumi mina: here's what you eat during a stay with the Maasai!

Meeting the Maasai in Tanzania

The Maasai form a semi-nomadic people of East Africa. To meet them in Tanzanie? Head north! You'll have the chance to encounter them in the Arusha region – particularly around the national park and the Nainokanoka district – as well as around Dodoma (Tanzania's capital).

The Maasai people are renowned for their traditional culture, passed down from generation to generation. Among their ancestral rites? Dance and song, which mark the major stages of an individual's life (such as the passage to adulthood, warrior status, and so on).

Discovering Maasai cuisine

Originally, Maasai cuisine consisted of bush meat—that is, wild animals such as antelope, impala, or wildebeest. But today, traditional dishes are largely based on beef and chicken.

Bovine blood is also a typical product. However, it is increasingly less used due to the reduction in livestock numbers among this herding people. Lastly, Maasai cuisine also includes dairy products, plants, corn, and rice.

Maasai gastronomy: traditional dishes

Ugali
   

During your encounter with the Maasai, you'll discover one of the best-known traditional dishes of Tanzanian gastronomy: the famous ugali. It's a sort of porridge made with cornmeal and cassava flour, often served as an accompaniment to a meat dish. Ugali can also be eaten as a main course. In that case, it's usually served with vegetables, particularly cabbage (sautéed with onions and tomatoes).

Grilled meat nyama choma
   

Highly popular in Tanzanie and among the Maasai, nyama choma is a specialty of "grilled meat" (hence its name). Often made with goat meat, the recipe can also be based on beef or lamb.

Before cooking, the meat is marinated for about thirty minutes in a preparation made with garlic, lemon, oil, and black pepper. Once well coated, the meat is grilled over a wood fire. For perfect cooking, nyama choma is turned regularly. It is then served with grilled vegetables or cassava purée.

Kachumbari salad
   

Are you vegetarian? Don't worry, Maasai cuisine includes a flavorful salad! Named kachumbari, this vegetable dish is made with small diced tomatoes, lime juice, onion, cilantro, one or two chilies, and mursik (fermented cow's milk). Once all these ingredients are mixed together, you get a traditional recipe, much appreciated by the local population.

Rice bread mkate wa mumi mina

Mkate wa mufindi is a traditional bread very common in Tanzanian cuisine. Its dough is made with rice and wheat flour, eggs, salt, and sugar. After approximately ten minutes of cooking, it rests for thirty minutes before being flattened into small round, smooth patties – then browned in a pan.

Banana soup supu ya ndizi
   

Produced in abundance in East Africa, the banana is a fruit very present in Tanzanian cuisine, both as a dish and as a condiment. It is also featured in a banana soup enhanced with curry, carrots, peppers, curry, and coconut milk.

Named supu ya ndizi, this sweet-savory recipe – cooked with boiled bananas – is generally served with grilled meat or pilaf (a spiced rice dish, cooked in a vegetable broth).

Beers of the Maasai people
   

While Tanzanie is renowned for its mbégé beer (made from banana), the Maasai people prefer beers obtained from sorghum, honey, or fermented grains. These can be flavored with local plants and are typically served during ceremonies or religious rituals.