Vegan in Tanzania

DSM, February 2007

So, this just might be the post you've all been waiting for. What in the !@#$%^ world is Peter eating anyway?! (Did I tell you my Kiswahili name is Rahimu? means "compassionate." Until this second--I swear--I did not connect my chosen name with my chosen diet but, well, sure seems to fit, 'least to me...)

Short version: I'm most happy to report that the food I'm eating is just swell, great even! I've mentioned more than once that there is fresh fruit and vegetables o'plenty in these parts, which just happen to be tropical. Mango, banana, papaya, pineapple all are widely available in both solid and liquid form; mmmmm, papaya juice! The common veges include tomatoes, cabbages, something in the spinach family, hot peppers (likely scotch bonnet, in swahili, "pili pili"), onions, garlic, ginger, carrots, cukes, coconut milk, peas, green beans, and so on and so on.

As Heather had reported to me, there is a place that sells fresh-made tofu (in da bucket) for a price cheaper than stateside. We've even found soymilk in both vanilla and chocolate (alas, not Silk--which "IS soy," you know).

We haven't eaten out that much but here's what I generally am able to order: rice (wali), pilau (fried rice), ugali (maize, think polenta or grits), beans (kinda like pinto), a bit of cabbage or greens (which one of our Tanzanian friends refers to as "grass"), chapati (delish Indian flat bread that all East Africans dig), sometimes pasta.

We oft eat out for lunch at one of the five or so joints on campus; my new fave is the student cafeteria where you can stuff yourself for about 38 cents and still not finish what's on your plate. There are Indian restaurants around but, shockingly, I've only been to one once. We also went to an Ethiopian joint (Addis in Dar, cute name) a while back.

Oh, the tres-wise editors at Herbivore magazine (vegan culture at its finest) have agreed to my idea to write an article on my food experiences while over here; Heather shall co-author said piece. Generally, though quite kind to H. and me, Tanzanians have a very hard time comprehending vegetarianism, let alone veganim. Yet. We have found, and befriended, one Tanzanian vegetarian: Solomon, who is a music major at the univ. and something of a Rasta, which is not uncommon 'round here.

All this food talk would be getting me hungry if we hadn't gorged earlier. I sauteed some tofu with garlic, slapped it on some bread w/ greens and tomatoes and garnished it with some homemade baba ganoush, made with local eggplant. Yum!

NB: I later wrote an article on being vegan in TZ for the awesome indie vegan mag, Herbivore.