A birthday party and Tanzanian food in London...

Tanzanians, overseas.

How do we meet each other?

 As has been said over decades now, we are not owners of pubs, hotels, cultural centres. For example, if you were to come to London next week and ask me to take you somewhere to eat Mapochopocho ya Kibongo, it would be hmm! Not easy! We might take you to an area called Barking in East London. Here we have a large number of Tanzanians, including a mosque. Here, you might have Urojo, that famous Zanzibari food. But it is not officially, formally, officially, a Tanzanian restaurant. It’s like a mini – eating den, where aspiring Kiswahili speakers might go and practise with native speakers. We all know the history of Zanzibar and where Ki-Swahili sprung, from.

Right?

That said...

Let us rewind to 1987. First time I set foot in London. I asked my then hosts where I could relish African food. Note. African. Not Tanzanian. Because 36 years ago, the idea of a Tanzanian restaurant, was ALSO as barren as it is now. So I was whisked to Finsbury Park, North London.

 Here used to be a well known African restaurant owned by who else? Nigerians. I loved it. They did not cook Chapatis and Machalaris and so on. But there were appealing similarities.

I recall having pounded yam, a softer version of Ugali; downed with the popular Egusi soup – or as we say in Kiswahili, Mchuzi wa mboga- mboga na mbegu- mbegu. Egusi is quite, tasty.  Vegetables and varied nuts. And West Africans love using peanut butter ...so that was an appetising meal.

 It then became a habit, I would go there every few days, until I left London. And it was within one of these sojourns that I bumped into then most adored South African celebrity, Miriam Makeba; seated with her granddaughter.

  I was also enthralled and impressed because she knew a few Swahili words, especially when I said Shikamoo to our cherished musical queen who made Malaika, our East African classic tune, global and famous.

 There will always be one Miriam Makeba. Yes, we ate and chatted at this then well frequented African restaurant. There was no Tanzanian restaurant in 1987 London.

There is still no well known Tanzanian restaurant in London in 2023.

 But there was the legendary Africa Centre, in West London, inaugurated by the late President Kenneth Kaunda (of Zambia) in 1963.  The centre had a variety of African recipes including Maize Meal.

Like thumb piano (Marimba), Maize Meal is named differently around the continent: Sadza (South Africa), Sima and Ensima (Kenya and Central Africa), Fou Fou and Foutu (parts of West Africa), Kaunga (Uganda) and Ugali, for us Swahilis. Having Ugali at a restaurant overseas, is special.

And this is where the significance of original hotels steps in.

Our friends from India, China, Japan, Italy, Brazil (and even Ethiopia!) have “established” their eating places across planet earth. So much so that local people tend to identify and know their foods.

For instance, ask most London born children what their favourite dishes are – Pizza and Pasta, would be tops. Italian foods publicised by Italians. Or curry. It is common for Londoners to ask each other while looking for a place to eat, “should we go have a curry?” Meaning Indian food.  Asians have “established” their meals to the point that “others” identify their taste (and choice) with them.

 Not all Africans in London have their own restaurants, though.

 Somalis, Ethiopians, Congolese, Kenyans, Ghanians and Nigerians are some of the well known hoteliers.

So what do you when you are in a London area with no African restaurant? One of the most frequented places are Turkish restaurants. This is because there are similarities in portions. Big portions. Food that fill you up.  Well fried meat, salads, rice, bread, olives, everything!

And with that in mind, you may understand WHY an invitation to attend a birthday party of a Tanzanian friend, last weekend, turned out to be a marvellous experience.   As queried in today’s chat, where would you have Tanzanian food? At private functions, homes; and no wonder strong zealousness when I brought a few friends from Japan.

“Is this Tanzanian food?” One asked as we munched into the Machalari and other Mapochopochos. We all nodded, proudly, while he and animated pals added admiringly:

“I did not know cooked bananas could be so tasty!” relishing the green (“mshale”) bananas knocked up with coconut milk and well done, beef -chops and fillets.  My Japanese team, loved it. For months they had asked me where they could eat Tanzanian food. Here we were at a birthday party of a friend.