Lesson 16:
Review

Read the following passage in Swahili. Try to understand as much as you can without looking at the English translation and then check your understanding by reading the translation.

Kwa kuwa kuna makabila mengi katika Afrika Mashariki, pia si ajabu kuona kuwa kuna vyakula vya aina tofauti katika sehemu hizi. Aina za vyakula pia hulingana na maeneo wanayoishi watu. Kwa mfano watu ambao wanakaa karibu na bahari au maziwa hupenda sana kula samaki. Wamasai ambao ni wafugaji hunywa maziwa kama chakula chao kikuu.

Watu wengi wa Afrika Mashariki wanapenda sana chai wakati wa asubuhi na usiku. Hii ni kutokana na ukweli kwamba Kenya na Tanzania ni nchi zinazolima chai. Ni kawaida kwa wageni wanapofika kukaribishwa kwa chai kwanza. Watu wengi hunywa chai yenye sukari na mara nyingi na maziwa. Pia chai kwa Waswahili ina maana pana zaidi. Chai humaanisha chakula cha asubuhi au jioni kwa watu wa mwambao hasa Zanzibar. Kawaida Waswahili hasa watu wa Zanzibar na Mombasa hawali chakula kizito asubuhi na usiku. Watu hunywa chai na mikate. Watu pia hunywa chai na maandazi(mahamuri), vitumbua, chapati, mkate wa mchele na mengineyo. Pia watu wengine wa Afrika Mashariki hunywa chai na viazi, muhogo, ndizi mbichi za kupikwa, mahindi au chakula cha kiporo. Watu wengine hula vyakula hivi pamoja na vitoweo. Kwa mfano watu wanaweza kula muhogo kwa samaki au supu ya nyama. Wengine hula mikate na mayai ya kukuaanga. Watu hunywa uji kama hawana sukari ya kuweka kwenye chai. Watu hunywa uji wa unga wa ngano, mahindi, mtama au uwele.

Vyakula vizito kama ugali, chakula maarufu sana Afrika Mashariki na kwengineko Afrika, Githeri, chakula maarufu kwa Wakikuyu huko Kenya au wali, maarufu kwa watu wa pwani (mwambao), kawaida huliwa wakati wa mchana na usiku kwa baadhi ya watu. Watu wa pwani kawaida hawali vyakula hivi asubuhi au usiku. Kwa kawaida watu wa mwambao hula wali wakati wa mchana. Wali huliwa na mchuzi wa samaki, nyama au kuku. Pia watu wengine hufanya mboga kama kitoweo. Watu wengi wa Kenya hupenda kutumia sukuma wiki kama kitoweo cha ugali.

Mikahawa katika sehemu za Afrika Mashariki pia huuza chakula kwa mujibu wa wakati. Kwa mfano huwezi kupata wali katika mikahawa wakati wa asubuhi. Na kawaida chai haiuzwi wakati wa mchana katika mikahawa ya kawaida ya Tanzania. Mikahawa (hoteli) ya kawaida ya Zanzibar haiuzi kahawa. Kahawa huuzwa mitaani na wauzaji maalum. Kahawa huuzwa na hunywewa sana nchini Kenya hasa Nairobi na sehemu nyengine zenye baridi. Watu wa sehemu hizi hupenda sana kunywa kahawa.

Food in East Africa

Because there are a lot of ethnic groups in East Africa, it is not unusual to see that there are varieties of food in these areas. The kinds of food also depend on the areas where those people live. For example people who live close to the sea or lakes like to eat fish. Masai who are herders drink milk as their main food.

Many people in East Africa like to drink tea in the morning and in the evening. This is due to the fact that Kenya and Tanzania are tea-growing countries. It is usual for a visitor to be served with tea first. People drink tea with sugar and most likely with milk. Chai for Swahili people has a broader meaning, too. Chai means “breakfast” and “dinner” to the people who live on the coast, particularly Zanzibar. Usually Swahili people, particularly those who live in Zanzibar and Mombasa, do not eat a heavy meal in the morning or in the evening. People usually drink tea with mkate wa boflo/mkate wa mofa (a kind of bread). They may also drink tea with buns, rice fritters, chapati (flat round bread which looks like a thick tortilla), mkate wa mchele (a kind of rice cake), and so on. Also, some people in Kenya and Tanzania drink tea with sweet potatoes, cassava, cooked raw plantain, corn or the leftovers of the previous dinner. Some people eat their breakfast with a side dish. For instance, people may eat cassava with fish or beef soup. Others eat bread with fried egg. People drink porridge in the morning if they do not have sugar to put in their tea. They drink porridge made from wheat, corn, sorghum, or millet flour.

A heavy meal like ugali (cornmeal mush), a very popular food in East Africa and other parts of Africa, githeri (corn and bean stew), a very popular traditional food among the Kikuyu in Kenya, or wali (cooked rice), a very popular food on the coast, is eaten in the afternoon or in the evening by some people. Most people on the coast do not eat these kinds of heavy meals in the evening. Rice is usually eaten with fish stew, beef, or chicken. Other people use vegetables as their side dish. A lot of people in Kenya like to eat sukuma wiki (a type of vegetable similar to collard greens, usually boiled with tomatoes and onions) as a side dish for ugali.

Restaurants in East Africa typically sell food in accordance with the time of the day. For instance, you cannot get wali in restaurants in the morning. Usually tea is not sold in the afternoon (during lunchtime) in local restaurants in Tanzania. Local restaurants in Zanzibar do not sell coffee. Coffee is sold in the streets by special traditional vendors. Coffee is widely sold and drunk in Kenya, particularly Nairobi, and other places where the climate is colder. People in these areas like to drink coffee a lot.