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Cooking in Zanzibar: Introduction
I just had some of the best food in Zanzibar from just doing a cooking class. I was able to visit the spice farm and do one of the most famous spice tours in Zanzibar. This post is part of my Cooking Travel Talks series. Here I reflect on what I cooked, what I learnt, and how food connects me to the world in unforgettable ways.
Flying in from Uganda you immediately see the turquoise water, and once you’re there, the vibrant history just flows through everything around you. My close friend and I did one of the spice tours in Zanzibar, which came with a cooking class that allowed us to eat some of the best food in Zanzibar and have a real taste of this beautiful island, quite literally.
This wasn’t just about recipes. It was about walking through the soil where cloves, vanilla, and turmeric grow, and seeing how natural ingredients can be used to make things like lipsticks and blush. It was also about hearing how spices shaped trade, identity, and culture on this island for centuries. After the tour of the spice farm, we then did an outdoor cooking class and made something super delicious.
Related Post: A Zanzibar Travel Guide: 6 Amazing Days Exploring Spice Farms, Stone Town & Swahili Food
A Little About Zanzibari Food
Zanzibar’s nickname, the Spice Island in Zanzibar isn’t just a tourism word or slogan; it’s the reason the island’s cuisine tastes the way it does. Sitting on centuries-old trade routes between Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, India, and beyond, Zanzibar became a major hub for the global spice trade, and that history is baked directly into the food. Food in Zanzibar has cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, black pepper, and cardamom, which aren’t just garnishes here; they’re the backbone of how dishes are built.
Swahili cuisine, which forms the base of Zanzibari cooking, blends African staples like rice, cassava, and plantain with spice-heavy techniques and flavours brought by Arab, Indian, and Portuguese traders and settlers over hundreds of years. Coconut beans are everywhere too, grated fresh, pressed into milk, or used as the base for curries, which gives so many dishes that rich, silky texture that’s instantly recognisable as coastal East African. The result is deeply layered food: earthy and aromatic, with a warmth that comes as much from spice as it does from chilli.
Cooking in Zanzibar
We started with a spice tour in Zanzibar, and then we joined a local kitchen to cook some traditional Zanzibari dishes. Here’s what we made:
- Chapati – flatbread with a soft, chewy texture. We rolled and pan-fried them ourselves, and I realised just how much technique goes into getting the folds right. It looks effortless when someone experienced does it, and then you try it yourself and quickly understand why practice matters.
- Spiced Vegetables & Sauces – a medley of locally grown ingredients like pumpkin, plantain, tomatoes, onions, and aromatic spices, all simmered to perfection. Everything we used had been growing just metres away from where we were cooking, which made the whole thing feel incredibly connected and fresh.
- Coconut-Based Curry – we grated fresh coconut by hand (yes, by hand!) and used it to make a rich, silky curry base that carried all the warmth of the island. Grating your own coconut gives you a completely different appreciation for how much effort goes into a dish that, on a plate, looks so simple.
All of this was served with rice despite no meat (protein) in the dish, everything tasted so fresh, earthy, and rooted in the land we had just walked through. That made it even more special.
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What I Learnt in Cooking in Zanzibar
- Zanzibar is the Spice Island for a reason – The depth of flavour starts from the soil. Cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, and pepper are everywhere, and you taste that history in every dish.
- Cooking is storytelling – Our host explained how each spice, each step, carried influence from Swahili, Arab, Indian, and Portuguese cultures, all of which shaped Zanzibari cuisine.
- Food is community – We weren’t rushed. We cooked together, laughed together, took pictures, and ate under the trees. We event got to make hand bracelets and crowns with leaves. The rhythm felt sacred.
You can also do the cooking class and the Spice farm tour by booking via this link.
Cooking in Zanzibar: Conclusion
Zanzibar reminded me that food is never just food. It’s history, it’s connection, memories with real people who live abroad. All of this comes together in one plate of joy!
The cooking experience gave me a deeper respect for the island and its heritage. I left with red-stained fingers from fresh turmeric, a full belly, and a full heart. If you ever find yourself cooking in Zanzibar, you will find that it’s more than just the beach.
Go to Zanzibar. Walk the spice farms, cook with locals, and taste the stories for yourself. If you need a travel guide, then you can read in more detail here.
Looking forward to the next series?
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Have you ever been to Zanzibar? What did you do let me know I would love to hear from you.
Asante sana, Zanzibar.
MBV x
