For the westerners palate the national dish of Tanzania called Ugali often tastes as nice as is sounds. This mixture of maize flour and water can range from a porridge like consistency right up to a dough like ball. It's a cheap source of carbohydrate and so it gets eaten by the poorest people the length and breadth of the country, it is rightly then the national dish of Tanzania. Usually eaten in its dough like state it can be dipped into a stew often containing vegetables and very occasionally some meat. Yet this meal is often rejected by westerners in favour of what has got to be the country's second most popular dish, the Chips Mayai.

What is it?

This simple meal is exactly as it is described, Chips and Mayai or for those of you who don't speak KiSwahili, Chips and Egg. It's worth noting at this point that Tanzania is a nation made up of many tribes¹ all speaking languages based on a common Bantu root. Therefore the proper name for the language spoken by the members of the coastal Swahili tribe should be KiSwahili. Just as Mzungu means white man, Wazungu means white people and Kizungu is the language of the white people, usually English². Getting back to the meal in question a Chips Mayai is exactly what it sounds like it is, Egg and Chips. Now many nations enjoy food based on chips the Quebec, Canada Poutine for example, however unlike the traditional British Egg and Chips that can be found in greasy spoons up and down the UK a Tanzanian Egg and Chips is really just a Chip Omelette.

How to make one?

To make one the chef will start by frying up a portion of chips. It's important to note at this point that they will never be American 'fries.' The country of German East Africa was originally created as part of the German empire, after the First World War the League of Nations gave control of the territory to the British and the country became the colony called Tanganyika . When Tanganyika became independant of Britain in the 60's it merged with the island of Zanzibar to form the country Tanzania. The country never became as 'colonial' as its northern cousin Kenya whilst under British rule, but the country still has strong British links and most educated people speak some English³. Due to this largely British influence the country drives on the left and eats proper Chips⁴. Right, ramble over, back to the process, the chef will place the newly cooked chips into a large frying pan and an omelette mixture will poured over the top. This pancake shaped object will then be cooked and it is really that simple!

Eating one in Tanzania

In Tanzania a Chips Mayai makes an ideal lunchtime snack and is usually provided with a bottle of Tomato Ketchup or even better a Tomato and Chilli Ketchup. As an added extra a few slices of fresh Tomato are often placed on the side of the plate or if the consumer is really lucky a few spoonfuls of spicy ground beef are piled on the top. Chips Mayai is sold all over the country from the little cafes were the furniture is usually of the cheap plastic 'Garden Furniture' style to the road side rest stops. Some of these can be heaven sent if the consumer has spent the last 9 hours in a cramped bus on an unpaved broken road, here the Chips Mayai is often cooked on a portable trolley and served in newspaper just like Fish and Chips were served in Britain years ago.

Eating one elsewhere

This all sounds great but how do you get one if you're not Tanzanian? Well for a start the British connoisseur has it easy, they can just go to their local Chip shop and order a portion of chips and make one themselves. If however you are unlucky enough to not have a local 'Chippy' then you will need to make your own chips, don't worry though, it's easy enough to do. It's not the place of this entry to describe that process to the reader if you don't know try any one of these recipes for example, they would all do the job;

• How to make Chips by Heston Blumenthal
• How to make Chips by the British Potato Council
• Homemade oven chips by the British Potato Council

For the authentic Chips Mayai though you probably don’t really want perfect chips however, the dish actually tastes nicer if you use the slightly soggy chips that come at the end of a batch. Whatever Chips you use take them home and put them aside to keep warm. Take out some large fresh eggs and break a few into a mixing jug, take a fork and beat the eggs to make an Omelette mixture. Pour some of the chips in to a hot non-stick frying pan and spread them out so they are evenly spread throughout the pan. Pour the Omelette mixture over the top so that it just covers the chips and cook until the egg mixture turns golden on both sides. Serve on to a plate, sit back and dream of Kilimanjaro... Enjoy.