Farewell Zanzibar

I just returned from my last trip to Zanzibar. When someone asks me “How was your trip?” I quickly respond with “ Great!  My best trip yet!” it truly was my best trip yet. My friend came over to visit me and I had said a long time ago that I wanted to take her to Zanzibar and do nothing. We did just that. The first 3 nights of our 5 night stay was spent in Paje. This was on the south east coast of the island. We stayed right on the beach where many kite surfers hung out.  Of the three dinners we ate there I can rave about one restaurant. The Ocean. Its located right on the beach next to Buccaneer Diving company. We were blown away by not only the service but also the food. The real find of our trip was in Stone Town. Our hotel was a place I had wanted to stay for a long time. The Zanzibar Coffee House, home of the Passion Tart. Each of the rooms are named after coffee drinks. From the moment you arrive (which by the way comes with a Welcome drink) the hospitality overwhelms you. Each morning I couldn’t wait to get to breakfast – fresh mango jam, waffles/crepes/omelet with a rooftop view of the city. I was also invited into the kitchen of the chef who makes the Passion Tart. The last time I came to Stone Town I got her to tell me the recipe and I tried it several different times in Dar with no luck of getting it right. So Chef Neema taught me exactly how she makes the masterpiece and I will share it with you below. We also found ourselves weaving thru the narrow streets to my favorite lunch spot all 3 days we were there – Lazulis. I got the chef to tell me how he makes his “Sticky Chicken Sauce” for the chapti wrap it goes into. We tried something new everyday and were never disappointed.  We also tried a new “to me” place called the “House of Spices.” We had never been there before and allowed the waiter to order for us, and boy did he steer us in the right direction. He sent us on an adventure with spices ( please pardon my cheesy-ness) We started out with Lemon grass tea and cinnamon tea, both iced. My friend tried the seafood pizza and I tried the king fish with a house sauce finishing with a homemade spicy ice cream. It was all delicious and would tell anyone going there to try it out! Some of the ladies at our hotel tried to convince me to come back for a visit before I head back to the states next year and I can honestly say I don’t see that happening. This was such a wonderful trip. I couldn’t top it, but I don’t think this will good bye forever Zanzibar- just simply ‘ See you later.’ 

Passion Tart 

8x8 pan 

Oven 200 degrees C

Crust 

4 tsp Icing Sugar 

5 tsp Flour 

2 tsp Softened Butter 

Mix together and press into pan covered in aluminum foil. Bake for 20 mins of until bubbly/brown. Let cool. 

Cream Layer 

1/2 Cup water ( Boiling) 

1 Unflavored Gelatin pack 

1 Can Condensed Milk 

Bring water to boiling and dissolve the gelatin mixture, then add the condensed milk and mix well, pour on top of cooled crust - then freeze 

Custard Layer 

2 Cups of Water 

6 tsp of Sugar 

5 heaping tsp of custard powder 

Cook all together in sauce pan, once a gelly type consistency take off stove and add 5 passion bulb insides and 1 tsp of butter. Pour over frozen layers and refrigerate. 

Passionate about Passion

Before having moved to East Africa, I can't say that I have tried passion fruit. Tart, sweet, seedy, and slimy are all ways to describe this exotic fruit. From the looks of it, or eating it just plain may not be one's cup of tea. East Africa has taken passion to a whole another level. You can find passion fruit done in about every way possible ... and in a word.... delicious.

In a recent trip to Zanzibar I tried all forms of passion fruit. Zanzibar Coffee House located in the heart of Stone Town does a lot of things right, but one item that sends me into bliss is their passion tart. Three layers of goodness in every bite - the crust, the cream, and the passion custard. You can also try the Avocado, Passion, Mango juice. It's surprising how the avocado takes on the flavor of the fruit letting it shine.
Just off the road in the Shangani district of downtown Stone Town is a small, quaint place called Lazulis. White washed walls, where african decor meets shabby sheek screams potential. There was not a day where this 5 tabled restaurant wasn't full. Fresh Juice bar is what kept drawing us back in. After long walks through the narrow streets a lime, passion, pineapple juice would be on my mind. Chapti (african fried tortilla) wraps, bunny chow, fresh pastas, smoothies galore.

I realize Zanzibar may not be at the top of everyone's travel list but don't shy away from passion fruit even if you can't get to the Indian Ocean.

Why another food blog?

With the age of pintrest and food blogs, why would I want to jump on the band wagon? After exploring blog after blog I felt I wanted to create a digital space where I can organize and explore my own various strands of food related thoughts at occupy my mind at any given time. I have spent years stockpiling recipes, techniques, exploring restaurants and images of food as I have traveled and lived in different countries.In many ways I feel that the best way to understand a culture is to understand its food. I center my trips around food. When I am going some where new I don't think about the activities were going to do or the things we are going to see but where we are going to EAT. Ultimately, if I post about a place it is where I would recommend it to friends or family. I don't know how useful any of this will be to the wider world, but I've realized that if I don't start to get some of it down in written form I will just simply forget most of it.