Of spices and gems

In a village I ask for a good place for lunch. Pilau with chai is always a good choice, yum yum! Hassan is very welcoming and keen of showing me a little refuge with mommies who are serving exactly what I need. It turns out that he is a really cool guy. He explains to me that the northern slopes of eastern Usambaras are the source of all ingredients you would use for Tanzanian chai: He farms awesomely aromatic cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and black pepper. He calls his brother who appears within a few minutes with two bags of cloves and pepper. The cloves smell and taste very differently from what I know from Germany! They are much more aromatic, intensely spicy (really burning hard on my tongue) and even slightly fruity in taste. The cinnamon is also lighter brownish in colour and much sweeter than the one you usually buy in Germany. A little bit like liquorice.

Additionally, Hassan manages the mining of gems in this region. River Umba is sourced from western Usambaras with its alluvial deposits yielding a variety of colourful minerals you could spend a lot of money on: Green and yellow garnets, blue sapphires and red rubies! He gifts me 4 tiny green garnets. I can also keep the clove and pepper bags. And he invites me for this very lunch 🙃Read more