Your Hands-On Cooking Class in Stone Town, Zanzibar

Summary: My group used Halisi as our guide during our time in Zanzibar. I cannot formulate how great they were. Always responsive, reliable and just amazing. Our guide was also amazing and knowledgeable. I will definitely use this company again. Thank you for making us feel safe and cared for during our trip.

Summary: A wonderful opportunity to watch and participate in the preparation of a delicious Zanzibar meal made over a coal stove in a home. Halisi Africa Tours did a great job adjusting the schedule and preparations due to the weather (currently in the rainy season) so all ingredients were ready to go before the demonstration. I learned that Halisi means authentic, and that was the experience. Our chef (Whitee (sp)) was efficient, explained her steps, and I was given the opportunity to request the recipe. She used traditional cooking tools such as the seated coconut grater, and current kitchen appliances together to cook a delicious three-course meal over a coal fire. Most of the cooking was a demonstration, but I was given the opportunity to help with preparing some of the items that would be used in cooking. After all was prepared, we went into the living room for lunch, and everything was delicious. If you have any food allergies, please let them know as they take that into consideration, and honestly if you do attend this class, make sure you have a light breakfast so you can enjoy every last bit of this great meal, and enjoy the great fellowship.

Summary: Really good day on the cooking experience. Trip to the market to buy local ingredients with Hamza followed by a traditional Zanzibar cooking with Miriam. Plenty of opportunities to have hands on experience. At the end of the session we all enjoyed the fruits of our labours which was delicious The recipes were sent to me so I could make them at home Hamza also took me to the spice farm which was a great educational experience

Summary: Thank you for sharing your time and expertise! Will definitely go home to cook this food for our friends and family! Mmmm

Summary: This class was such a delight in so many ways. Hamza met us at the hotel and took us to the local market with Miriam to buy all the ingredients for the meals. We were given a myriad of choices on what we wanted to cook that day. Miriam is such a is such a joy to spend time with and she hand Hamza not only explained the recipes and how to cook, but also gave us historical and cultural perspective on food, Stonetown, and anything else we wanted to ask about regarding their experiences in Zanzibar. We chose pumpkin soup, rice pilau, chicken curry, and coconut/cinnamon/cardamom/banana dessert. It was one of the best meals we ate in Zanzibar. Looking forward to receiving the recipes to try to recreate the island at home. It was all so much fun and so delicious all rolled up into one authentic and perfect experience. We also went to Miriam's Baboo Beach Cafe for dinner that night. We would highly recommend you put this on your Zanzibar list of things to do!

Summary: We were met at our hotel by Hamza & Miram who the took us round the market to choose ingredients for our chosen recipes. Great going round market not being hassled and able to look at everything. We then walked to Miram’s house where we started to prepare vegetables. Grinding coconuts, chopping veg, once all prepared cooking started. Such a wonderful experience, her family, friends popped in and out it felt so authentic. Miram has her own restaurant too nearby Bobo Beach cafe which she showed us afterwards. Our other 2 friends joined us for lunch which we ate with Miram, Hamza and a couple of her friends/ help. Food was delicious, We cooked - Pan fried king fish, vegetable curry, pilau rice, banana stew, sweet pumpkin, mango/passion fruit/avacado &lime smoothie and spiced tea!! Their english was excellent and fun to be with. Would totally recommend and hope you enjoy as much as we did.

Summary: Hamza and Mariam took us to the market to collect the ingredients. We choose and collect fresh vegetables this was a great experience. At Marium house in the middle of Stone town, we cooked varieties of dishes including pilau, fish curry, chapati, and coconut ripe plantain with different spices. The food was very delicious and healthy and it was a great experience.

Summary: bunch of tours, including a cooking class. I really didn’t know what to expect so I just went with it. In the morning I was met by Hamza (a guide) and Maryam, the woman with whom I’d be cooking. We first went to the local market, famously known as Darajani Bazaar and shopped for vegetables (I didn’t want any fish or meat). After the market, made our way to Maryam’s home, not far from the market right in the center of Stone Town. We started washing and cutting all the vegetables, cleaning the rice, making coconut cream (which until now I’d only seen in jars), and proceeded to make so many dishes I’ve lost count! They promised to send all of the recipes to me so if you’re interested (and if I get them) I’ll be happy to share them with you. Needless to say, this was one of the most delicious meals I’ve had on Zanzibar, especially the spiced rice pilau.

Summary: My husband and me were visiting Zanzibar for honeymoon where Hamza was the 1st person we met as he picked us up from the airport. We couldn't have been luckier. During the ride to our hotel Hamza explained a lot about the culture, people & activities in Zanzibar. We had such a good impression of him and we got along so great, so we booked a spice tour with him as a stop over during our ride to Stone Town, which we already enjoyed a lot. As we love exploring other cultures by not just tasting their traditional dishes in restaurants but also cooking them by ourselves we definitely wanted to book a cooking class before going back home. Out of curiosity we asked in our hotel, a tour agency and tourist information desk and it appeared that prices vary a lot and the right tour for us was nowhere to find, as most of the cooking classes are outside the city and combine it with a spice farm visit. As we have already seen that we asked Hamza on very short notice whether he can organize sth. for us. He did a great job: this cooking class was 100 % made for us and exceeded our expectations! We got picked up at the hotel by lovely Mariam and Venance, our chefs for today. Being the same age we directly had a great connection, talking on the way to the local market, where we bought the ingredients we needed to cook the dishes my husband and me were allowed to pick: Kachumbari salad, Bread, Pilau rice, Tuna curry, coconut banana for dessert and mango-passionfruit-smoothie. After we did the shopping we went to Mariam's lovely house in the center of Stone Town where we also met other family members including her sweet children. We had a lot of fun, laughing, talking, taking pictures and of course cooking! Mariam explained to us the alternatives if we can't buy the right ingredients in Germany or if we don't have the right tools at home in our kitchen (like the charcoal cooker, a tool to scrape out the fresh coconut etc.) We cooked EVERY dish 100 % out of fresh ingredients which of course took us some time until we had everything prepared but the patience was rewarded: it was so incredible tasty! We ate together the traditional way, sitting on the ground in the living room and enjoying the dishes before sadly saying good bye. We also went on Safari but this cooking class was the 2nd highlight of this honeymoon we will never forget. Thank you so much Hamza also for sending us the recipes afterwards - we strongly recommend you!!!