Pepper, coffee, cinnamon, ginger….our everyday spices in the kitchen, but have you ever caught yourself thinking how and where they grow? If you saw them as a plant, would you recognise them? I really like special spices, I like experimenting with them in different meals, but I admit that apart from 1 or 2 of them, I had no idea how they grow. So I snatched at the chance to go on a spice tour in Zanzibar.
I have to admit that first, I couldn’t really imagine what such a spice tour might look like, and how exciting it can be at all. I rather thought it’s just another way to milk the tourists. I still have this opinion in the case of some organiser agencies, hence I don’t really recommend to anyone going by them, especially if you’re more independent and up for an adventure. An organised tour is much more convenient regarding transport and guidance, indeed, but at the same time, there is no real adventure in it, and it’s also relatively expensive, especially in local values.
So I happily snatched at the opportunity when a local guy told me that it’s possible to go on a tour also independently from agencies, and that he doesn’t mind accompanying me on the local public transport, the daladala (I think I will write a separate post on this means of transport, that’s how unusual it is). Thus in one morning, we set off on our trip, and I have to tell, I was happy that I had local help, first, with finding the daladala “station”, and also with finding my way in the tumult. It’s nothing like a bus station, there are no signposted stops, and it’s good to have an idea where you want to get off, and along which daladala-line that place is. Luckily, with Salum’s familiarity with the terrain, I didn’t need to think about all of this that day.
After an interesting ride, we got to the Kizimbani spice farm, where we first had to negotiate the entrance fee with a guard-like person, then a guide came, and the private tour could begin. I would describe the farm as a rather big plantation, or a jungle with several allotments inside: one garden of lemon grass, another garden of vanilla, etc., all embedded among palm trees, jack fruit trees and other tall trees stretching towards the sky. I kept falling from one amazement to another as we walked from one plant to another, because I had no idea that outside of the spice jars, they look like that in real. The guide and Salum were just laughing at me, maybe they even thought me silly not knowing these, since it’s so natural for them. I guess it’s as if I went out into the garden at home, and presented that this is the potato, this is the cucumber, and here is the pea.
We stopped at every species, and I tried to guess what plant it is (if there was no sign). Then he showed which part of the plant is used and how, how it becomes the way I know it from the supermarket, and how they usually use it in their cuisine. When it was possible, he even cut a bit from the plant, and I could even taste it or smell it. For example, I love cinnamon, and it was incredible to taste it freshly cut. It was so fresh, and tasted so much stronger and lively than at home from the jar. The good thing about cinnamon is that the cut wound in the bark heals completely after a while, and we can get cinnamon from it again and again.
Or who knew that the beloved curry is really the curry leaf, and they put that to spice mixes, or even put it into dishes as a whole? And it is not only in India, but they like it and grow it in Zanzibar, too.
Or I don’t know how you imagined pineapples before, but after the old Facebook Farmville game, I really realised it here that it doesn’t grow on trees, but on the ground, and the fruit evolves in the middle of small pineapple bushes.
Another interesting thing was that I had already known a kind of lemon grass from home, but the Zanzibari one had nothing to do with it in terms of look, but its leaf definitely smelled like lemon. It reminded me reed with long, narrow leaves. They usually put it into tea to flavour it.
1-2 years ago, I discovered the bright orange-coloured turmeric, and I’ve used it since then (mainly to curry, but also cooking it with rice, it gives a nice colour to it), which here turned out to be from the root of the plant. I had the same revelation with cardamom, but I could also mention coffee beans, which I don’t think I would have ever recognised, if they hadn’t told me that the deep brown, aromatic drink, which gives me power in the mornings, is made of these little green berries.
But also to mention one that surely everyone knows and uses: pepper. We can find it in black, white or even in other colourful types. However, I had never thought that all come from the same plant, only in different stages of ripening. The ripe ones are red, which are used for the colourful ones as well as producing the white one. The best-known, the black is made of unripe peppercorn, which are still yellowish. During the drying, these then will become the well-known tiny peppercorns, that I love to hunt in a good Hungarian stuffed cabbage dish.
Approaching to the end of the tour, I got introduced to the yellow plum-like fruit’s stone, the nutmeg, and then I tasted a red flower-like plant, which had a very familiar flavour, but it took me ages to figure out what it was (I didn’t know the English name, so it didn’t help). Can you guess what it is? A clue: it may be used more and more times as December is coming.
Besides the above mentioned plants, I of course saw much more: ginger, vanilla, chilli, sweet basil, even that tree from which they produce henna paint.
After we got around the spice farm, we went to a small market, where I could taste all kinds of fresh fruit. They cut them right in front of me, and no need to say, they didn’t have that home-ripened taste that many of the supermarket ones have. Bananas sweet as honey, juicy pineapple, perfectly ripe mango, avocado…it makes my mouth water even only thinking of their taste. Finally, I could buy the local spices on the market, either in small bags, or in a spice collection suitable for gifting. This market is for tourists, and you have to haggle smart, but in any case, you support the local farmers and the women in the village, who craft these gift packs.
Apart from the general entry fee, you’re supposed to give a small tip to the guide, especially if you were satisfied with his service. This doesn’t need to be a big amount, but it’s still a big help for them, as they don’t earn much at all. I gave my guide a few dollars, which he almost couldn’t even believe, and he couldn’t thank it enough. That’s how much it meant to him. In return, I was also happy, because I was truly satisfied with his guidance, he told me lots of interesting things, and above all, he didn’t have a problem with giving a tour for only one person instead of a bigger group. Moreover, when it turned out that we would want to get back to Stone Town (the capital of Zanzibar) by daladala, he gave us a lift to the next town by car, from where, there was already a direct ride back. It just proves that a small help can go on a long way, and if you’re kind to someone, that kindness will come back to you sooner or later.
So did the spice tour happen without any agencies, only some spontaneity and adventurousness were needed. Anyhow, I can highly recommend a tour if in Zanzibar, as it’s a unique program in my opinion. And if you have a chance, try the jackfruit, especially if you like the sweetness of banana, mango and pineapple. It is definitely my new favourite since then.
The solution for the strange red plant is: a clove!