Dried Lake Fish · Market Staple
Dagaa
Photo: George Jaimi / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Fishers catch dagaa at night using bright lights to draw the tiny fish to the surface of Lake Victoria before netting them.
Tiny silver Lake Victoria sardines are sun-dried on woven mats by the thousands, then fried with onion, tomato and sometimes ground peanuts to make a crunchy, salty side dish eaten over ugali. Mwanza is the biggest dagaa trading hub on Tanzania's shore of the lake, and the fish's smell fills its lakeside markets.
Why it's made this way: Dagaa fishing has sustained lakeside communities around Lake Victoria for generations, and Mwanza's position as a major processing and wholesale hub means dried dagaa from the city is shipped across East Africa.
More from Tanzania
Part of World of Street Food — 3248 dishes from 118 countries.
Something wrong here? Tell us in the comments below.
Photo credits.