It is early evening at the Forodhani Gardens and the gentle breeze blowing from the Indian Ocean provides for a relaxing atmosphere, but for 25-year-old Nuhu Halfan Hamisi, it is another night of work.

He had spent the whole day preparing food, which he has now laid out on a stand ready for hungry clients.

He is among many other food vendors who owe their livelihood to selling food to visitors at the gardens.

The Forodhani Gardens, overlooking the Zanzibar habour in Stone Town, is one of the island’s landmarks.

The allowing of food vendors at the gardens by the municipal council seeks to decentralise tourism.

Forodhani is Kiswahili for a dockyard, where cargo is cleared for Customs.

Forodhani Gardens has a scenic view of the harbour and the ocean, much like a more upmarket version of Mombasa’s Mama Ngina Drive.

Two years ago, the gardens were rehabilitated to their current exquisite state by the Aga Khan Foundation.

The expansive gardens offer a relaxing atmosphere, with breathtaking views of the ocean and nearby islands.

Come early afternoon, food vendors like Nuhu start setting out their food stalls.

Business here goes on till late into the night. Since the food comes already cooked, there are charcoal braziers everywhere for heating every order.

At night, the gardens take on a dreamy hue as the lighting provided by the council is complemented by the kerosene lamps of the vendors.

The light bounces off the ocean waters and the whole garden assumes a carnival-like atmosphere.

Tourism, especially in African countries, is mostly the preserve of the elite and little, if any, of the returns, trickle down to the working class.

Thus, for Nuhu and the other traders, Forodhani is their chance to do direct business with tourists in a formal setting.

It is common for tourists to choose to forgo dinner at their upmarket hotels and instead go for what Forodhani has to offer. And it’s easy to see why.

The first thing that captures the attention of a visitor is the exquisite arrangement of the food.

Nuhu explains that apart from the preparation, the arrangement of the food is a skill only perfected with time.

“Visitors need to feast their eyes first, which will then make them want to sample our food,” he says with a smile.

On his table are assorted seafoods ranging from shrimps, lobsters, crabs and octopi.

There is also roasted chicken, bananas and cassava, as well as samosas and various types of breads.

The food on offer is a reflection of the rich Zanzibari cuisine, which in effect tells the unique story of this island.

Zanzibari cuisine reflects several heterogeneous influences, a consequence of the multicultural and multi-ethnic nature of Zanzibar Swahili heritage.

It mixes tastes and traditions of Arab, Portuguese, Indian, British and even Chinese cuisine.

The earliest colonisers of the island were the Arabs and Persians, in the 9th century, who introduced their cuisine, which included spices, coconut, mango, citrus and rice.

One of the most common Zanzibar recipes, the pilau rice (an exotic mixture of rice, coconuts, nuts and spices) clearly reflects its Arab origin.

Then followed the Portuguese, who colonised Zanzibar between the 15th and 16th centuries, and who brought, among other things, cassava, maize and pineapples.

In 1651 the Portuguese lost control of Zanzibar to the Omani Sultanate.

The Omanis brought new spices and intensified the commercial relationships between Zanzibar and India; as a consequence, Indian recipes such as chutney, masala, biriyani, curry, fish cakes and samosas made it to Zanzibar.

Most recipes of foreign origin were adapted to the ingredients that were available on the island, thus giving birth to a largely original “fusion” cuisine.

Huey, a Canadian tourist is full of praise for the food market.

He compared the set-up at Forodhani to a similar venture in Malaysia “Although there is more variety here.”

He had been in Zanzibar for two days and had visited the gardens on both nights.

He also liked the sugarcane juice, processed while you wait, and mixed with lime.

“This is nothing like I have ever tasted before. I have written back home and they are already wishing they were here with me,” he said.

Anita Walther, a 25-year-old aid worker from Switzerland, found the cuisine at Forodhani unique.

She says seafood, a major component of the Zanzibari diet, is not so common back at home.

Walther, who has already spent four months in Zanzibar, and who has learnt a smattering of Kiswahili, however noted that compared with the food found at stalls outside the gardens, the food at Forodhani is “a bit expensive, as it is mainly targeted at tourists.”