Raw meat and some vegetables and fruits, although in many villages they do not eat any fruit or vegetables at all. The chief staple of the Maasai diet is cattle's milk, an element that makes the tribe's diet high in both protein and fat. Modern Maasai also integrate grains, particularly maize meal, to balance out vitamin deficiency. Some Maasai also harvest crops such as rice, cabbage and potato. In general, however, "the Maasai consider widespread agriculture as harmful to the environment and detrimental to grazing, their society's central practice". Modern social, agricultural and political realities have forced changes in the traditional food consumption patterns of the Maasai people. Originally, their diet consisted mainly of raw milk, meat and blood taken from their herds. Blood, in particular, was thought to aid in the recuperation of a wide number of persons, including those recovering from circumcision, childbirth, general illness and even hangovers. Modern Maasai consume less raw meat and blood, though milk is still consumed daily as an individual drink, or added to sweet tea. Italians have pasta and Americans have cheeseburgers and sweets traditional foods can be found in every culture, and the ethnic and tribal groups living in Tanzania are no exception.To a westerner, though, traditional eating for the Maasai may seem distinctly unorthodox. That’s because a traditional Maasai diet not only includes, but primarily relies upon, both cow’s milk and cow’s blood.In Maasai culture, cattle are highly valued. The size of your herd indicates your status in the community, and accumulating animals rather than consuming themis common practice.
Raw beef is also consumed, but much more fascinating and possibly a little off-putting to the western palate is the tradition of drinking raw blood, cooked blood, and blood-milk mixtures.
"Blood is obtained by nicking the jugular artery of a cow precisely, allowing for blood-letting that doesn’t kill the animal. Mixed blood and milk is used as a ritual drink in special celebrations, or given to the sick.Of course blood and milk aren’t the only things Maasai eat the diet has always been supplemented with tubers, honey, and foraged plants that are most often used in soups and stews. More recently, Maasai have supplemented their diet with grains and maize-meal (and of course many modern Maasai live an urban lifestyle, with the more varied diet that entails. They still play an important role in many Maasai meals, however; for example, ugali a thick maize-based porridge that serves as a staple food throughout Tanzania is generally served with milk in Maasai households.
THOMSON SAFARIS.Traditional Maasai Food:"Blood and Milk balanced diet in the bush" November 7 2015http://www.thomsonsafaris.com/blog/traditional-maasai-diet-blood-milk/
I am talking about what the maasai eat. They eat raw meat and the blood, vegetables. their diet consisted mainly of raw meat and blood taken from their herds there foods and the herb that they grow. The Maasai consume less raw meat and milk but blood is still consumed daily as an individual drink, or added to something. before this class some of the things what we have seen in this class i would have said that was weird or nasty. Now i just looked at it as the way they were taught in there culture. when i first read that the Maasai was drinking blood i didn't know what to think about that. as a kid all I could remember is drinking sweet things like hic and koo aid and having the bubble jug. my mom was good at making pies her mom taught her how to make them as good as she dose now. These are some of the culture things i had when i was a kid.
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