Graboyes, MelissaDiBlasi, Michael2019-12-122019-12-1220080281—6814https://hdl.handle.net/2144/38760African Studies Center Working Paper No. 261INTRODUCTION A British official called the prison-cooked chappati a "nasty piece of sodden dough"; a man on trial declared to the court that he was being fed "dog's urine" inside the asylum; a member of the Zanzibari royal family got into a fight while trying to get a serving of biriani at the mental hospital; and escaping prisoners marched to the Sultan's palace in order to complain about the prison diet. What all of these things have in common is that they draw our attention to food aesthetics and illustrate the importance of food beyond calories and nutrition. All of these food complaints were made inside British run institutions, yet not one is about hunger. Instead, all center on improper preparation, presentation, or consumption of food. From 1920 through the 1960s, no other issue appears as frequently as food as a source of complaint among the wards of the British-run lunatic asylum and prison in colonial Zanzibar. Neither the poor cell conditions nor forced labor duties created the same level of dissatisfaction. The food being served in the prison and lunatic asylum was so important to wards that there were many strategies used to try to affect change. There are cases of individual hunger strikes; patients refusing to eat en masse; angry letters signed by dozens of prisoners and sent to officials; complaints made directly to visitors; letters from cultural organizations working as lobbying groups; and articles published in the vernacular and English language press. This paper examines prison and lunatic asylum diets in colonial Zanzibar not as examples of colonial-era ideas about nutrition, politics, race, or culture, but rather as actual food whose smell, taste, texture, presentation, and preparation are important. It also... [TRUNCATED]en-USCopyright © 2008, by the author.ZanzibarZanzibari societyFood studiesColonialismEast AfricaColonial ZanzibarInstitutional dietsPrisonsAsylumsBritish coloniesFood aestheticsArticle