English Af-Soomaali Français عربي Fried Whole Coffee Beans www.xawaash.com Bun or bun sharuur is whole coffee beans with hull that are deep fried in ghee or oil. For Somalis, it is a delicacy that many associate with rituals. It is deeply tied to religious ceremonies whether small or large. Whenever there are prayer gatherings and…
English Af-Somaali Français Balbalow (baalbaaloow) is a sweet treat that is popular in Somalia. It is shaped like a butterfly (balanbaalis) and it is as sweet as the butterfly is beautiful. Good balbalow should be light, crunchy but not hard, and have a nice, crumbly texture. The small bubbles on the surface of the balbalow…
We know how kids love finger foods, especially out of the ordinary foods like chicken lollipops. We also know that most kids do not like eating vegetables. Our solution is to use the carrot and stick approach. Never mind those studies that tell you it is the wrong approach, because ours is a totally…
If you have never had a plantain, it tastes pretty much like a potato when a raw or semi-ripe plantain is cooked. We prepared this stew for some guests and they all thought they were eating potatoes. Plantains are a staple food in southern Somalia and are added to both savoury and sweet dishes….
We never had shrimp in Somalia. We also never ate lobster there, or any other type of shellfish for that matter. Somalis did not consider those creatures worthy eating. Whenever fisherman found them in their nets, they tossed them back to the sea. Somalia has the longest coastline in mainland Africa and has an…
Long before we were introduced to the doughnuts we had outside Somalia, we were familiar with kac kac. We loved these tasty snacks that were sold in traditional Somali restaurants (maqaayo Soomaali) in Mogadishu. They were great for a quick breakfast when served alongside a cup of Somali tea with milk (shaah caddeeys). In those…
Mashmash (rhymes with hush-hush) is a classic Somali snack that is usually paired with samosas. It is on the greasy side but in Somalia, greasy was not always associated with bad. There was a time when oily meant nutritious. We remember seeing construction workers in Mogadishu using mashmash as a sandwich filling. At the time…
There are sweets that you eat because they taste good; then there are those that go a step further by bringing back memories of your childhood, a way of life long gone, of places fondly missed. That is what shushumoow (kalkals) does for us. In Brava, Somalia, they are known as zinanaande or zinanoonde. …
In the early seventies, an informal survey was conducted in some of Mogadishu’s teashops. The question was: “According to you, what is the most enjoyable thing in the world?” The top answer was: “To sit outside a teashop where the sand has been sprayed with water (i.e. no blowing sand), with a cup of tea…
This is one of the most requested recipes and it is a popular sweet in Somalia. Unlike the previous recipe that we posted for Coconut Sweets, this one is more like candy and it is easy to cut into any shape you desire. When we set out to make this recipe, we remembered a…
