Somali cuisine

Somali cuisine varies from region to region and is a fusion of different Somali culinary traditions, with some East African, Arab, Ethiopian, Yemeni, Persian, Turkish, Indian, and Italian influences. It is the product of Somalia's tradition of trade and commerce. Some notable Somali delicacies include sabayad, lahoh/injera, halva, sambuusa, basbousa, and ful medames.

Breakfast

Canjeero is a staple bread in Somali cuisine.

Breakfast (quraac) is an important meal for Somalis, who often start the day with some style of tea (shahie) or coffee (qaxwa). The tea is often in the form of haleeb shai (Yemeni milk tea) in the north. The main dish is typically a pancake-like bread (canjeero or canjeelo) similar to Ethiopian injera, but smaller and thinner. It might also be eaten with a stew (maraqe) or soup.[1]

Flatbread referred to as rooti is consumed in the north. Nationally, a sweeter and greasy version of canjeero known as malawax (or malawah) is a staple of most home-cooked meals.

Lunch

Baasto (pasta) made of spaghetti and digaag (chicken) take-out from a Somali restaurant.

Lunch (qado) is often an elaborated main dish of pasta (baasto) or rice (bariis) spiced with cumin (kamuun), cardamom (heyl), cloves (qaranfuul), and sage (Salvia somalensis). The diffused use of pasta (baasto), such as spaghetti,[5] comes from the Italians. It is frequently presented with a heavier stew than the Italian pasta sauce. As with the rice, it is often served with a banana.

Spaghetti can also be served with rice, forming a novelty dish referred to as "Federation". The dish is usually served with equal (whole) portions of rice and spaghetti, split on either side of a large oval plate. It is then layered with assorted stewed meats and vegetables, served with salad and an optional banana. It has been suggested that the name of the dish is derived from the union of two dishes in Somalia and also from the size and quantity of the food. You will not find this dish served in the average Somali household, since it is uncommon to cook both rice and pasta in one meal. It is instead more common to order the dish from traditional Somali restaurants, where both rice and spaghetti are always readily available. Hence, its novelty status.

In the south, Iskudhexkaris, a hot pot of rice, vegetables and meat, is a regional staple. Beyond the many styles of stew (maraq), rice is usually served with meat and/or a banana on the side. In Mogadishu, steak (busteeki) and fish (kalluun/mallaay) are widely eaten.

Somalis commonly consume a soft cornmeal referred to as soor. It is mashed with fresh milk, butter and sugar, or presented with a hole in the middle filled with maraq.

A Somali camel meat and rice dish.

A variation of the Indian chapati is the sabaayad/kamis. Like the rice, it is served with maraq and meat on the side. The sabaayad of Somalia is often somewhat sweet, and is cooked in a little oil.

Italian Polenta, called Sor in Somalia, is used in the Benadir area, mainly around Merca and Jowhar.

Popular drinks at lunch are balbeelmo (grapefruit), raqey (tamarind) and isbarmuunto (Lemonade). In Mogadishu, cambe (mango), zaytuun (guava) and laas (Lassi) are also common. In Hargeisa in the northwest, the preferred drinks are fiimto (Vimto) and tufaax (apple).

Dinner

A bag of traditional Somali cambuulo (azuki beans).

Dinner (casho) in Somalia is served as late as 9 pm. During Ramadan, supper-time often follows Tarawih prayers, sometimes as late as 11 pm. Cambuulo, a common dinner dish, is made from well-cooked azuki beans mixed with butter and sugar. The beans, which on their own are referred to as digir, can take up to five hours to finish cooking when left on the stove at a low temperature. In 1988, the Somali newspaper Xiddigta Oktoober conducted a survey in which it found that 83% of Mogadishu's residents preferred cambuulo as their main dinnertime meal. It was a startling discovery since the dish is considered to be somewhat "low class" due to its flatulence-inducing after-effects caused by the natural sugars (known as oligosaccharides) in its beans. Qamadi (wheat) is also used; cracked or uncracked, it is cooked and served just like the azuki beans.

Rooti iyo xalwo, slices of bread served with a gelatinous confection, is another dinner dish. Muufo, a variation of cornbread, is a dish made of maize and is baked in a foorno (clay oven). It is eaten by cutting it into small pieces, topped with sesame oil (macsaro) and sugar, then mashed together with black tea.

Before sleeping, a glass of milk spiced with cardamom is often consumed.

Snacks

Somali sambuusas (samosas) being prepared.

Sambusa, the Somali variation of the Indian samosa, is a triangular snack that is commonly eaten throughout Somalia during the afur (iftar). The Somali version is spiced with hot chili pepper, and the main ingredient is often ground meat or fish. Bajiye, the Somali variation of the Indian pakora, is a snack eaten in southern Somalia. The Somali version is a mixture of maize, vegetables, meat and spices, which is then deep fried. It is eaten by dipping it in bisbaas (hot sauce). Kabaab is a snack eaten by southern Somalis. The Somali version is a mixture of ground meat, potatoes, onions and vegetables, which is then coated with flour and deep fried. Fruits such as mango (cambo), guava (Seytuun), banana (moos) and grapefruit (liinbanbeelmo) are eaten throughout the day as snacks.

Sweets

Gashaato is a coconut-based confection, set here to a backdrop of the Somali national flag.
Xalwo (halwo) or halva is a staple of Somali cuisine.

There are many sweets eaten during festive occasions, such as weddings, parties or Eid. Among these are baalbaaloow, shuushuumoow, bur hindi, bur tuug, and qumbe (coconut), the latter of which is made from coconuts mixed with sugar to form a bar.

After-meal

A dabqaad incense burner.

Somalis traditionally perfume their homes after meals. Frankincense (luubaan) or a prepared incense (uunsi), known as bukhoor in the Arabian Peninsula, is placed on top of hot charcoal inside an incense burner or censer (a dabqaad).[9] It then burns for about ten minutes. This keeps the house fragrant for hours. The burner is made from soapstone found in specific areas of Somalia.

See also

Notes

  1. Abdullahi, pp.111-114.
  2. Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi, Culture and Customs of Somalia, (Greenwood Press: 2001), p. 113.
  3. Little Business Women
  4. "Somali Polenta Flat Bread (Muufo)". The Somali Kitchen. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  5. Somalian recipes (in Italian)
  6. "Somali Halwa." Mysomalifood.com. Accessed July 2011.
  7. Ali, p. 79
  8. "The Recipes of Africa". p. 241. Retrieved 2014-07-18.
  9. Abdullahi, pp.98-99

References

External links

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