No Somali Artifacts Were Harmed In The Making Of This Cookbook

Somali cuisine is a mixture of many traditions, from meat prepared according to nomadic customs, to a spice mix made possible by medieval Indian Ocean trade routes. There are even pasta dishes, owing to Italian colonization until 1960 – and you’ll often find a banana served on the side. Ifrah F. Ahmed has made it her mission to document and preserve the food of Somalia in her new cookbook, Soomaaliya: Food, Memory and Migration. At a time when Somali and Somali-American culture is under threat, Ifrah’s work feels especially important. Somali culture prizes its oral tradition, but Ifrah has decided to write it all down: the history, the recipes, and her own story. This week, Dan visits Ifrah in her kitchen as she makes an iftar meal for Ramadan, and he tries his hand at making sambuus (a deep-fried meat dumpling).

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The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, Jared O'Connell, and India Rice.

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