Maqaayadaha Soomaaliyeed ee Qurbaha

[SayidSomal]

If I eat out,it sure isn't somali.

*shakes head* Buuxo, Buuxo, Buuxo, tut, tut - you of all people should know about the metaphor of the chick/bird that carried/played with the fire and the nest.

 

Ma haddaad keentay in aad cunto soomaaliyed sanifto??

 

 

Juxa - gaal dil, gartiisana sii - apart from the snail pace service - the food and ambience are good bordering on excellent.

[Buuxo]

Sayid,LoL. Soo maalin kaste cunto somali ma cuntid? Try wax kale now then .Be adventureous nooh.As for Maqaayadah Qurbaha, we have a long way to go.

 

PS: I love my Beobol,lest im accused of being Anti-somali ama inferiority iyo wax daran.

 

Juxa,Alh for bisbaas!

[Ismahaan]

Originally posted by Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar:

You have been to Ocean, too. Ee aniga maa i daba socotaa hee, kuuseey?

 

Yep, in 2003 tagay Ocean restaurant. Actually, guriga walaasheey aan joogay dhabarkiisa ku yaalay oo dhowr jeer aan tagay, marna Reer SOL igu casuumay. Waa tagi lahaa this year mar aan joogay, but waala xiray aan maqlay.

 

Yes, they serve wonderful cunto laakiin meesha wada cariiri ayee ahayd, siiba basementahooda.

Idman iyo Blue acean restraurants waa daris, blue ocean sidii lee u furan tahay waliba waa la waayneeyey. Makhaayad xaga cuntada iyo service ku haaysta LOndon kama furna. Marka soo booqo next time timaadi London yaa MMA.

[Sensei]

Brilliant idea Mr. MMA, now I am off to Al-Jazeera or Jerusalem, or whom ever will serve me bariis iyo suqaar.

 

Even the walls and the furniture of those places look delicious!

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

Sensei, is there a maqaayad called 'Jerusalem'? Where is it located at? Dubai?

 

Ismahaan, ma maqaayadii Blue Ocean ee Haringey ku taalay ka hadleysaa mise mid kale? I thought in la xiray taas. Mid kale gadaasheed la furay ka hadleysaa u maleynaa, waana tan midaas:

 

 

Sayid, maqaayadaas Bristol ku taalo mala xiray? And no, waligey ma tagin Bristol. Only Cardiff, Leicester and London and those little towns between them ka arkay UK.

 

Safliya, bring and post pictures of maqaayadaas aad sheegtay.

 

Aqiyaartiina ka complain gareynaayo about waiting, most 'fancy' Soomaali restaurants waa saas, waa iska caadadooda. I guess they share that trait with other 'fancy' non-Soomaali restaurants. Laakiin maqaayadaha kale dadka waxee siiyaan waxee kusii sugaan, like biyo, rooti iyo ansalaato. Maqaayadaha Soomaalida should know that.

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

 

Macmacaanka Xamarweyne. One of the well-known Soomaali establishments of Koronto. Thanks to Google's Streetview.

 

 

Sacaadal Qeyr - Winnipeg, Kanada.

 

 

Marwa - Seattle, Mareykanka.

 

 

Durdur - Seattle, Mareykanka.

 

 

Banaadir - Cleveland, Mareykanka.

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

 

Muqdisho - Chicago, Mareykanka.

 

[Note: It seems there is always a random taxi occupying the parking lots of Soomaali restuarants; it seems they go hand in hand. No surprise there. ]

 

 

Soomaali - St. Cloud, Mareykanka.

 

 

Bilan - Toronto, Kanada.

 

 

Goley - London, Ingiriiska.

 

 

Daallo - London, Ingiriiska.

 

 

Salaama - Copenhagen, Denmark.

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

 

Kilimanjaro - Islii (Nayroobi), Kenya.

 

By far, the best maqaayad in Islii. And interior decor looks much better than the picture shows.

 

They make pizza aan islahayn Afrika dhan laga heli karaa, though it was very expensive.

[Ismahaan]

Ismahaan, ma maqaayadii Blue Ocean ee Haringey ku taalay ka hadleysaa mise mid kale?

MMA maya Blue Ocean ka ugu shidan dalka ingiriiska waxaay ku taal west london, xaafada shepherds bUsh.

[Daandurreey]

London maqayad fiican ani maba arkin intaan ku noolaay. meel walbo qashin eey iibiyooyaan.

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

Qashinka amuu adiga ku daba socdaa taloow ma isweydiisay?

 

Maqaayado fiican Landhan wey leedahay, if one knows where they are located at.

 

Ismahaan, Blue Ocean kale waa mid iga dambeysay, waana taa sawirkeeda soo giliye. Tii hore Haringey ayee ku taalay.

[BN]

Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar;833194 wrote:

 

 

Ottawa Citizen

Sambuza Village in Ottawa is a good restaurant. It's nice to see they are getting some publicity in the paper. Last I heard, it was now partly owned by Hindi or Pakistani (I think some of the cooks are as well). My only issue with the restaurant is that it's far too small. There is nowhere to sit so one is forced to take away. And the story is true that it is very difficult to access it from the road...but it's success despite that fact. It goes to shows that there is a great demand in the city. They would do much better if they relocated and could serve a larger audience.

 

Salaam

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

Heat wave

 

 

Born in Somalia, Sainab Yussuf moved to the United States with a dream of opening her own restaurant. After leaving her country, known to most as a land devastated by civil war and famine, she settled in Columbus, Ohio, for over a decade. Sainab moved to Anchorage a year ago with her family, joining the blossoming Somali community in Alaska. Today, Yussuf’s dream is a reality.

 

Safari Restaurant opened its doors in October, quietly moving into the former Cold Stone Creamery franchise location between Northern Lights and C Street. Ice cream fanatics continuing to pull in to the obscure location will still reach for the metal ice cream cone handle on the door, but looking up they will see a new sign overhead. In yellow and black letters, Safari announces its arrival and promises customers a taste of East Africa.

 

I enter cautiously, unaware that I am about to fall in love with Somali food.

 

The eight page menu offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner, seven days a week. “Nothing sits in the fridge,” host Zakaria Hassan tells me proudly. “All made fresh when you order.” Safari Restaurant makes homemade mandazi bread, samosas, falafels, and kebabs daily. Yussuf literally brought out an entire feast for us to try, including their beef steak, fish sandwich, spaghetti and meatballs, and BBQ drumsticks. Mandazi ($1.50) is a traditional sweet and airy East African bread made with flour, salt, sugar, eggs, and butter, deep-fried and served piping hot. On a cold day, the samosas (two for $4) are especially satisfying. Stuffed with a filling of ground beef, onion, potatoes, carrots, and spices, they will be sure to win your taste buds over.

 

My favorite entrée so far is the rice suqar, essentially the Somali version of fried rice, served with your choice of chicken, beef, lamb, or veggies. It comes with a special homemade green jalapeno sauce that will make you put down that bottle of sriracha hidden in your purse. I asked Yussuf if she could make me her favorite dish on the menu, and she brought out a drool-inducing plate of lamb with rice ($13.99). With gestures, I understood that she was serving me the lamb’s feet (!) on a bed of rice, now checked off my bucket list. The recipe was born generations ago out of poverty, when meat was rare and every animal part needed to be used. Slow-cooked for multiple hours, I can attest that the meat was delicious and so tender it melted in my mouth.

 

No pork is served at Safari Restaurant, and all the food is halal (allowable under Islamic dietary guidelines). Their portions are extremely generous, filling, and lip-smacking good.

 

Yussuf is a strong female leader in the growing Somali community, which includes many refugees re-settling in Anchorage with the help of Catholic Social Services (CSS). Karen Ferguson is program director/state refugee coordinator for the CSS Refugee Assistance & Immigration Services (RAIS) program. She tells me that in the past three-year period (from October 2009 until now), the program has resettled 96 Somali refugees who are new to the United States. This is in addition to the larger population of Somalis who have moved here from other states. Almost all have come to the U.S. as refugees, often from refugee camps in Kenya.

 

“It is exciting to see refugee groups not only successfully integrating, but making Anchorage home. When you do something like Sainab did and open a restaurant, you give back and enrich the community,” Ferguson said.

 

“Everyone is welcome here,” declares Yussuf. She tells me she has met a lot of the Somali refugees through her restaurant. With low-end estimates of 400-600 Somalis in Anchorage, it is natural that the community would begin to open its own restaurants and stores.

 

Lucky for us, is all I can say. You see, East African food is crazy delicious, full of unforgettable flavors and spices. I wholeheartedly recommend going to Safari and trying authentic Somali cuisine. I’ll admit it was a slightly jarring to be eating food from a faraway continent in a place that still very much looks like an All-American ice cream conglomerate. The red and black décor is the same, reminiscent of high school kids singing “Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho” while scooping rainbow sprinkles, although Yussuf plans to re-decorate soon and make the place her own.

 

I hear the chef singing in the kitchen. With each bite, I imagine what it must be like to be Somali in Anchorage and without these flavors from home. When I lived in the Lower 48 and received care packages of smoked salmon and wild blueberry jam it was like being back in Alaska. As Ferguson said, “Having access to your food is what makes a place home.”

I tell Yussuf I love Somali food. I ask her if she will go back to Somalia.

 

Yussuf smiles. “This is my country now. I love my country.”

Anchorage, Alaska

_____________________

 

Goormee maryooleey Saybeeriya ka furi doonaan maqaayad?

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

Somali food is about to get popular across Northamptonshire

 

 

With thousands of Somali people living across Northamptonshire, it is perhaps surprising that there are not more eateries providing the typical food of this country.

 

It is may be a mark of prejudice that, until recently, the mention of Somalia would, for me, only conjure up images of civil war and famine.

 

But for some years many Somali people have made Northamptonshire their home and are now keen to reveal a little more about their country’s culinary culture.

 

These efforts can be seen in a new enterprise called Somali Soul Food, set up by some members of the Northamptonshire Somali Women and Girls’ Group in association with the Livity Community (which focuses on promoting health and well-being).

 

Somali Soul Food was launched at a recent market event at Castle Hill United Reformed Church in Spring Boroughs, Northampton, in which its founders showcased a huge array of the nation’s traditional food.

 

The scheme was set up as 
a result of a project, supported by Enable Community 
Grants, to look at more creative ways of employment for 
a group of 10 learners.

 

The women have now set up a social enterprise capable of providing Somali food to order and are also hoping to get involved with more local markets.

 

The pioneers of Somali Soul Food talked me through some of the typical delicacies. Foods produced by the team include zigni, a traditional spicy meat or vegetable sauce made from a tomato base, with onions, garlic, coriander, mixed spice and chilli. There is also Somali tea, black tea combined with spices such as cardamom, cloves and cinnamon. Sambusi is also popularly eaten; this is similar to an Indian Samosa but with hot spices, coriander and garlic. There is also baryaani - mixed rice and meat dishes.

 

Somali food seems similar in many ways to Indian, but far less commonly known in the UK.

 

Fardowsa Sahal said: “People know Indian food and Caribbean food, but no one knows about Somali food. We want to teach people what Somali food is about, we want to show more of our culture.”

 

She explains how anjeero is made, a commonly eaten bread made from yeast, plain flour, water and salt; just one Somali dish they hope to promote.

 

Roda Mohammed said: “I’m from the south, where people typically eat fish and spaghetti. I think Somali food could be as popular as Indian food is everywhere.”

 

Laney Holland, of the Livity Community, said: “This project was around long term unemployment and it had to be in this area (Spring Boroughs) which has high deprivation. We wanted to show people how to make food into an enterprise. Some women have four or five children and we know they can cook food for many people. We wanted to show them how to take what they are doing and use it.”

 

She continued: “They have their plans and people can order it now and they are available to attend day events and events like farmers’ markets. All the women have been through the food hygiene process and there is nothing stopping them.”

Xigasho

[Miskiin-Macruuf-Aqiyaar]

Fond memories of Somalia manifest at South Seattle restaurant

[/b]

 

 

Al Uruba restaurant on Renton Avenue serves up traditional food in the kind of peaceful setting that may finally be returning to Somalia after decades of war.

 

“In Somalia, Goat and rice are like hamburgers!” Osman Busuri said, encouraging us to order his favorite dish at his restaurant in Rainier Valley.

 

Al-Uruba, owned by Osman and two friends, is one of several Somali restaurants in the Seattle area.

 

King County has the third largest population of Somalis in the United States. Like Osman, most of them fled in the early 1990s when Somalia’s government collapsed in the midst of a civil war, sending a wave of refugees around the world.

 

Somalis used to live mostly in Rainier but as rent prices have climbed, families have fanned further outside the city in search of affordable housing. Osman remembers when the building that now houses a Columbia City Starbucks used to be a Somali grocery store.

 

Today, the majority of Somali immigrants live in Tukwila where rent prices are an average of $500 cheaper than in the rest of the city. But Somalis still live in Rainier and Somali culture remains imprinted on the community.

 

I didn’t know much about Somali food, but when Osman brought out oversized beef samosas that we dunked in a fluorescent green chili garlic sauce, I knew we couldn’t go wrong.

 

Those were followed by Nafaqo, boiled eggs rolled mashed potatoes and fried, and then Caysh by a fluffy flatbread served with Za’atar, spiced olive oil.

 

For our entrée, my slightly overwhelmed parents and I ordered a combination platter which arrived piled high onto a huge, communal plate. Chunks of spiced goat, a large flavorful salmon filet, and half a roasted chicken were ringed by fluffy piles of rice thick with flavors of butter and cardamom.

 

We finished our meal with mint lemonade and a platter of cookies loaded with a sweet, chewy jelly.

 

It didn’t seem like you could go wrong on that menu, although I can’t speak for the camel Osman claims to also roast up for special occasions.

 

Osman’s family still lives in Rainier not far from the restaurant. His four children were all born here and he says it makes him sad that they were never able to know the place he still thinks of as home.

 

“All my kids know of Somalia is what they see in the movies and on TV, that’s what they think the country is like,” he says.

 

He says Somalia is rich in natural beauty, a side seldom portrayed in the West. The bright blue Indian Ocean hugs the borders of the country creating the longest coastline in Africa.

 

Osman has hung pictures of Somalia around the restaurants to remind customers, and himself, of how he remembers his country.

 

Somalia is beginning to show promising signs of change. In August, a new provisional constitution was passed and the Federal Government of Somalia became the first permanent central government since civil war broke out way back in 1991. In September, the parliament elected Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as the new President. Al-Shabab, the radical sect that has held control over a great deal of the country, seems to be on its way out.

 

With tenuous signs of stability, some Somalis in the diaspora are considering the possibility of peace in a country they thought they would never be able to return to.

 

Despite the enthusiasm Osman isn’t so sure. “I would love to go back there someday, but not now, it’s just too risky, we don’t know anything for sure yet.”

 

He hopes for peace someday soon, he would love his kids to be able to know the Somalia he grew up in.

 

More than anything he says he misses the community he remembers from Somalia.

 

“The large families, the neighborhoods where children run from house to house, there was so much life,” he says. “Children are raised by everyone there, the saying ‘it takes a village’ is really how it is.”

 

We left the restaurant with a teetering pile of take out containers filled with everything we couldn’t cram into our gut, and marveled at having spent only $40.

 

On the way out, I turned back for a last look at the restaurant. At one table, three men chatted in the guttural Somali language over cups of tea. A large family filled the back room. Children careened around as if it was their own home, chasing each other and jumping off the booths that ringed the room.

 

I wondered if Osman felt like this new home he’d created even came close to his memories of Mogadishu.

Xigasho