For the nine young authors of "Soo Fariista/ Come Sit Down: A Somali American Cookbook" (Minnesota Historical Society Press, 183 pages, $24.95), who are part of Wariyaa, Somali Youth in Museums, cinnamon-spiced lamb and lime-infused semolina cake is the taste of home.
This colorful, enticing book is the result of a yearlong program for Somali teens offered by the Somali Museum of Minnesota (1516 E. Lake St., Suite 11, Mpls., 612-234-1625; somalimuseum.org).
"Food is a tool to touch history and identity," writes Osman Mohamed Ali, the museum's founder and executive director. The youth — Abdirahman, Abdikarim, Abdiwahid, Asha, Hamdi, Hamse, Hamze, Hoda, Naima — found their way here from Syria, Ethiopia, South Africa, Kenya and Somalia, and became friends through this project as they explored kackac, bur and halwad (tea, beignets and sweets).
They interviewed family elders, community members and plumbed their own memories.
"We baked, cooked, fried and learned together ... struggled to make sense of recipes with missing information, to navigate the ever-present 'just a pinch' measurement system, to assess the authenticity of the recipes with our palates," they write.
Here are recipes intertwined with tradition and adaptation.
"One cannot eat Somali spaghetti without understanding that the Italian colonizers brought pasta with them, or jabaati [curry] without remembering that the British brought Indian cuisine with them — and at the same time appreciate that Somalis incorporated their own spices and techniques into these dishes."
The recipes reflect the Somali experience in Minnesota, with locally grown vegetables, meats, poultry, fish and rice dishes redolent with warming spices cardamom, cinnamon, curry, cumin, coriander — and sparked with garlic, chile and lime.
