Food for Talk is a book club for anyone interested in cooking!  Instructions on how to join this community of home cooks and fellow culinary travelers can be found after the description of this month's cookbook.  If reading about food, experimenting with new recipes and learning from other cooks sounds fun, sign up and join us on the second Sunday of every month at 3pm! Locations vary.

This month:  Soomaaliya: Food, Memory, and Migration: A Cookbook by Ifrah F. Ahmed

Please register with Barbara Shatara at bshatara@burlingtonvt.gov 

About this month's cookbook: Soomaaliya: Food, Memory, and Migration: A Cookbook by Ifrah F. Ahmed

nown by many names, the cape of spices, the nation of poets, and the land of cinnamon, Somalia is nestled in the Horn of Africa and is blessed with fertile fields, rich in spices, and endowed with the longest coastline in mainland Africa. This location and natural abundance have made Somalia a corridor between east and west, and a central point in global trade and migration, dating back millennia.   

In Soomaaliya, Ifrah F. Ahmed tells the story of her country through its history, its food, and its people. Somalia’s role in the spice trade yields xawaash, the most distinctive of Somali flavors, a heady blend of cumin, coriander, black pepper, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and turmeric that’s used in everything from marinades to stews. Cardamom also finds its ways into thin, fragrant crepes, sweet fried beignets called bur, and bariis, rice spiced with cardamom and cumin. This rice is paired hilib ari, tender goat meat stew that is a product of Somalia’s deep roots in herding and agrarianism. Baasto, or pasta, a relic of the long Italian colonial rule, is served with a range of simple tomato sauces to ragus. The bountiful waters supply fish freshly caught and fried. And for afternoon tea, a pot of spiced shaah, served with thick slices doolsho, an aromatic cardamom cake. These are a just a few of the over 70 recipes included that introduce the foundational flavors and tastes of the Somali palate.  

How to Join:

It's as easy as 1, 2, 3...
1. Register with Barbara Shatara bshatara@burlingtonvt.gov
2. Pick up a copy of the book from the Library's Main Desk. 
3. Read it, make a dish (not required though) and bring it to the discussion at 3 pm.