Somali chef Ifrah Ahmed’s cookbook preserves culinary heritage by tracing traditional recipes shaped by centuries of trade and migration. The book, titled Soomaaliya: Food, Memory, and Migration, features 75 recipes that showcase Somalia’s rich food culture, often overshadowed by its history of conflict. Ahmed, who fled the civil war as a child and resettled in Seattle, returned to Somalia in 2018 and noticed younger diaspora members losing touch with their culinary roots. In 2019, she launched the pop-up Milk & Myrrh, reimagining Somali dishes with local ingredients, such as canjeero breakfast burritos and salmon sambuus.
This cookbook preserves culinary heritage by documenting both traditional recipes and the history behind them, including influences from India, Persia, Italy, and neighboring African countries. Dishes like sambuus, shaah tea, and xalwo dessert share similarities with Indian samosas, chai, and halwa, reflecting ancient trade links. Ahmed includes notes on how colonial powers and modern economics have shifted Somali diets away from healthy grains like sorghum. She profiles individuals like camel herders and shaah-mix makers to highlight the people behind the food.
The project aims to safeguard an oral tradition by providing written recipes as flexible blueprints, respecting the intuitive nature of Somali cooking. Ahmed emphasizes the urgency of preserving crops like cambuulo beans, which face threats from imported foods and lack of support. She hopes the book helps future diaspora generations maintain cultural connections through food.
Dedicated to her mother and daughter, Soomaaliya serves as both a recipe collection and a cultural inheritance. By preserving these traditions in written form, Ahmed ensures that Somalia’s vibrant culinary heritage remains alive for years to come.