May 27, 2026 • 9 mins
We explore the rich history, culture, and flavors of Somalia through food and storytelling. Joining us is Somali-born writer, chef, and recipe developer Ifrah F. Ahmed, author of the new cookbook Soomaaliya. Through more than 70 recipes, Ifrah shares the traditions, resilience, and global influences that have shaped Somali cuisine for generations — from fragrant xawaash spice blends and spiced teas to goat stews, rice dishes, seafood, and sweet pastries. We’ll discuss preserving culinary traditions, the role food plays in identity and migration, and why Somali cuisine deserves a larger place on the global stage.
Event Information:
Free Library of Philadelphia presents an evening with Ifrah F. Ahmed
📍 1901 Vine Street, Philadelphia
📅 Wednesday, June 3, 2026
🕕 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM
Learn more: Free Library of Philadelphia
Follow Ifrah: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ifahmed
Event Information:
Free Library of Philadelphia presents an evening with Ifrah F. Ahmed
📍 1901 Vine Street, Philadelphia
📅 Wednesday, June 3, 2026
🕕 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM
Learn more: Free Library of Philadelphia
Follow Ifrah: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ifahmed
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning and welcome to Winsight, a show about empowering
our community. I'm Lorraine ballad Morrow. Today we focus on opportunity, healing,
and building stronger communities across Philadelphia. We'll discuss financial empowerment
and pathways to home ownership as the Urban League of
Greater Philadelphia and Wells Fargo prepare for their upcoming home
Buyer's Fair, connecting families with resources, expert advice, and support
(00:24):
to help make the dream of owning a home a reality.
Then we'll talk about the importance of fatherhood, healing and
breaking cycles of violence and incarceration with leaders from the
fact experience, including a powerful personal story of transformation and
re entry after incarceration. And we'll also examine one of
the biggest challenges facing education today, teacher retention, and hear
(00:46):
how innovative programs are helping support and strengthen the next
generation of educators in our schools and communities. But first,
we explore the rich history, culture, and flavor of Somalia
through food and storytelling. Joining us is Somali born writer,
chef and recipe developer Ifra F Ahmed, who is author
(01:10):
of a new cookbook Somalia Through more than seventy recipes.
If FRA shares the traditions, resilience, and global influences that
have shaped Somali culture for generations, from fragrant hawash, spice
villains and spice teas to goat stews, rice dishes, seafood
and sweet pastries. I'm getting hungry already. We'll discuss preserving
(01:30):
culinary traditions, the role of food plays, and identity and migration,
and why Somali cuisine deserves a larger place on the
global stage. So if Ora, thank you so much and
congratulations on your book. What inspired you to tell the
story of Somalia through food history and personal memory?
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Thank you so much for having me. The reason that
I was inspired to write this book is because we
have a Our culture is one in which it's an
oral tradition, and so our recipes, our knowledge, all of
that has traditionally been passed on orally, and there are
very few documentations of Somali cuisine written documentations of Somali cuisine.
(02:10):
So I decided to write this book as a way
to really ensure that Somali culinary traditions could go from
one generation to the next, particularly for those in the diaspora.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Many people may not be familiar with Somali cuisine. How
would you describe the flavors, traditions, and influences that make
Somali food unique.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Sure, Somali food is really incredible. It's really has been
shaped by its geographical location in the Horn of Africa.
Because of where Somalia is located, it's been at the
center of trade, particularly along the Indian Ocean trading routes
for centuries, and so Somalia has had many relationships with
(02:51):
countries along the Indian Ocean routes, the Swahili coast, and
then also other Muslim countries as well, and all of
this has really impacted how how our food looks, what
comes to our reports, what we send out. Yeah, in
terms of some cuisine, like we have a really rich
indigenous culinary tradition that not many people know about. And
then in addition to that, obviously because of like the
(03:13):
spice trade, there are a lot of commonalities that we
have with countries among those trading routes, those traditional trading routes.
So you know, we'll have spices like kardamum, cuman, et
cetera that we will share with South Asian countries or
Swahili coast countries. And then there's also the lasting influence
(03:35):
of Italian colonialism, particularly in the South, that introduced foods
such as pasta to the Somali culinary tradition. So it
has a lot of influences, but you know, it also
has an incredibly rich indigenous tradition that is really the
backbone of Somali cuisine.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
You write beautifully about food as a connection to migration,
identity and resilience. Why is braziav and Somali culinary traditions
especially important to you.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
It's especially important to me because I think when we
especially as like immigrants and refugees, we think about cultural
preservation A lot of the time. What we think about
is our cultural practices, and we think about maybe even
language right, language retention, especially for the next generation, And
something that often gets overlooked is the importance of food
(04:23):
and of our culinary traditions. I think that food really
is history on a plate, and it also tells us
about who we are, where we've come from, and hopefully
you can also give us a glimpse of how we
as the people are developing. And so, yeah, it was
super important for me to document Somali culinary traditions because
it really encompasses all of our history and then tells
(04:45):
the story of just our traditions overall.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
So I've madly mispronounced this hawash spice blends. But you
have some very unique I guess combinations of spices and
also fresh seafood dish. And I wonder if you can
kind of talk about the combination of different spices and
how that's very distinct in Somali cuisine and maybe share
a little bit about some recipes that have a special
(05:11):
meaning for you.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Sure, absolutely in terms of spices. You know, the heart
of Somali savory cooking is a hal ash spice mix.
So if you see that written down, that has an X,
but it's an age hal ash. And to me, that
just smells like home. Like if I smell that, it
smells like my mom's house, you know, our house. It
smells like a Somali household to me. And that is
(05:34):
a mix of several different spices. And you know, every
household and sometimes even every person does it differently, but
it usually has a base spice of about seven spices,
which are cardamum, human you know, black pepper, corn, so
it's this really beautiful mix that gets better the longer
it sits. Right, It's really rich, and it has this
(05:57):
beautiful golden brown color, like this earthy color to it.
And yeah, it just improves a food the longer that
it' sits. So it's pretty incredible. And then in terms
of some favorite recipes, I think is what you asked
from the Yeah, how can I choose? That's like picking
a favorite child I know, there's so many recipes that
(06:18):
I really love. One of the recipes that is a
childhood favorite of mine is Briso Skul cutties, which is
the picture that's on the back. The dish shuts on
the back. It's a one pot rice and meat dish,
so often it would be like goat meat and so
it's a very sort of like tomato rice and you
cook the rice and the meat in one pot until
the meat is super tender, and then you usually would
(06:40):
serve that with a little bit of aspas, which is
are one of our hot sauces, and then a cool,
creamy sweet banana. So we also utilize bananas inner cuisine
quite often, and that is something I think that not
a lot of people are familiar with. But if you
have that balance of rice and you know, tender meat
(07:00):
and the hot sauce. The banana really balances everything out
beautifully because it's creamy, it's sweet, it's cooling, it's a
perfect bite. So I would say that's one of my
favorite dishes from the book.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Well, you're going to be in Philadelphia at the Free
Library of Philadelphia presenting an Evening with You, and that's
going to be Wednesday, the third of June from six
to seven thirty. Your work introduced Somali cuisine to audiences
across the country through writing, pop ups, and storytelling, and
especially this event that's happening this coming Wednesday. What do
(07:34):
you hope people take away after attending your Philadelphia event
and experiencing Somalia.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Well, first of all, it's my first time in Philadelphia,
so I'm so excited to come, and I'm incredibly honored
to be at this event. I think, you know, once
people come, my hope is that they will come away
with a sense of really understanding not just Somali culinary traditions,
but our long, proud history, Somali history, how the food developed,
how the country, who we truly are as a people.
(08:02):
You know, I'm very proud of my community. I'm super
crowd to be Somali, and I hope it will give
us people a sense of where that pride comes from.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Well, I think it's there's no better way of understanding
of culture than through food. And so we have the
opportunity to meet Somali born writer, chef and recipe developer
iphra f Avmed, who is author of the new book Somalia.
That's happening at the Free Library of Philadelphia on Wednesday
the third from six to seven thirty pm. Thank you
so much for joining us today and sharing with us
(08:33):
the unique beauty of Somali cuisine. Thank you so much, pleasure.
We'll have more insight after these messages. Women Against Abuse
(09:00):
celebrating fifty years of service with Philly's Best Women Chef competition,
Dish It Up on Thursday, June eleventh at the Crystal
Tea Room in Center City. This year, step into a groovy,
nineteen seventies inspired night featuring delicious bites from top local chefs,
an open bar, and the chance to connect with hundreds
of change makers. Best of all, proceed support survivors of
(09:22):
domestic violence. Get your tickets at Women Against Abuse dot org.
Good morning and welcome to Winsight, a show about empowering
our community. I'm Lorraine ballad Morrow. Today we focus on opportunity, healing,
and building stronger communities across Philadelphia. We'll discuss financial empowerment
and pathways to home ownership as the Urban League of
Greater Philadelphia and Wells Fargo prepare for their upcoming home
Buyer's Fair, connecting families with resources, expert advice, and support
(00:24):
to help make the dream of owning a home a reality.
Then we'll talk about the importance of fatherhood, healing and
breaking cycles of violence and incarceration with leaders from the
fact experience, including a powerful personal story of transformation and
re entry after incarceration. And we'll also examine one of
the biggest challenges facing education today, teacher retention, and hear
(00:46):
how innovative programs are helping support and strengthen the next
generation of educators in our schools and communities. But first,
we explore the rich history, culture, and flavor of Somalia
through food and storytelling. Joining us is Somali born writer,
chef and recipe developer Ifra F Ahmed, who is author
(01:10):
of a new cookbook Somalia Through more than seventy recipes.
If FRA shares the traditions, resilience, and global influences that
have shaped Somali culture for generations, from fragrant hawash, spice
villains and spice teas to goat stews, rice dishes, seafood
and sweet pastries. I'm getting hungry already. We'll discuss preserving
(01:30):
culinary traditions, the role of food plays, and identity and migration,
and why Somali cuisine deserves a larger place on the
global stage. So if Ora, thank you so much and
congratulations on your book. What inspired you to tell the
story of Somalia through food history and personal memory?
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Thank you so much for having me. The reason that
I was inspired to write this book is because we
have a Our culture is one in which it's an
oral tradition, and so our recipes, our knowledge, all of
that has traditionally been passed on orally, and there are
very few documentations of Somali cuisine written documentations of Somali cuisine.
(02:10):
So I decided to write this book as a way
to really ensure that Somali culinary traditions could go from
one generation to the next, particularly for those in the diaspora.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Many people may not be familiar with Somali cuisine. How
would you describe the flavors, traditions, and influences that make
Somali food unique.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Sure, Somali food is really incredible. It's really has been
shaped by its geographical location in the Horn of Africa.
Because of where Somalia is located, it's been at the
center of trade, particularly along the Indian Ocean trading routes
for centuries, and so Somalia has had many relationships with
(02:51):
countries along the Indian Ocean routes, the Swahili coast, and
then also other Muslim countries as well, and all of
this has really impacted how how our food looks, what
comes to our reports, what we send out. Yeah, in
terms of some cuisine, like we have a really rich
indigenous culinary tradition that not many people know about. And
then in addition to that, obviously because of like the
(03:13):
spice trade, there are a lot of commonalities that we
have with countries among those trading routes, those traditional trading routes.
So you know, we'll have spices like kardamum, cuman, et
cetera that we will share with South Asian countries or
Swahili coast countries. And then there's also the lasting influence
(03:35):
of Italian colonialism, particularly in the South, that introduced foods
such as pasta to the Somali culinary tradition. So it
has a lot of influences, but you know, it also
has an incredibly rich indigenous tradition that is really the
backbone of Somali cuisine.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
You write beautifully about food as a connection to migration,
identity and resilience. Why is braziav and Somali culinary traditions
especially important to you.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
It's especially important to me because I think when we
especially as like immigrants and refugees, we think about cultural
preservation A lot of the time. What we think about
is our cultural practices, and we think about maybe even
language right, language retention, especially for the next generation, And
something that often gets overlooked is the importance of food
(04:23):
and of our culinary traditions. I think that food really
is history on a plate, and it also tells us
about who we are, where we've come from, and hopefully
you can also give us a glimpse of how we
as the people are developing. And so, yeah, it was
super important for me to document Somali culinary traditions because
it really encompasses all of our history and then tells
(04:45):
the story of just our traditions overall.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
So I've madly mispronounced this hawash spice blends. But you
have some very unique I guess combinations of spices and
also fresh seafood dish. And I wonder if you can
kind of talk about the combination of different spices and
how that's very distinct in Somali cuisine and maybe share
a little bit about some recipes that have a special
(05:11):
meaning for you.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Sure, absolutely in terms of spices. You know, the heart
of Somali savory cooking is a hal ash spice mix.
So if you see that written down, that has an X,
but it's an age hal ash. And to me, that
just smells like home. Like if I smell that, it
smells like my mom's house, you know, our house. It
smells like a Somali household to me. And that is
(05:34):
a mix of several different spices. And you know, every
household and sometimes even every person does it differently, but
it usually has a base spice of about seven spices,
which are cardamum, human you know, black pepper, corn, so
it's this really beautiful mix that gets better the longer
it sits. Right, It's really rich, and it has this
(05:57):
beautiful golden brown color, like this earthy color to it.
And yeah, it just improves a food the longer that
it' sits. So it's pretty incredible. And then in terms
of some favorite recipes, I think is what you asked
from the Yeah, how can I choose? That's like picking
a favorite child I know, there's so many recipes that
(06:18):
I really love. One of the recipes that is a
childhood favorite of mine is Briso Skul cutties, which is
the picture that's on the back. The dish shuts on
the back. It's a one pot rice and meat dish,
so often it would be like goat meat and so
it's a very sort of like tomato rice and you
cook the rice and the meat in one pot until
the meat is super tender, and then you usually would
(06:40):
serve that with a little bit of aspas, which is
are one of our hot sauces, and then a cool,
creamy sweet banana. So we also utilize bananas inner cuisine
quite often, and that is something I think that not
a lot of people are familiar with. But if you
have that balance of rice and you know, tender meat
(07:00):
and the hot sauce. The banana really balances everything out
beautifully because it's creamy, it's sweet, it's cooling, it's a
perfect bite. So I would say that's one of my
favorite dishes from the book.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Well, you're going to be in Philadelphia at the Free
Library of Philadelphia presenting an Evening with You, and that's
going to be Wednesday, the third of June from six
to seven thirty. Your work introduced Somali cuisine to audiences
across the country through writing, pop ups, and storytelling, and
especially this event that's happening this coming Wednesday. What do
(07:34):
you hope people take away after attending your Philadelphia event
and experiencing Somalia.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Well, first of all, it's my first time in Philadelphia,
so I'm so excited to come, and I'm incredibly honored
to be at this event. I think, you know, once
people come, my hope is that they will come away
with a sense of really understanding not just Somali culinary traditions,
but our long, proud history, Somali history, how the food developed,
how the country, who we truly are as a people.
(08:02):
You know, I'm very proud of my community. I'm super
crowd to be Somali, and I hope it will give
us people a sense of where that pride comes from.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Well, I think it's there's no better way of understanding
of culture than through food. And so we have the
opportunity to meet Somali born writer, chef and recipe developer
iphra f Avmed, who is author of the new book Somalia.
That's happening at the Free Library of Philadelphia on Wednesday
the third from six to seven thirty pm. Thank you
so much for joining us today and sharing with us
(08:33):
the unique beauty of Somali cuisine. Thank you so much, pleasure.
We'll have more insight after these messages. Women Against Abuse
(09:00):
celebrating fifty years of service with Philly's Best Women Chef competition,
Dish It Up on Thursday, June eleventh at the Crystal
Tea Room in Center City. This year, step into a groovy,
nineteen seventies inspired night featuring delicious bites from top local chefs,
an open bar, and the chance to connect with hundreds
of change makers. Best of all, proceed support survivors of
(09:22):
domestic violence. Get your tickets at Women Against Abuse dot org.
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