Eating Somalia!! Africa’s MYSTERY Cuisine!!

i smell the fresh green chilies the flavor is not that hot we take the seeds out from minnesota minnesota it's the state where i grew up 80 percent white 70 christian 100 afraid of spice so how does a place like this become home to over 50 000 folks from somalia the largest somali population in the usa today i'm on the hunt for one of africa's most mysterious cuisines as soon as you walk in the whole room is just filled with this amazing aroma are these foods that you would even see all in one meal this is just the bench team actually this is the bench when do we eat the team coming soon and finding it in the least likeliest of places so anything i want and we all share together yes don't expect me to feed you [Music] it all starts [Music] here if you were walking down the street of a bustling city in somalia you would likely come upon street food that looks like this it's bright it's bold and today it's the perfect culinary entry point i'm so pumped to be here right now there's two different foods they're both kind of a blaze cheeto orange can we try this yes this high energy blaze orange cardboard can be purchased in somalia for pennies it's made by stuffing half a hard-boiled egg into mashed potatoes then it's rolled into a ball the ball is dipped in a thin vibrant orange mixture to give it some color and texture as it fries there's also a veg option no egg just straight steamed and sliced potato also dipped also fried served with a spicy sweet and somewhat tart tamarind sauce i love that sauce the potatoes it's steamed it's soft it's really big and thick little crunch on the outside was the spice coming from here or from there spicy for him this is beyond like minnesota spicy you have white people come here and eat this yes rilo restaurant and bakery has been operating here for 12 years they offer a taste of nostalgia to those who crave the foods they grew up with that aren't easily found in minneapolis at the helm mama willow and her son abdi there's one more on here they call this it's basically a protein on the run next to him jamal a somali american chef who will be joining me throughout this journey but more on him later give it a dip you know they do something similar in the philippines where they have a natto oil and they color some of the food bright orange like this if you just have a brown potato it's not going to be as appealing but this is just blaze orange it gets people's attention it's big and there's gonna be feeling like gum yes it's like half a pound over here it's like a giant fried mashed potato balm it's not even crunchy it's frying it just kind of gives it the skin that you break through and then right in the middle half a hard-boiled egg to kind of break it up mix that with the dip that's very nice so you dip again double dipping is okay i'm doing it i'm like looking at you how are you going to look at that dipping all the way all right you get your fingers in there you know what i mean just it just gets better man you're born in somalia yes i born in somalia and at what age did you come here i come in age when you're 15 years old so you still fully remember all the sights and foods and smells of somali food in somalia yes food in somalia is a melting pot of different cultural influences as somali people are traditionally semi-nomadic or nomadic so main diets beans making it with a spinach making it on a bean stew much of their cuisine reflects the influences of east african indian persian and arab food as a result of european colonization during the 19th century they've added even more to their food list they said every friday back home is pasta day what kind of pasta so basically spaghetti but the way they do it is sort of like a stir fry and they add bunching different ingredients to it it's very aromatic as well but with a foundation of ancient somali techniques their creations are still something uniquely all their own this is like a wild assortment a smorgasbord of just tons of random foods is this like the greatest hits of somalia this is partial more than 99 of somalia is muslim if you're wondering what that has to do with the food in front of us i can explain devout muslims must adhere to a strictly halal diet meaning no alcohol no pork and partaking only in meats that have been slaughtered the proper way this is a key thing bananas are must because we eat so many different flavors of food bananas are sort of to reset your palette the idea is to get a little bit of everything on one scoop does it matter if i'm using my right or left hand right hand always okay why do you think that is um because this is my toilet paper toilet paper exactly let's [Laughter] first up rips to be precise goat rips raised forever in spices then fried then pan seared in flaming glory that shares a plate with some pasta i lived in minnesota for 24 years before i moved to asia i never had goat here once i didn't know it was possible oh wow this is heaven no game it tastes no none at all just really complete flavor i almost i'm tempted to say it's smoky but it's not smokey it's like you could taste the fire that went into it i'm sorry did you mix in spaghetti so i grabbed the meat i'll grab the spaghetti now you got the banana in there jeez okay it's a learning process it's okay to suck at new things here we go a little kind of savory marinara mixed with some very sweet banana but that goat changed my life next tilapia the meat is scored so it's easier to grab on to later then it's coated in a deep red sauce blend including vinegar hot sauce saffron and gato masala now it's ready to fry we have the longest coastline in africa so seafood is a mandatory in all our meals as well good balance of meaty and fishy fresh citrusy sourness on the outside our tilapia friend shares a plate with a mound of aromatic basmati rice and the rice alone has layers of spices going on in here you got cardamom you got cumin you got coriander you got onions garlic olive oil ghee butter it is layered with flavors mmm really fragrant fresh aromatic cardamom i can like taste it up through my nose i'm starting to see the balance now with the banana with the citrus with the cardamom like i am genuinely blown away i didn't know what to expect i want to talk about you absolutely jamal is a second generation somali american he's a chef entrepreneur and a culinary instructor but most people know him for his cuisine which bridges the gap between traditional african food and casual american dining you were born in somalia correct how long have you been in minnesota i moved to minnesota in 96. i'm so curious minnesota has a huge somali population actually more than any other state why minnesota [Music] with some of the usa's coldest winters minnesota is perhaps the least likely place you'd expect to find tens of thousands of african refugees let's back up a bit in the early 1990s a civil war broke out in somalia forcing an exodus of somali people who came to the usa over the next few decades with the help of the state department and local volunteer resettlement agencies they were settled all over the country my family when we came to minnesota we were living in virginia prior to this and we just could not fit in it just seemed too fast-paced and it wasn't very accommodating environment when somalis were located in minnesota for opportunities for minor social services to get reported through the door educational and you know all of those things were lining up so everyone came here gradually from all over the world not only within america to come and live particularly minnesota and have this sense of community so it started because there's more opportunity more opportunities for sure and then so many families come and then there's a tipping point where this is the place to go that's it [Music] [Music] up brother where are we at now we are at handy cafe today we're gonna be trying out some of my best options when it comes to tamale tea okay you think you know tea well not this kind this is somali tea or sha means spiced tea with milk with black tea as a base flavored with aromatic spices like cardamom cloves cinnamon and fresh ginger then a layer of goat milk on top of that this has caffeine this has caffeine i'm tingling it's okay to get little mustache going too yeah go for it it's a goat latte i love it it's shawn it's tea it's sugary fragrant it's got the cardamom in there just like our rice it's such an awesome mix of flavors let's talk about where we are right now what is this place so this is how i get my dose of africa this is one of the first somali hubs you'll find every array of somali culture you don't have to travel abroad or any others come in here you're back to africa carmel mall is the first and largest somali shopping center in the usa housing over 100 somali shops and restaurants including vila and hong kong this place over 20 years old and still expanding is the heart of the somali community in minneapolis a hub where the unique needs of the people here can be met all in one place they have goods food drinks clothes you can get a quick trim while also having a place to worship it seems like it's perfectly suited to the unique needs of the somali people living here because i'm seeing barber shops i mean if you went to a great clips well you don't have any hair maybe you're not a good example but if another young somali man with a lot of hair he goes to a great eclipse are they going to know what to do no did they confuse how do we cut this hair would be googling it absolutely tutorials absolutely you know there's like this dirty a word like assimilate just do what everyone else does do you think having a place like this stops people from integrating in with the greater mainstream culture i don't know i think that what america presents essentially is you know everyone bring a little bit of their culture like when you go to new york you have little italy you have chinatown so this is you know similar to that we're the new immigrants that came later in the years but have a lot to contribute to the you know whether it's food the clothing the culture you know so this is a presentation so i think simulation part is still there because we live in america um but the other part is that you don't lose part of yourself as well so this gives us a way for us to hang out to our culture our heritage but also while we're not denying that there is another culture outside of ours as well which is the american poster which consists of melting pot of every culture there aren't quite possibly no two things more american than immigrants some somali businessmen and women focus on meeting the needs of others in their own community while others are building a bridge to bring somali culture to mainstream america like miriam muhammad who helped turn a modest somali snack food into a booming business [Music] miriam thank you so much for having us here the whole room is just filled with this amazing aroma i can't wait any longer can we try something sambusa this sumptuous savory fried pastry looks and sounds a bit similar to the word samosa india's famous fried and stuffed creation but this has a twist [Music] india they use potatoes in the fillings in our culture meat is the main dish not just any meat this is beef and a lot of it saute chopped onions seasoned with a mixture of garlic cumin ground coriander crushed red chilies salt and turmeric the flavor is not that salty as well it's not hot because we did it for minnesota minnesotans do not like spicy that's what we were told stuff the meat inside a wrapper made from wheat flour dough fold then seal it shut producing a perfect three-dimensional triangle deep fry until golden brown and if at all possible eat it while it's hot there's so much i want to say let me just talk about the taste amazing flaky outer crust when you bite in you just get a huge mouthful of oily delicious beef and then you just get a hit of all those spices working together it's just such a nice flavor it's so satisfying i'm curious where is this found in somalia is it street food is this something people are making at home and does it have that much beef well not i mean so in somalia you don't make them every day because it's labor extensive sambusa is a favorite in somali homes during ramadan a month where muslims fast from sunrise to sunset as kids we used to wait for that that's the only time we used to make and weddings but this is not the case in here in the twin cities people love to eat it all the time miriam is the co-founder of hoya sambusa after six years of operations with the goal of employing and empowering somali women hoyo now produces like a mini factory kicking out one 000 some boosters daily [Music] i'm curious as somebody who grew up in somalia and then you came here and you're trying to start an operation where you're making food was that a huge difference in being able to get stuff done here versus the place where you came from absolutely they're quite different in somalia it's a male-dominated world i don't think i would even dream of creating and starting anything of my own here the beauty of america is there is a sense of engaging and wanting not only minorities but women to initiate and be entrepreneurs and there are systems in place right that really support you were there any regulations that surprised you where you're like oh you have to do that too yes i think it was just the gloves we didn't even touch anything i mean i changed this glove to call my son and now i have to change the whole thing in america food is very very regulated it's not something we're so used to it but we have learned because that's the process for us to create this beautiful thing miriam thank you so much for sharing your food but even more sharing your stories so much greasy hands i'm sorry like miriam if you're introducing cuisine to a new demographic you may need to adjust to the local palette if you're bringing african food to the midwest instead of starting with this are we eating a baby yes you may need to start with this [Music] imagine chipotle but with african flair and somali spices jamal calls it african fast casual chef musa and owner kahin called it afro afrodely and grill they've been doing this for 11 years with a menu that introduces fresh african flavors to folks in the twin cities there was one african word maybe you could help me pronounce it uh quesadilla is that is that a somali word no quesadilla is quesadilla other quesadillas yes we have to introduce a little bit of everything because we have a large population of latinos but we have the core of our menu it's east africa it's somali menu minnesota is ever more becoming a state of adventurous eaters but there are still those who might consider black pepper to be a bit too spicy if you make original food somebody from here would be overwhelmed by the spice by the sense by everything so this restaurant has carefully crafted a culinary experience that's equal parts adventurous and inviting their menu fuses african mediterranean and american food it's sort of like a chop suey how chinese people are able to introduce that orange chicken it's not chinese food but it's how chinese american food translates so this is how tamale american food sort of evolves it's the perfect entry point to as they say taste africa but i've already tasted africa and i want more i want this afrodelli and grill also caters what's on the menu roasted goat cooked whole dry rub the outside of the goat with berbere garlic powder lemon pepper cumin nutmeg and crushed cardamom on the inside moisture up with a mixture of garlic soy sauce lemon juice and bay leaves stuff in some carrots potatoes celery and onion then roast it in the oven for six hours when you're in africa what is the occasion for such an item like this like an entire goat weddings special people actually the baby goods that's all the special not the goods are we eating a baby yes oh do you know what a baby goat is called a kid oh yeah so we're eating kids let's allow kids okay i know [Music] joining our meal somali singer mishibo nura and halima aiden the first professional american model to wear a hijab i'm used to this by now i got trained earlier the hands the right hand to be specific and say bismillah it said how to bless with any miracle bismuth yes so anything i want we all share together yes but don't expect me to feed you you know there's a big shoulder here oh my gosh it is so soft is to die for i can really tell this was made with love and time because this meat is not gamey at all it's soft the fat has rendered down like it's breaking apart my fingertips it's so delicious what did you do usually a good like this we will marinate it overnight let it sit get the muscles loosen up a little bit and average five to six hours to cook it one thing i notice is when i'm making goat is it's not one of those meats that you can rush so if you cook it in a high temp it tenses up so you have to cook it with intentionally you have to cook it with love you got to tell it to relax take the day off yeah i love that you have a menu that's very like accessible a lot of familiar items on there but i think you could throw goat meat on there if we start go to meat serving at the restaurant the country will be out of goat because we don't have that many goods is it hard to get goats here yes we get the thing from australia and new zealand that's what the most of the goat came i love the idea of you guys preserving your culture and sharing it at the same time i think there's this idea that people should come here and be american but i really believe it's just a small percentage of people who absolutely believe that everybody can bring their culture everybody can share their culture there's a difference between the culture and the kind of like government and system you came from yes and people aren't always able to separate those two of them [Music] i think a lot of people when they speak of cultures america is a melting pot it's a bit of every culture so there's not only just one dimension but 360. you know and i think that every culture brings a little bit of the world together and that's how we have the pool pie so you keeping that tradition you bringing it here it's not taking away from america it's adding to it [Music] [Applause] how have you seen the somali community transform here we evolved i remember 1999 2000 there were only one community center or a prayer of like masjid but now we have about maybe 100 community centers wow and museums restaurant we have everything we have our clinics we have a coffee shop gas stations and we have a mainstream restaurants like afrodill all over the state do you think that's because of the number of somali people or is it because of the actions of the people who are here actually this is who we are somalis are very entrepreneurial people everywhere there we go we are very visible very active so we usually adapt easily in any culture but at the same time we keep our traditions and cultures in religion so we stick together and i think our success came from uh you know community vibe and community culture incredible guys thank you so much for spending so much time with me to you for making this goat i'm very very short noticed it's beautiful it's delicious this is uh an incredible experience for me so thank you thank you just find your way and try to stay [Music] being an influencer doesn't require millions of fans all you need is this t-shirt entertain and inspire at your own pace don't be an influencer be a micro influencer get your shirt now you have to taste it with the sauce oh we didn't try the sauce yet we're going to do that well you got to get another one how many do you eat so far i ate one just one one or two bananas are sort of to reset your palette okay like cheese at a wine tasting like cheese that are white tasting wine tasting wine tasting can you figure out the exposure between us can you find something in the middle yeah the best i can okay can you talk about entrepreneurship in america what are you able to do here that you couldn't do anywhere else wow that's a good question thanks i smell the fresh green chilies yes but i'm like where's the heat we take the seeds out from minnesota [Laughter] sorry to say that boom another video in the can thank you so much to my man jamal i had a great time thank you so much dude absolutely thanks for coming with us today you can learn more about jamal and his journey here at his instagram go ahead and give him a follow right now that is it for this one thank you so much for watching i will see you next time a do you want to say it say peace peace peace

Channel: Best Ever Food Review Show

Views: 2,692,944

Keywords: best ever food review show, befrs team, sonny side, leaving vietnam, usa trip, minnesota, minneapolis, twin city, somali culture, somalia, refugee, somali cuisine, somali food, somali people, muslim, ramadan, halal food, muslim food, Jamal Hashi, FRIED TILAPIA, african food, africa country, SHAAH, AFRO DELI & GRILL, NAFAQO, Sambusa

Id: gedz8R3XpU0

Length: 21min 50sec (1310 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 15 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/L07]

Afro Deli is great. I’m going to have to try that place in Karmel mall. Anyone have any other recommendations for Somali food?

[u/AdditionalTheory]

Text on the thumbnail might mislead some people and attract the wrong crowd

[u/minnewegian]

I recommend this food to everyone. It is very good and not everything is spicy. And what has spicy tastes good and not hot just to be hot. Hearty food that Midwesterners are familiar with and love.

[u/BrupieD]

I love going to restaurant supply stores where they sell whole frozen goats!