Somali Food

Last week, in the middle of a terrible snow storm, and after  struggling with the traffic, my friends Ghada, Eliana and me, met in the Somali Restaurant Sahan, located in Lawrence Ave East, A Somali friend recommended me this place.

Somali Food has an interesting combination of influences of East African, Arabic, Turkish, Indian and Italian cuisine. The resources used are scarce. Typically, the main courses include meat of goat, lamb or camel. It is usually served with basmati rice, flavoured with cardamom and cinnamon. They eat long flat spongy bread called Anjara. They love to drink spiced tea.   

In Sahan, all main dishes include lentil soup, basmati rice, salad and juice. There are options to eat spice or not spice. Their signature dish is the Goat ribs.  After the meal, we enjoyed a cup of traditional spicy tea. Enjoy the pictures! 

 Goat ribs, served with Rice and salad. Very tender and Juicy

Lamb. Prepared in ghee and spiced. Traditionally, they use coriander, turmeric and Curry.

Beef Suqaar. Basically is beef in cooked in small pieces with spices. The word “suqaar” comes from Arabic “Saghaar” (سغار ) = “Small one”

With my friends Eliana and Ghada. 

Christmas in Houston

Last December, I went to Houston to spend Christmas with my Brother and Family. Every time I go to Houston, I have the opportunity to have some culinary adventures. Some of my Friends have suggested that I write about them.

For Christmas Dinner, I had the opportunity to taste one of the typical dishes of the south of the USA: Deep Fried Turkey.

Deep Fried Turkey is marinated with Herbs (Cajun Style) and then cooked in Peanut oil. Peanut oil has a high smoke point. We bought a boneless turkey. Some people think that this deep Fried turkey must be Crispy. I would say that is juicy, very tasty. Deep Fried techniques to cook Turkey have their advantages. 

In Venezuela, Country where we were born, there is a tradition for Christmas to make “Pan de Jamón”, typical Venezuelan bread filed with Ham, fried bacon, raisins and olives. In recent times, some people substitute Ham with Turkey. Other ingredients that are often used are capers and red peppers  My brother tried a different option, something that we found in very few shops: Use of Salmon instead of Ham. When we use Salmon, we need to change some other ingredients, which do not fit in this situation. Olives, raisins and bacon are not used here but we added capers and cream cheese.  

 Pan de Jamón, using Salmon instead of Ham. 

In Venezuela, Country where we were born, there is a tradition for Christmas to make “Pan de Jamón”, typical Venezuelan bread filed with Ham, fried bacon, raisins and olives. In recent times, some people substitute Ham with Turkey. Other ingredients that are often used are capers and red peppers  My brother tried a different option, something that we found in very few shops: Use of Salmon instead of Ham. When we use Salmon, we need to change some other ingredients, which do not fit in this situation. Olives, raisins and bacon are not used here but we added capers and cream cheese.  

Below I leave some pictures of some special dishes from Maggiano’s, one of our favorite Italian restaurants.       

Pasta Frutti di Mare

 Calamari