Bataato Talyaani iyo Malaay Quddi (Gnocchi with Cod)

Bataato Talyaani iyo Malaay Quddi (Gnocchi with Cod)

In the first couple of recipes, we discussed how the neighboring Africans and Arabs have influenced the Somali cuisine. Now we are getting into southern Somalia’s favorite colonizer, the Italians. The truth is Somali people all have close relationships with their colonizers, like all of the colonized peoples of the world. For example, you will find that most Somalis in France are of Djibouti background, while the majority of the Somalis in the United Kingdom are from Somaliland. Likewise, most of the Somalis in Italy are from the south, especially Mogadishu area.

That is exactly how I came across this dish. One of my uncles had married a divorcee, a woman in her late thirties. This was really unheard of in our family, because one was expected to marry a virgin-- or at least one who could pass off as such. She was put under scrutiny, and the majority of my relatives didn’t like the new woman in our family. 

But I liked Caasho. 

“She makes the best food,” I would defend her in the family. 

I thought that was enough to make someone become acceptable, or even liked. Knowing this about me, she would make me the most exotic dishes and would help me learn a lot of them. She was the daughter of a woman who was raised in an Italian family, because Caasho’s grandmother was working in the market, selling vegetables and meat, and the nice Italian family who lived a few doors away were totally in love with the young girl.

“She worried they would steal her daughter,” Caasho would laugh. “My grandmother was always suspicious of everyone, and I remember best that about her.”

It was no wonder when she graduated from high school that a young Caasho would go to Italy.  She had hoped to go to college but was sidetracked with well paying gigs as a caregiver to aging Italians whose children were too busy to take care of them. One thing led to another and Caasho would never attend college, end up in a bad marriage with an alcoholic, and would divorce him to go back home.

“You were meant to teach me these dishes,” I would say. 

Overtime, Caasho became one of the favorites in the family. They would all eventually see what I saw in her all those years ago. Bit by bit, one person at a time, Caasho won their hearts with delicious recipes that were passed on from mother to daughter, recipes that tell our history as much as they delight our tastebuds. Today, her house is one those places where people go and they feel right at home. Whenever there are gatherings, folks will raise up their hands and vote that we meet up at her house.

I learned, slowly, that I wasn’t all that wrong about food.

INGREDIENTS:

2 Pieces of Cod

1 Cup of Tomatoes Sauce

3 Potatoes, Medium 

2 Cups of Flour

2 Eggs, Medium

1 Medium Onion, Sliced

1/3 Cup of Green Peppers, Diced

1/2 tbsp of Parsley, Minced

1/2 tsp of Cumin

1/2 tsp of Spicy Red Pepper

1/2 Cup of Olive Oil

Pinch of salt

METHOD:

This is a three-item dish: First, we are going to make the gnocchi. You get pot of water and boil it, then add the peeled potatoes, salt to taste, and let that boil for about 20 minutes. By that time the potatoes are not “done” but they are cooked enough. Let that cool down. Then get rid off the water, and break down or mash down the potatoes in a bowl. Then add the flower, eggs, and work that into a nice dough.  As you knead, you will see it will come together nicely. Then you just want to make strings out of that, and cut the strings into pieces.  Put that away.

On a large skillet, put the cod in a  half of the oil and cover it over a medium heat. Let that cod cook for at least five minutes on each side. Some people like the cod to be well done, because they believe it will taste better with the potatoes, but it’s really up to your own taste. 

In the meantime, you will start a new skillet and throw in the rest of the olive oil. When that gets hot, add the sliced onions. Let that brown, and then add the diced peppers. Cook that into a nice simmer, and then add all of the rest of the spices, salt, and all of the tomato sauce. You will also had 1/2 cup of water into it when it comes to simmer the first time, and let it all cook together for another good five to ten minutes. While that is cooking away, bring water to boil for a second time. Add the  the gnocchi into the hot water, and let that cook for about ten minutes or when you see all the gnocchi have come to the top of the water. 

Serve with banana!

Jeeni Idaad Foornaati (Roasted Lamb Fore Shank)

Jeeni Idaad Foornaati (Roasted Lamb Fore Shank) 

I knew someone important was coming, the entire house smelled of lamb. I had just woken up, mid morning as I did on Fridays. Thursdays evenings often led to careless late nights, as we normally spent the night dancing and singing into the wee hours-- all in honor of Sheikh Abdul-Qadir Geilani-- at the local Sufi mosque. 

I don’t remember ever been officially initiated, in fact most Somalis would laugh at the very thought, but we grew up in the Sufi Tradition.  The tradition was so localized that most of us even thought “Shiik Cabdulqaadir Jeylaani” was a Somali saint.  This was all before Wahabbism had taken fashion, back in the day when we used to innocently throw stones at the very few ladies who sported the Saudi-style hijab.  

“May Sheikh Geilani curse her!” we would yell, feeling so passionate in his sacred name.

The Sheikh was our Sheikh, he was so part of our lives that the idea he was Persian, or that he was buried in Iraq, would never cross our minds. You can imagine my surprise when decades later I went to Iran and Iraq and ran into his descendants.

“Who's coming?” I asked my younger sister, who was clueless about it all. My aunt, who was cooking, wouldn’t tell us who was coming. But I was curious, I always wanted to know things. I knew if I dug deep enough I would find out who it was. It had to be an important person. We didn’t have lamb everyday. 

Normally, I would already be hitting the streets. By noon you would find me in the warm waters of Lido Beach. And, if you were lucky, I would come to shore to talk to you, because I spent most of my Fridays in the water. 

But not that day. 

I was curious.

That was the day I really decided to learn how to cook this dish. If it was such a mystery-inducing dish I had to learn it. I asked her to teach me how that day, but it was impossible. She was so busy with it, and we know by lunch why. It was her secret boyfriend. None of us were allowed to acknowledge he was her boyfriend, oh no. Instead, we called him uncle and he always pretended he was family. 

But weeks later, when I used my wit to black mail her after I caught them having romantic moments, my aunt decided to teach me. She was reluctant, but she knew I wasn’t playing. That was the first of many things I would learn from her because of our little secret. 

INGREDIENTS:

Lamb Shoulder Fore Shank, 1.5 lbs

8 cups of water

1 medium onion, sliced

2 medium mushrooms, sliced

1/2 medium zucchini, sliced

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1/2 tablespoon of salt

1/2 tablespoon of cumin

1/2 teaspoon of black pepper

METHOD:

Don’t cut up the lamb. In a large pot, add the meat, water, 1/2 of the onions, 1/3 of the cumin, 1/3 of the salt, the black pepper and cover over high heat. Once that comes to boil, bring it down to medium and let it be for about fifteen minutes. 

Preheat the over to 400 degrees. Place the meat in the center of a bake-safe dish and surround it with the vegetables. Sprinkle the olive oil over it, and add salt to your taste. Let that cook up for ten minutes. Turn the meat over, stir your vegetables, and let that cook for another time minutes. Done.