Somali Cuisine

Somali cuisine is a fragrant and distinctive tradition, shaped over centuries at a crossroads of the Indian Ocean where African, Arab, Persian, Indian and even Italian flavours meet. A centrepiece is bariis, fragrant rice richly spiced with cardamom, cinnamon and cumin in the xawaash blend, served with tender goat, lamb, chicken or camel. Meals come with sabaayad and canjeero flatbreads, hearty stews and soups, and, famously, a whole banana eaten alongside the main dish. The Italian legacy shows in popular pasta, while sweet spiced tea, or shaah, laced with cardamom and often milk, accompanies the warm hospitality for which Somali culture is renowned.

What you actually see

• Bariis - the fragrant spiced rice with tender meat.
• The flatbreads - the sabaayad and canjeero breads.
• The banana - the whole banana served with the meal.
• The spiced tea - the cardamom-scented shaah.

When to go

Year-round; Somali food is enjoyed across the country and celebrated through the large and influential Somali diaspora and its restaurants worldwide. Fragrant xawaash-spiced bariis rice with tender meat, and the signature banana on the side, are the dishes to seek out.

Honest expectations

The custom of eating a banana alongside a savoury main can surprise the uninitiated, but it is central to the Somali table and well worth embracing. As a fragrant Indian Ocean tradition blending African, Arab, Indian and Italian flavours, from spiced bariis to fresh flatbreads and cardamom tea, though, Somali cuisine is a genuine and hospitable delight, kept vibrant worldwide by the diaspora.

Nearby

The eateries of Mogadishu and Hargeisa, and Somali restaurants abroad, serve it.