Lunch
Lunch (qado) is often an elaborated main dish of pasta (baasto) or rice (bariis) spiced with cumin (kamuun), cardamom (heyl), cloves (qaranfuul) and sage.
In the south, Iskudhexkaris, a hot pot of rice, vegetables and sometimes meat, is a regional staple. Beyond the many styles of stew (maraq), rice is also served with meat and/or banana on the side. In Mogadishu, steak (busteeki) and fish (kaluun or "malaay") are widely eaten.
Somalis also consume a soft cornmeal referred to as soor. It is mashed with fresh milk, butter and sugar, or presented with a hole in the soor filled with maraq.
A variation of the Indian chapati is the sabaayad/kamis. Like the rice, it is served with maraq and meat on the side. The sabaayad of Somalia is often somewhat sweet, and is cooked in a little oil.
Pasta (baasto) is frequently presented with a heavier stew than the Italian pasta sauce. As with the rice, it is also served with a banana.
Spaghetti can also be served with rice, a novelty dish known as "Federation." the dish is usually served with equal (whole) portions of rice and spaghetti, split on either side of a large oval plate. It is then layered with assorted stewed meats and vegetables, salad and an optional banana. It has been suggested that name of the dish is derived from the union of two dishes in Somalia and also from the size and quantity of the food. You will not find this dish served in the average Somali household since it is uncommon to cook both rice and pasta in one meal. It is instead more common to order the dish from traditional Somali restaurants where both rice and spaghetti are always readily available, hence its novelty status.
Common drinks at lunch are balbeelmo (grapefruit), raqey (tamarind) and isbarmuunto (lemonade). In Mogadishu, cambe (mango), zaytuun (guava) and laas (Lassi) are common as well. In Hargeisa in the north, the preferred drinks are fiimto (Vimto) and tufaax (apple).
Read more about this topic: Somalian Cuisine
Famous quotes containing the word lunch:
“Long as there’s lunch counters, you can always find work.”
—Mother and Aunts Of Dorothy Allison, U.S. waitresses. As quoted in Skin, ch. 2, by Dorothy Allison (1994)
“Women who are devoted to causes, such as overpopulation and the underprivileged [sic], are much less interested in fashion than, let’s say, those who lunch at La Grenouille and Le Cirque.”
—Ann Landers (b. 1918)
“Lunch? You gotta be kidding. Lunch is for wimps.”
—Stanley Weiser, U.S. screenwriter, and Oliver Stone. Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas)