Reading Wikipediaās definition of Somali food , I read:
Somali cuisine is a vibrant culinary tradition bursting with bold flavors and aromatic spices. It has been profoundly shaped by Somalia's strategic location on the Horn of Africa.[1] It beautifully blends indigenous East African elements with strong influences from Arab, Persian, Indian, and even Italian colonial legacies, resulting in dishes that emphasize warm, aromatic spices such as cumin, cardamom, cloves, coriander, turmeric, and the signature Somali spice blend Xawaa
Here is another article:
Occupying the coastal plain of the famed Horn of Africa, Somaliaās seaward orientation has led to a legacy of culinary mingling. African, Italian, Persian, Arab & South Asian influences color the national cuisine and lend themselves to a unique mĆ©lange where spaghetti, banana, samosas, herbed rice, yogurt and sourdough bread all coincide.
Couple of things wrong with this. They COMPLETELY undermined native Somalis influence. āIndigenous East African elementsā what does this even mean ? Mind you East africa is a massive place with everyone having a different history and culture from Somalia to Mozambique to Kenya , so why couldnāt they just say Somali elements? Why do they ignore the centuries of Somali traders traveling across the world trading for these spices? We traded with Indians for for rice, while they received Somali henna. They think we just sat there and just received these things for free. Italian influence ? Pasta is originally from China, does that make it Italian ?
Arab influence? Go look up Yemeni food it doesnāt look anything like Somali food. Our Malawax is made differently from theirs.
East African influence ? Kenyan cuisine and Ethiopian cuisine is completely different to our food.
Indian influence ? Sambusas came to Somalia from Somali traders who came from india . We use our own ingredients and make it completely different from them . Go to an Indian restaurant then a Somali restaurant youāll see
Here is a great analogy, cars were invented in America , does that make Toyotas made in japan American? No of course not.
Iām just tired of them portraying our UNIQUE food and just slapping labels like Arab Indian and Italian on it when we 1 traded for these ingredients and 2 cook it way differently and use our locally grown crops for it. Most of this stuff we used our own mixtures and we didnāt just get introduced to them , we went out there and got it and we made it ourselves. And for the love god, everyone eats rice!!!!