Welcome to a world of macmacaan

All over the world, desserts of all kind have had a delightful impact on many people over the years. From savoury sweets to all kinds of scrumptious cakes. Many cultures around the world have their own way of appealing to our taste buds and i'd like to share my cultures tasty treats with you.

The Somali (my) community are no exception to this. A culture that is full of flavoursome food, the Somali community are known for their range of delectable sweets and desserts, many of which are of excellent taste.

Passed on from generation to generation, these ancient recipes are prepared with love. Somalis take pride in cooking up tasteful bites that are appealing to mouth, leaving a lasting impression on the one consuming it. It takes complexity and understanding, something which is passed down from family members, allowing us to imitate our ancestors.

Throughout this blog, I will be discussing, exploring and analysing different Somali recipes, many of which are not known to people outside my culture. I will also be interviewing family members, allowing them to educate me on the history attached to these different recipes. I will be speaking with family members, such as my mother, aunties and grandmother. I will also be speaking with my stepdad, who is Spanish, asking him how the two cultures differ and what experience he has had with Somali sweets.

Somali cuisines have been hidden for so long, partially due to the fact that some Somali restaurants serve European food to European tourists, as they believe that they prefer to eat their own food. Another reason is because you will rarely see Somalis eating desserts in the middle of the street, this comes from the idea that eating when others are not, is seen being selfish. So it’s quite rare to catch a glimpse of our macmacaan (sweets).

I will be looking at family recipes and comparing them to online cookbooks that have similar recipes. There are not any cookbooks available, as every recipe can be made differently. When cooking food at home, my mother would tend to add different ingredients, changing them around each time, hoping to get different tastes. This is quite different to my usual way of making desserts, as I tend to follow instructions and recipes to a T!

This journey will be quite exciting, as it will allow me to dive into my culture from a different perspective and learn new things. It will also allow me to a better baker, as I’m quite bad, despite following instructions correctly.