How to eat: Don’t skip the banana with a Somali meal

In the Toronto Star's continuing series, How to Eat, Aparita Bhandari looks at how Somali food brings together traditions from across the world. For more on this story visit the Toronto Star: http://on.thestar.com/2ohmnT7

Or read an excerpt of the story below:

How to eat: Don’t skip the banana with a Somali meal
Somali food brings together traditions from across the world.

This is part of a weekly series in which reporter Aparita Bhandari explores how to eat the different cuisines that make up Toronto’s diverse culinary landscape.

When Los Angeles Times reporter Matt Pearce happened to partake in a traditional Somali meal while on assignment in Minneapolis in 2016, he made a bit of a foodie faux pas. When presented with a banana alongside his meal, he got confused and tweeted about getting a banana as an appetizer. The Twitter-verse soon set him straight — the banana is supposed to be eaten with the meal.

I had found myself in a similar situation a few summers ago. After interviewing a young Somali man about growing up in Toronto’s Dixon neighbourhood, I suggested we get a bite to eat. The meal arrived, with a banana on the side. “What are you supposed to do with the banana?” I asked my contact. He told me not to worry about it, and as he proceeded to eat his salmon and rice, without any banana, likely for my benefit. Out of politeness, I skipped the banana as well. But the question lingered in my mind.

I wanted to find out how you are supposed to incorporate the banana into the meal. So I called upon Bashir Munye, a Toronto chef whose approach to cooking is influenced by what he describes as his “Somali nomadic” experience.

The philosophy

“Culturally, Somalis are nomads. So we’ll eat some authentic Somali nomadic food,” says Bashir Munye, asking me to come to Istar Restaurant in Etobicoke. He says he likes Istar (pronounced is-turr) because it’s “a good quality takeout and Somali restaurant, with a beautiful hot table.

“They offer a variety of items, unlike other Somali restaurants in Toronto. For example, in most other restaurants, you get either rice dishes or injera. But at Istar, you also get cornmeal preparations.”

For our meal, Munye chose a traditional nomadic breakfast made up of soor (white cornmeal polenta-like dish made with vegetable stock or water), otka (sun-dried meat — beef, lamb, goat or camel — seasoned and preserved in ghee). “You have the vegetarian version of a breakfast with a dish called qudaar made of potatoes, spinach and carrots,” he said. Accompanying the meal, there was also bes bes (hot sauce) and a banana.

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