Cookbook Club: Soo Fariista: Come Sit Down

Love to eat? Love to cook? Join us for a monthly cookbook feast! Each month, the group picks recipes from a single book. Each participant chooses a recipe from the book and prepares it for the group's meeting. At our meeting, we eat the dishes we've all prepared and talk about what inspired us to make them.

In July, we'll cook from Soo Fariista / Come Sit Down by Wariyaa: Somali Youth in Museums.

Somali Americans celebrate a shared heritage at mealtime. No matter how they found their way to America, members of this community come together over kackac, bur, and halwad (that is, tea, beignets, and sweets). Realizing how quickly traditions can change in a culture on the move, Somali American students set out to preserve their culinary legacy by interviewing family members, researching available and alternative ingredients, and testing kitchen techniques.

In Soo Fariista: Come Sit Down, seventy recipes for everything from saabuuse (stuffed pastry) to suqaar (sauteed meat) to canjeelo (flatbread) to shushumow (fried sweet dough) honor memories and flavors from East Africa with adjustments for American realities. An introduction explores Somali foodways and their transitions in the United States, and each contributor is highlighted with his or her story. Notes on the recipes share the students' journey from "a little of this and a little of that" to methods that will bring success in Somali American cooking to novices and practiced hands alike.

The Cookbook Club meets in the Community Room at the South Burlington Public Library on the first Tuesday of the month. We will meet on the second Tuesday in July due to the July 4 holiday. A reserve copy will be available for browsing recipes at South Burlington Public Library for a month leading up to the meeting. To attend, and to let us know what you plan to cook, sign up at the Circulation Desk or email sbplprograms@SouthBurlingtonVT.gov.

All are welcome!