# Somali food: canjeero, bariis iskukaris, xawaash and the daily meals

> Somali food explained: canjeero, sabaayad, muufo, bariis iskukaris, baasto, sambuus, xalwo and shaah; the xawaash spice blend; meals through the day and on Eid.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/society/somali-food/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## The flavour: xawaash

Most Somali cooking is built on *xawaash*, a spice blend of cumin, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and turmeric. Each family and region mixes its own ([Ifrah F. Ahmed, interview on her cookbook, via inkl](https://www.inkl.com/news/ifrah-f-ahmed-s-debut-cookbook-is-a-love-letter-to-somali-cuisine-history-and-people)).

All meat is halal. Pork is forbidden ([Somali cuisine, Wikipedia, citing Falola and Jean-Jacques 2016](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_cuisine)).

## Breakfast (quraac)

- **Canjeero or laxoox:** a thin, spongy pancake. It is smaller, thinner and sweeter than Ethiopian injera. It is eaten with ghee and sugar, honey, or sesame oil ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_cuisine)).
- **Shaah:** black tea boiled with sugar, cardamom, cinnamon and cloves, often with milk (*shaah cadeeys*) ([Wikipedia, citing Ifrah Ahmed in the Washington Post, 2021](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_cuisine)).
- **Muufo:** a thick maize flatbread baked in a clay oven (*tinaar*), popular in the south ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_cuisine)).

## Lunch (qado): the main meal

- **Bariis iskukaris:** rice "cooked together" with onion, tomato, xawaash and meat. It is a national staple.
- **Baasto:** pasta, brought during Italian rule in the south and now made the Somali way, with *suugo* (sauce) spiced with xawaash. Cookbook author Ifrah Ahmed calls it "distinctly Somali" ([inkl](https://www.inkl.com/news/ifrah-f-ahmed-s-debut-cookbook-is-a-love-letter-to-somali-cuisine-history-and-people)).
- **"Federation":** rice and pasta together on one plate.
- **Hilib and maraq:** meat (goat, mutton, beef, camel or fish) and stews.
- **Sabaayad:** a layered flatbread, also called *kimis* or *ceesh* in some regions.

Sources: [Somali cuisine, Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_cuisine).

## Dinner (casho)

A lighter meal, often late. Common dishes are *cambuulo* (slow-cooked beans with sorghum, butter and sugar) and bread with tea. A glass of cardamom milk often ends the day ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_cuisine)).

## By region

In the farming south, stiff porridges of sorghum or maize (*soor*, *asida*) are everyday food. Benadiri cooking in Mogadishu, Marka and Barawa has its own sweets, such as *gashaato* (coconut sweets) ([Wikipedia, citing Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi 2001](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_cuisine)).

## Ramadan and Eid

At sunset during Ramadan (*afur*), tables fill with **sambuus** (triangle pastries), **bur** (fried dough) and **bajiye** (fritters) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_cuisine)).

At Eid and weddings, **xalwo** is served. It is a firm, glossy sweet of sugar, cornstarch, ghee, cardamom and nutmeg, once beaten for hours with wooden paddles. Not offering xalwo to a guest is a serious lapse in hospitality ([Asad Hussein, Sahan Journal, 2021](https://sahanjournal.com/food/eid-minneapolis-halwa/)).

## Somali food abroad

Minneapolis is the US centre of xalwo-making. Bakeries on Lake Street ship it to Ohio and Utah, and a 40-pound wedding bucket sells for about $200. One shop expected to sell 5,000 to 10,000 pounds for a single Eid ([Sahan Journal, 2021](https://sahanjournal.com/food/eid-minneapolis-halwa/)).

## Why it matters

Somali food tells the story of the coast: spices from the Indian Ocean trade, pasta from the Italian years, grains of the river farms. The same meals are shared from Mogadishu to Minneapolis.

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