In Bibi's Kitchen: The Recipes and Stories of Grandmothers from the Eight African Countries that Touch the Indian Ocean [A Cookbook]

I honestly hate cooking. But I have a toddler now and he loves solid food (and hates bland food) so I started looking for inspiration and ideas. I spent a lot of time in East Africa many years ago and love the way vegetables and lentils are cooked so was especially hopeful to find recipes that the whole family could enjoy. This book is amazing. The stories are beautiful and poignant. The photos are incredible. And the recipes are really wonderful and accurate. I played with some like the Berbere spice mix so my child could also join in and I made lentils with the mix for a party - people were so amazed, everyone kept asking for the recipe. The recipes to make greens, especially, are a big hit in our household and I frequently make one of them (there are sever variations and they are all easy). My son loves picking up the greens and eating them with his hands, they’re so good! Last week I made tamarind lamb from South Africa with the Zanzibar pilau rice (subbing honey for sugar) and my husband and son absolutely loved it and gobbled it all up. This book is such a revelation and as a South Asian, such a loving ode to the spices and lives that food involves. You can also play with it and make some recipes in the instant pot for the convenience and speed. I love love love it and have recommended it to so many people!

In Bibi's Kitchen is organized by country, and each of the eight countries has its own chapter. They start with an interview to get to know the mothers/grandmothers who have contributed, followed by their favorite recipes to make/eat. The recipes have been adapted in some places (so you can use canned coconut milk rather than making it fresh, or use ingredients like spinach or "any dark leafy green" in place of wild pumpkin leaves and other local ingredients) without affecting the character of the dish. They are accessible, delicious, mostly very healthy, and often super nourishing/comforting. So far I've made: Digaag Qumbe (chicken stew with yogurt and coconut) from Somalia (I made this first with chicken but have made since as vegetable stews. It's very easy and versatile.) Xawaash Spice Mix from Somalia (I don't usually make spice mixes, but we've made up batches of this several times because it's so good!) Basboosa (semolina cake with coconut, cardamom, and almonds) from Kenya Kunde (black-eyed peas and tomatoes in peanut sauce) from Kenya (Making this again tonight!) Quick Stewed Eggplant with Coconut from Tanzania (a favorite) Tseke com Peix Frito (spinach with curry sauce and crispy fried fish) from Mozambique Chakalaka (spicy vegetable relish) from South Africa Chakalaka and Cheddar Braaibroodjies (grilled cheese with the above chutney) from South Africa Malva pudding cake from South Africa Mofo Gasey (yeasted rice and coconut pancakes) from Madagascar Carrot Salad with Vinaigrette from Madagascar I love how this format gives some individual character to each country. I'm no expert on the many countries of Africa, and it's rewarding to get a sense of them separately rather than as a collective of "African" recipes. Also, the eight countries chosen are all in a particular region, which helps create a picture of what that whole region is like. It's on the coast, so fish and seafood. Some places have colonial influence (like Somalia - Italy), some places are influenced by trade and religious practices from North Africa/the Middle East, etc. You can trace a lot of history/geography through recipes and ingredients when they are laid out like this, which I personally find absolutely fascinating.

While enjoying an online interview with a well-known vegan chef/author/food security activist, spotted this book on the shelf behind him. Was intrigued, so took a chance. And am thrilled with it! Beautifully-made book. (Another Ten Speed Press hit!) Interviews and stories from numerous grandmothers from eight West African countries, who share their recipes, techniques and stories about cooking, and their lives. All in heart-warming, clear, beautifully-photographed detail. True home cooking! 95% of the recipes are made with ingredients easily-accessible to mainstream US cooks. (Frozen chopped spinach?! Onions, garlic, potatoes, carrots, greens, chicken, plantains, etc.) With recipes for making the specialized spices, if you can't find them locally. (Hint: Oaktown Spice carries a killer Berbere, which you can order online.) Ohhh, yas! Another culinary rabbit hole to go exploring... 🙂 Update: I made the quick Stewed Eggplant with Coconut, the Mbowa, and the Kunde for dinner tonight. SO easy, delicious, vegan, and 'cause I'm single there are leftovers. Cooked the eggplant about 10 minutes too long; as the recipe said, it just got silkier. LOVE this cookbook!!!!

I loved the stories information. Last night I had seven friends for African dinner. I made Digaag Qumbe, Somali cilantro and green chile sauce, Bariis, Zebhi hamli, and Polo polano. All were delicious and and my guests had a great time! I also made Sabaayad, which didn’t turn out too well. 🫤. Not sure if it was me or the recipe. I am looking forward to trying more recipes.

This is an informative and interesting book nicely made and well put together. My only slight critique would be that the interviews with the women who share their recipes are a bit repetitive and not overly interesting. The same questions are basically asked of each person involved like, "What are you most proud of?" and the answers almost always being, "My family, etc." Nice to know but not particularly surprising or interesting. It would have been better for the questions to be more food based. Also a few of the recipes are just too boring and simplistic to merit getting their own pages in the book. Things like a cabbage recipe which consists of cabbage, salt and paprika. Not really something unique enough to be included in my own opinion. But overall a well done and well made book.

Beautiful cookbook. The stories, the traveling through food, the breadth of african food cultures that are highlighted... really beautiful and unique cookbook. Titans of the cookbook world also collaborated on this one! From Turschen and Hassan to the photography team. The recipes are delicious, and learned how to use so many new spices and flavor combinations! I'll eat bananas with protein more often now! Excellent edition to a cookbook collection!

Okay, so I actually bought this book and cooked several of the recipes [side-eyes other reviewers]. Also, I know this sounds awful, but I skipped the stories and went straight to the recipes. I appreciate that the focus was on homecooking and the detailed ingredient listing and description. Now I can now cut down on going to my local Ethiopian joints. - Berebere: amazing spice mix; added a bit of cayenne and garlic for extra spice/umami. - Doro wat. This was seriously legit. It was exactly as you’d get in the restaurants and the cooking directions were spot-on. - Stewed plantain with prawn. Good but I had to stew the plantains for much longer than 15 min as directed. I ended up having to dig the shrimp back out and set them aside while the greenish plantains needed about double the time (30 min) to soften. Looking forward to continuing through this book... recommended.

First of all thank God for the match up of Hawa Hassan and Julia Turshen. Hawa has distinguished herself as a keeper of tradition with her basbaas sauce company and Julia is one of the most beautiful food writers we have. I love all the narrative in this book. I'm generally not interested in a collection of recipes without context and as we get to know more about the African diaspora and publishers are more brave in what they choose to buy I think adding a layer of rigor and culture and specificity to the offerings will go a long way in helping us understand these foodways on deeper more rooted levels The book takes us into the kitchens of grandmother and allows us a glimpse to their lives. That makes this book more than a recipe book, but a cultural heirloom. The care and time Hawa and Julia put into honoring these women and their stories is remarkable. And the photography is driving me nuts is so gorgeous!!

Beautiful and colorful photography. The recipes are easy to follow and whichever recipe I tried so far worked out pretty well. It has a very smooth feeling to it, it embraces the love of African women in the kitchen and their dynamic contribution to food in the families. I loved the personal touch to it. If there was a follow up of books which goes into even greater depth and more recipes for the African continent, I would have loved to read it. It's always appreciative to find African cookbooks written by first resource information, that is the population itself instead of generally interpreted by the international eye.

lovely book

This is a great recipe book. I loved the concept - the stories of the grandmothers and the recipes. It's a very "usable" recipe book (unlike some that just sit on your shelf) - you can actually make the recipes and find the ingredients pretty easily.

This bookcook is the best I've owned. I love the recipes , as they seem delicious,very exotic and easy because the ingredients are widely available in stores here in Australia but also the stories of the women who made the recipes are exceptional! What a beautiful cook book ! Unique . Cannot wait to start to cook , Yummy!

A beautiful book that goes beyond just a cookbook.i am so happy i got this book! I just wish i got it sooner.