Shaah iyo sheeko (Tea and conversation)

With winter finally here, there's nothing better than snuggling up to a hot and flavoured cup of tea - Somali style. To make the perfect Somali tea, you need to add cardamom, cinnamon, cloves (I also add ginger) to boiling water and then add loose black tea and honey (the healthier option). If you care about your health, then I wouldn't recommend Somali desserts as they are dangerous! However, they are worth trying at least once. During family gatherings, we usually have a combination of Somali desserts.

As you can see from the tiered tray above, there are different types of desserts. On the top tray, there is fried sweet sesames and coconut sweets. On the middle tray are shushumow (crystallised pastry shells) and halwo/halwad (I call it a heart attack on a plate!), which is made of at least 70% sugar, oil, cornstarch with cardamom and nutmeg. And on the bottom tray are doolshe (Somali sponge cake) and Somali biscuits. And of course no Somali tea time is complete without a conversation!