Ask a Somali

Ifrah Jimale works for Common Bond and Caribou Coffee and lives in MInneapolis. She likes to read anything and likes camping. She writes the "Ask a Somali" column for the TC Daily Planet.

There's pork in those Pop-Tarts: Navigating the supermarket as a Muslim

By Ifrah Jimale, Ask a Somali

Living as a Muslim in America, and especially the Midwest, can be a challenge sometimes. Surprisingly, it's not the big stuff that I end up dealing with every day, but the small stuff, the stuff you don't think about until it's right there in front of you: whether you can eat the candy that's been set out on a desk, or the birthday cake a coworker brings in, or the food at a neighborhood barbecue.MORE »

Taste of Somalia: Making Injera in MInnesota

By Ifrah Jimale, Ask a Somali

Q: A few weeks ago a coworker of mine took me to a restaurant called Safari. It was my first time having Somali food, and I loved it! I'm interested in getting into Somali food. I've found a few other restaurants around the Twin Cities, but it seems Somali food is really underrepresented here among all the other cultures. I'd like to try making a few things at home. Are there any books on Somali cooking that you know of?

To my knowledge, there is only one Somali cookbook that’s ever been written. MORE »

Taking some time

By Ifrah Jimale, Ask a Somali

To my loyal readers,

I've always considered myself blessed for the good fortune that's been given to me, even in spite of the hardships I've had to endure along the way. That being said, life still isn't perfume and roses, and in the last little while I've had more challenges I've had to rise to, with my other jobs, my family here, my family abroad, and the situation of my brothers and sisters still in Somalia.
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Christmas: To celebrate or not to celebrate

By Ifrah Jimale, Ask a Somali

The holidays are not my favorite time of the year for two reasons. One, it is the time that I am constantly aware of how much I miss my family who are scattered all over the world. Two, I am guilty if I celebrate Christmas because that is not what Somalis do, and I am still guilty if I don’t celebrate it because my friends say I am different from your typical Somali and do everything else and am always preaching to them how we should integrate and assimilate.
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Somali clans in Minnesota

By Ifrah Jimale, Ask a Somali

Question: Do Somali people still practice the clan system in Minnesota?

Yes, they do. All you have to do is go to the Starbucks coffee shop on Riverside. Every Somali tribe probably sends about five men to represent them at that coffeehouse. These men leave their kids and wives to sit there and argue over who started the 20-something year civil war back home. I am waiting one of these days to walk in there and find the men signing a resolution that will solve all of our problems. That is not a lot to expect right? I mean they've being arguing since at least 2004. That is when I noticed the large number of men anyway; maybe they were there even before 2004.MORE »

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