Hassan : I hope that everybody can put themselves in the shoes of refugees everywhere, No one wants to leave home-we only do it because we have to. Hoffman and Bogard : What do you hope people really understand about the Somali people and refugees? I’ve been very fortunate in that respect, and I still am. But if I triumphed over all that, it’s because I had very special people around me. I already felt very different because I didn't speak English very well and I wasn't living in a very traditional home-I was living with a group of refugee men who had come over with us from Kenya. One moment I vividly remember was when I stopped wearing my hijab and started wearing pants instead of skirts all the time, just so I could play basketball. I got more open to new things-foods, rituals like church with random families on Sundays, playing basketball, wearing pants-all things I had never done before. Around 5th grade, when they didn't come, I aligned myself more with new friends in my new community. My mom and my siblings were supposed to join us in Seattle shortly after my arrival. Hawa Hassan : I know it’s been quite a life already-I spent a year in refugee camp in Kenya, then moved to Seattle at a very young age and grew up without my family. The sauce is incredible and I can see myself using it on just about everything, so if you don’t have time to make the entire recipe, definitely dive into the spicy green sauce.Allie Hoffman and Ally Bogard : What have you triumphed over? I love how everything came together in a bowl with the cashews adding the perfect crunch. These spicy green rice bowls with roasted cauliflower are bright and packed with flavor, as well as a good bit of heat. I wanted to create a recipe centered around the Basbaas Coconut Cilantro Chutney, something that complimented the flavors and really made it stand out. My only complaint is that the jars, handcrafted in small batches, could be double in size and we’d still be scraping the bottom of them.
As for the coconut cilantro chutney, well, it may be my favorite of the two I’ve used it in curries and I’m excited to marinate veggies with it. Over the last month, I’ve used the tamarind date sauce in place of ketchup for my fries, and over July 4th I substituted it for the bbq sauce in my favorite veggie burgers. When my Basbaas order arrived, Chris and I stood in the kitchen taste testing each with a spoon, repeatedly going back for more before finally having to cut ourselves off, knowing that I wanted to cook with them. The tamarind date sauce is a bit sweeter and a bit smoky with a hint of spice, while the coconut cilantro chutney is more acidic and creamy with a bit more heat. Both sauces in the Basbaas line-up are incredibly delicious, yet very different in flavor, texture, and use. What could be a better way to do that than through food?”īasbaas, meaning chili in Somali, is the only Somali line of sauces and chutney’s available in the United States. In a recent article in Vogue Hawa says, “… I wanted to start a different kind of conversation-a positive one-about being Somali. She turned the sauces she was blending every night for her family, sauces that are eaten daily in Somalia, into a business.
After 15 years apart from her family, Hawa reunited with her mother and siblings in Oslo, Norway and this is where the idea for Basbaas sauces was born. She moved on her own to Seattle in 1993 at the age of 7, attended college in Washington state, starting her modeling career, and moved east to New York.
Hawa Hassan is a Somali refugee who escaped Somalia’s civil war with her mother and siblings by moving to a UN refugee camp in Kenya. After a bit of research and social media sleuthing, I discover this raved-about-sauce to be Basbaas Sauce made by Hawa Hassan, and I immediately placed an order for one of each of her 2 Somali sauces. At this point, I’ve stopped making dinner and I’m searching the internet for more information on this sauce and where I can get my hands on it. About 14 minutes into the podcast, the women on the show started raving about this amazing sauce that they couldn’t get enough of. While preparing dinner recently, I was listening to this episode of the Radio Cherry Bombe podcast with guest Jessamyn Rodriguez from Hot Bread Kitchen.
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