Ifrah F. Ahmed Transcript
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Hi, everyone. You're listening to The Future Of Food Is You, a production of The Cherry Bombe Podcast Network. I'm your host, Abena Anim-Somuah, and each week I talk to emerging talents in the food world and they share what they're up to as well as their dreams and predictions for what's ahead. As for me, I'm the founder of The Eden Place, a community that's all about gathering people intentionally around food. I love this new generation of chefs, bakers, and creatives making their way in the worlds of food, drink, media, and tech.
Today's guest is Ifrah Ahmed. Ifrah is a Somali-born chef and writer splitting time between New York and Seattle. Ifrah's work focuses on food, culture, memory, and migration. In addition to being a New York Times Cooking contributor, she's the founder of Milk & Myrrh, a pop-up culinary experience introducing audiences to Somali cuisine and culture. Ifrah and I chat about the future of Somali food, archiving food cultures that are rooted in oral traditions, and how she thinks about community and growing her career.
Thank you to Kerrygold for supporting The Future Of Food Is You. Kerrygold is the iconic Irish brand, famous for its rich butter and cheese made in Ireland with milk from grass-fed cows. I was recently in Ireland with Kerrygold and got to meet some of the people behind their signature butter and cheese. I spent an afternoon with Kerrygold's cheese tasters to learn how classic cheddars like Dubliner and Skellig are aged. I visited the Ballymaloe Cookery School and watched Rachel Allen make some champ, which is basically an Irish take on mashed potatoes filled with scallions and Kerrygold salted butter in the gold foil, of course. We also spent an afternoon with the Grubb-Furno family, the cheese makers behind the Kerrygold Cashel Blue farmhouse cheese perfect for any cheeseboard or salad topping. It was wonderful just to see how Kerrygold is such a big part of Irish culinary culture. We even got to meet the famous cows, the Cleary family in County Waterford introduced us to their herd, and I learned so much about what goes into producing the best milk for Kerrygold's butter and cheese. Be on the lookout for some cow selfies on my Instagram. Each time I reach for my favorite unsalted butter or yummy cheddar, I'll be thinking of those cows and their dreamy pasture. Look for Kerrygold butter and cheese at your favorite supermarket specialty grocery store or cheese shop and visit kerrygoldusa.com for recipes and product information.
Some Cherry Bombe housekeeping. Don't miss the newest issue of Cherry Bombe's print magazine. The theme is The Future Of Food, and the issue was inspired by this podcast. Inside you'll find great stories, recipes, and our Future Of Food 50 list of rising stars, many of whom you've heard on the show. You can buy a copy of the issue or subscribe at cherrybombe.com. You can also find a copy at one of our amazing retailers like Kitchen Arts & Letters in Manhattan and Vivian Culinary Books in Portland, Oregon. Check out cherrybombe.com for a complete list of shops that carry our magazine.
Let's check in with today's guest. Ifrah, thank you so much for joining us on The Future Of Food Is You podcast.
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
Thank you for having me.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Where did you grow up and how did food show up in your life?
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
I grew up in the rainy Pacific Northwest city of Seattle. How did food show up in my life? It showed up in two ways. The main way is via Somali food and just constantly being around Somali food. And the other way would be being an immigrant or refugee kid having a fascination with American food because that's something that you don't know. You're in a new country. One of my earliest memories of being in America is we lived right around the corner from a McDonald's in our very first apartment in Seattle where we were resettled.
Every morning when my mom would open the window, the first smell that I would get is the McDonald's french fries smell. So that's one of my earliest memories of food and growing up in Seattle. And then in terms of Somali food, my mom, she really tried to make sure that we were connected to Somali culture and Somali cuisine. For me, the way that showed up beyond just eating Somali food was also getting these kind of culinary lessons for my mom. Hooyo means mom in Somali, so I call it Hooyo's Cooking School, and that started when I was around seven or eight and just learning basic things like how to make tea, Somali Shaah tea, how to make eggs and things like that. From there, I became really fascinated by food. I think we're all food network kids.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Oh, yeah.
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
All of us who are now in the food scene in some way, I think share that commonality of growing up, watching the Food Network, getting into the different shows, experimenting with food. A lot of the time I wouldn't be experimenting with Somali food, I would be experimenting with American food because that's not something I was being taught. And so I would be making mac and cheese or have weird food, hyper fixations, which I definitely should have picked up on earlier, I just realize now that I have food hyper fixations. But when I was younger, I would be like, "Oh, man." I'm really into pancakes right now, so I'm going to try to learn how to make pancakes. I'm really into eggs. How many different ways can I make eggs? My younger brother was always the person that just had to try all the-
Abena Anim-Somuah:
He was your taste tester?
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
He was my taste tester essentially, yeah. So I think those are some of my earliest memories of food and Seattle.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
You mentioned a lot of the American foods that you were experimenting with. What were some of the Somali dishes that made it to your table from hooyo, your mom?
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
I mean, Somali dishes were the core. We would cycle between the core two dishes, which are rice and spaghetti or pasta, and so maybe you'd have spaghetti, Somali sauce spaghetti for a couple days, and then you would have rice and goat meat. The spaghetti usually had thinly sliced steak and things like that. But those were the two most common. And then you had Somali style anjero which is similar to Ethiopian injera, but also physically looks exactly like an Indian dosa, but tastes like neither of those things. So we would have Anjero in the morning for breakfast soaked in Somali tea and gee and sugar, which is my favorite breakfast of all time.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
So almost like a crepe of sorts?
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
Yeah. Well, more like a thick pancake soaked in tea. It's really good. But we do have a crepe. It's called malawah. It's like a cardamom crepe. So we would have that sometimes too. So those are the main Somali dishes that we would have.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
What was the Somali experience like growing up in Seattle? Where was your mom going to grocery shop? How was she able to find things that she couldn't have found back in Mogadishu or where you grew up?
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
My mom was going between American grocery stores for just basic vegetables, things like that, and also American foods that we liked like ketchup and things like that. There was a market that was near our apartment in Tukwila, which is a little outside of Seattle. And it was called Larry's Market, so we would always walk over there. It's not there anymore, RIP Larry's Market, but my mom would always go shop there. And then there were so many Somali halal stores in the area because Tukwila was sort of like the hub of Somalis.
We started arriving in Seattle in the mid '90s, so my family got there February 1996, and we were one of the earlier families. Now, we are a huge diaspora in Seattle, but at that time, there weren't a lot of Somali families. But they were starting to move there because they all had family there too and people would come into town and maybe open up a store. So there would be all these small halal grocery stores that you could go to. And then eventually we had a mall.
We had a Somali mall, which was just kind of like a soup. You could go in and, "Are you looking for an aid outfit? Are you looking for Ramadan materials? Are you looking for meat? Are you looking for gold?" You could just go and get all that. My mom would often go to these house stores and get various spices or fresh halal goat meat.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
When you start to really enjoy the process of recipe developing, testing out, when did you start to have a passion for food writing?
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
Food writing probably became much later, more until adulthood, but I was really just into writing and reading in general when I was young and still. I was like a book nerd, so I actually won an award in elementary school for reading. I think it was was like a thousand books.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yes. Literally true. That's amazing.
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
And actually, my first job when I was in high school, when I was a freshman in high school was at the public library.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
That is a cool job.
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
Reading and writing has been a long time passion, and my mom really emphasized that as a way to also learn English. When we came to the country when I was younger and food writing, I don't think I knew food writing existed like high school, college or anything like that. It wasn't until I came to New York that I really started getting into food writing, but I would say that the cooking came first and then there was reading and writing constantly separate of what we now know as food writing.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
When you first moved to New York, what was your relationship to Somali food like and how did you use it as a means to educate yourself on the New York City food scene? Because the New York City food scene is so diasporic, it's like every culture exists here. Some in authenticity, some with fusion, some with other elements as well
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
It's interesting because New York is such a diverse place, but I think the first more recent Somali restaurant didn't exist in the city of New York until 2016. I'm sure there were unofficial restaurants when there was more of a Somali presence here, maybe prior to the war in the '90s with the sort of first wave of Somalis that came to New York, who then left New York once more Somalis came. But there wasn't much happening with Somali food. And the fact that you can only find one Somali restaurant in New York is still pretty wild to me. It's a great restaurant. It's in Harlem. It's called Safari, and my friend Mona runs it. And so once Safari opened, I was like, "Oh my God. Yes, finally." But I lived in Brooklyn.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
It's a trek.
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
It's a trek. And so the closest thing that I could get if I didn't want to make Somali food or trek the Harlem was Yemeni food. So I would go to Yemen Cafe, which I just adore, love.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I love that little corner of the Atlantic with Sahadi's across the street.
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
Yeah. That's usually where I do my shopping too for spices and stuff. So there wasn't much Somali food to be found here beyond Safari, but I would make Somali food. And at the time I was in school and basically I would use Somali food as a way to introduce people to Somali culture. So whenever we had even a neighborhood block party, I would make sambusa and basbaas hot sauce and I would take it to our block parties. Or I would take it to my classes if we were having an end of the semester type thing.
If I had friends over, I would be making Somali food. I was already trying to introduce people to the culture via the food, but I don't think I really realized that I was doing it. It just was like, "I'll just bring some boots."
Abena Anim-Somuah:
What were you studying when you came to New York?
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
Law.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Another law school uncut by the feedback. I feel-
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
I literally just had this conversation with... I was doing a chef residency at Etsy yesterday and the chef there was talking about how his wife, basically, her dad was a lawyer, and there just seems to be some kind of pipeline between legal or really "serious fields". Not that food isn't serious, you yada, yada, whatever, but there's some kind of pipeline that happens to going into being like a chef or into food in some capacity. I've seen it a lot.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah. Law one is common. It's quite common. I feel there's so many ex-lawyers, want to be lawyers. But I also think it could be one of those things when you work in an industry that's so intense. You need some sort of release, and a lot of people use food as a release. I use baking as a release when I worked in tech. I use it as a way to connect myself, channel myself, explore.
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
Totally.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
So I think when food has so many outlets, it's very easy for you to just dive into one and turn it into something professional.
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
Absolutely. I mean, for me also, it was just like I was studying international human rights law and also immigration, and my undergrad degree was in political science and pre-law. The work that I was doing and what I was studying, it was very intense, emotionally, mentally. It's not just random legal cases or whatever. A lot of the time you're connected with people in your community and you're really also feeling what they're going through. And so it's hard to go home and just leave that at the door.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Let's take a quick break and we'll be right back. Be sure to sign up for the newsletter over at cherrybombe.com. It's the best way to stay up to date. You'll get podcast news details on all Cherry Bombe events and ticket sales, and the latest on Cherry Bombe magazine. Look out for it every Friday in your inbox.
Well, let's talk about your pop-up, Milk & Myrrh. You have these incredible dinners, pop-ups, experiences that you've had in Seattle, Los Angeles, and in Brooklyn. What inspired the name?
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
So the name came from this vintage Somali cookbook. I think it was made in 1964, or it might be 1967. And that book is really special to me because there aren't a lot of Somali cookbooks in existence. I think maybe less than 10 that I can think of, maybe less than five. So when I found that book, and it's also the oldest Somali cookbook I've seen, I was so excited because we're also an oral cooking culture and our recipes are not written down.
And so I was going through that book and in the introduction it was just talking about Somali culture, Somali people, and it's just interesting to see how they were viewing Somali culture and Somalia in the '60s in a time that they're just coming off of independence and everything is super hopeful. In there, it had a line about how Somalians had so many nicknames and they were going through the nicknames, and one of the nicknames was the Land of Milk and Myrrh. And I had been looking for a name for my pop-up for a while at that point, and I was just like, I saw that and I was like, "That's it. It's Milk & Myrrh."
Abena Anim-Somuah:
It hit.
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
It hit. It connected. I love that. It was one of the nicknames that Somalia had because we're a very nickname based culture.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I love that.
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
It was just so beautiful because also we use frankincense and myrrh so much, and I just was like, "This feels really representative of my culture at the same time."
Abena Anim-Somuah:
What does a typical menu look like at your dinner pop-ups?
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
So typical menu and also I guess the experience menu really just depends on where I am. So am I in New York? Am I in LA? Am I in Seattle? What do I have available to me? I also look at seasonality. What season is it? When I'm in LA, I tend to make a lot of plant forward items. I did mushrooms and boosts there. For example, a lot of vegan items as well, which is not easy with some cuisine where we really believe that if you don't have meat on the plate, then you're not eating a meal.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Let them know.
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
I don't necessarily subscribe to that, but I did experience that in my four years of vegetarianism in high school. So I really just look at what is available to me again and what season it is, what needs there are of the people who have RSVP. Am I doing gluten-free? What am I doing in regards to that? If I'm in Seattle, I try to really do seafood forward menu, and yeah, it just really varies. One really cool thing that I did, I think it was like 2021, I did a custard series for my desserts.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Oh, very cool.
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
I thought that was really fun. It was like a vegan Somali custard series because when we would have these parties growing up, they're called martiqaad. And marti means guest and qaad means to lift. And so you're kind of uplifting your guest, I guess. Somali is very poetic. The Somali language is very-
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I like it.
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
It's very literal sometimes too. When we would have these parties growing up, one of the desserts that we would have was a custard based dessert. So I just wanted to do a fun play on that. So I did a salted date custard in LA. I was like, people in LA love dates.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
They love their superfoods in LA.
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
They love their superfoods. I did a mango custard in Seattle and I did a roasted banana custard in New York. So that's just an example. I like to just play with different ideas that are maybe inspired by what I grew up with or where I am or what the needs are. And a typical experience, it depends. If I'm doing a burrito pop-up versus I'm doing a more formal dinner. So when Milk & Myrrh started out, I used to do these really formal dinners. 30 to 40 people would get tickets and we would course everything out. They would have the music and I would come out and talk and explain the menu and talk to them about some of the culture. They would have a chance to mingle and get to know each other. It was a whole three, four hour experience.
When I did my chef residency in LA in early 2022, I wanted to do something more casual because I was like, "These people love breakfast burritos. This is a city that loves breakfast burritos." And at that point, I had thought up of a Somali style, anjero burrito. About 10 years prior, I think I tweeted about it or something.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
You made your manifestation.
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
I manifested it. I manifested it. I made the Somali salad breakfast burritos, and that experience is a little different than the formal fancy kind of plated. It's very cas. It's like you pre-order and then you can either pick up and go or you can chill. And I really loved the pop-up that I had in New York at Rhodora back in January. New York had been waiting. My New York fans or friends of the burrito had been waiting for a Milk & Myrrh pop-up there. And when I did it felt like this big family reunion and it just felt like everyone I had ever known came to get a breakfast burrito. The two experiences are different, but they're both very fun.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Something we've talked about a little bit, and I think just really shows up in your work, is the joy and the beauty of culture preservation. You really pride yourself on using your whatever medium you find yourself in to share and speak about the nuances and the things that come up in Somali cuisine and Somali American cuisine. How do you think the pop-up serves as a medium for cultural preservation?
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
That's a good question. I think it's not even necessarily... I think when you think about cultural preservation, you're thinking sometimes the thought is the only people that are experiencing that cultural preservation attempt are the people that are from that culture. And I think the pop-ups are interesting because it's both for the people that are Somali. It's both for Somali people and introductory to non-Somali people.
It's interesting, I think when you're coming as a Somali person, from my conversations with other Somali people, they feel very much at home and they feel like they're getting something that they haven't been able to experience in a while. Maybe they live away from home or they don't have access to Somali food. And so I think the way that Milk & Myrrh is working for Somali people that come to the pop-up is, "Oh, wow, I am seeing my culture represented in front of me. I get to go and experience it sort of in a different context, maybe outside of my family home."
And it's something that kind of feels like a homecoming to a lot of people versus I think... And is that cultural preservation in that sense, right? But for non-Somalis, I think what it really is, again, is an introduction to Somali cuisine. And so I am doing cultural preservation through Milk and Myrrh pop-ups, but each guest is experiencing it in a different way.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Everyone has a relationship to food rooted in where they came from and who they are and how they think about their relationship to eating and culture. So it's amazing that you do offer that platform for yourself, but through that platform, other people get a chance to experience that relationship for themselves.
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
Totally.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Well, let's talk about your writing. You are a frequent contributor to the New York Times. Sometimes you do get a little recipe of the day shout-out, which is always a joy to see.
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
Always appreciate that.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
What was the process like of getting to write for the New York Times?
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
The process was that I had been writing for other outlets for a while, and it's an amazing institution. You get a lot of support.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Especially the food section.
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
The food section, you get a lot of support. There's a lot of talented people there that I have learned so much from. For me, I very much believe in getting experience, especially transitioning careers. I really wanted to just dip my toes into food writing. And so I started with other publications so that I could have that experience of food writing, of recipe development into really learn the industry and learn the profession. And then from there, I think I had pitched them a personal essay or something.
They, I think, very rarely do freelancer personal essays, and so that essay didn't end up going to them. It went to a different publication. But from there I was like, "Oh, this is still cool though. I feel like I can probably just try again." Ramadan was coming up, and so I was like, "Oh, I would really love to see more recipes from throughout the Muslim world represented instead of the same coverage that you get across different publications." So I had just pitched to them a Ramadan recipe and that's how it worked.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Considering that you focus a lot on Somali American food and a lot of your recipes for the Times are based on Somali American culture, do you ever feel pressured to only stick in that lane? How do you feel about the responsibility of writing for such a big publication with that lane in mind?
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
I don't feel a pressure to only write about Somali cuisine. I think whatever I would want to write about, they're definitely open to... And I think for me, I'm very intentionally writing about Somali cuisine. Do I have other recipes that are non-Somali recipes? Of course, I am constantly cooking at home. I'm making a mix of Somali and American. And frankly, so many other cuisines. But for me, because of the lack of Somali cookbooks and documentation, written documentation of Somali cuisine, I feel my time is best used in that lane because I want there to be something whether it's just me or more people.
I want there to be something that my daughter's generation or even my generation can have access to. I see pioneers like the food blog Xawaash that really started a lot of that work and other Somali food blogs in the mid 2000s. I really just see my work as a continuation of that. I know that I've been doing primarily Somali recipes, but that's on purpose. I take it really seriously too.
I'm consulting Somali linguists. I think I tweeted once that for recipe developers and chefs like myself who don't come from a culture in which things are documented via writing like recipe writing, were not just doing the recipe development portion. Sometimes I feel like a historian. Sometimes I feel like a detective. I'm tracking people down. I'm going into archives that barely have the resources that I'm looking for. So I don't feel like just a recipe developer and I do take it very, very seriously knowing that it's also a representation of Somali people. Right?
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah. What advice would you then give to one, a young writer who grew up with multiple identities that's trying to make it into the food world? What advice would you give to them for having their voice and for making their voice known especially at large publications for food writing?
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
I think the most important advice I would have is to get as much experience as you can. It's always great to shoot for the moon, but also build your way there too. Other than that, I would just say be as authentic as you can. There is a way to stay true to yourself and still get the work done.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Well, let's talk about another big writing project you're working on. You are working on your first cookbook. Congratulations.
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
Thank you so much.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
That's really exciting. Can you tell us what it's about and what stage you're at in the process? Because I know it's a long one.
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
Yeah. So it's pretty early stages, but it's a book that I literally have had in mind for years now. I think I have been talking about it as early as 2017. Essentially I'll vaguely mention that I'm working on a book about the concept of forced migration which is something I've written about a lot and its impact on Somali cuisine. Both Somali cuisine and the diaspora and back home. And it also features spotlights on various professionals in the Somali food world that have contributed to the development of Somali cuisine in some way. It's just a look at really how migration has impacted Somali food.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
When you were talking about recipe development and connecting with linguists and historians, you mentioned that a lot of Somali culture is rooted in oral tradition. How do you think about recipe development and educating your audience in the westernized way of recipes and measuring cups when Somali culture is so rooted in oral tradition when it comes to cooking?
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
It's really difficult at times because you are trying to create an exact recipe that people can replicate at home, and I feel like a culinary translator a lot of the time. I'm not starting from the same place as other recipe developers who maybe have that background of coming from a written cooking culture. I am literally at times feel like I'm between our elders who have those traditions and a newer generation that is wanting to learn those traditions. I feel like I'm bridging the gap and a lot of the time it's me just saying, "But how much of that? How much of this?"
What does that mean? What does that look like? Can you show me? And I will literally measure it out myself and then me just messing around at home trying to translate this math. It can be very, very difficult for sure.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Something I've really loved about the way you work is you are so supportive of all your friends and people you meet and people that you are connecting with, with the food world. As you've been navigating your career and you wear so many different hats, how have you thought about community in terms of your work and also in terms of yourself in the food world?
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
I think my work is very community based, inherently community based, because I feel like I'm working really on behalf and with the general Somali community. For me, being so community minded is not new. That's how I was raised. That's what my politics are. It's how my mother taught me to be. It's something that just comes natural to me. I think a lot of people think that they kind of have to climb up or something to get somewhere, and I very much believe in that Issa Rae kind of working alongside your community and helping each other achieve what you want to achieve. I think that is the best way and the least sort of capitalistic way of navigating and working with one another. I think so many of us come from communal cultures. And so I think that you can really see when people have those values and I guess when they don't.
And for me, this is also... Now, I'm in the culinary space. It's also an extension of my work where I used to run a magazine for Somali women creatives, and I ran it with my cousin. We founded it in 2014. And that was also very community based. So everything is both an extension from my childhood and the values that I was raised with, and just continuation of that too.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
How do you hope that your work inspires the future for immigrant cultures as they exist in the western food landscape?
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
I hope that my work is an example or a demonstration of really not having to choose between your identities and being able to be authentic in whatever space that you're in. I hope that my work inspires a love or intentionality to remain connected to whatever your home culture or your parents' culture is. I hope that I can encourage other people to try to preserve those cultures as well whether they're Somali or not, right?
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah.
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
Because I think there's just so much overlap between immigrants and refugees no matter what their background is. We have a core experience that follows a lot of us.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Ifrah, we're going to do our Future Flash Five.
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
Okay.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Are you excited?
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
I'm excited. Let's do it.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Let's do it. The future of food writing?
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
More marginalized voices.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
The future of pop-ups?
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
More support for pop-ups.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
The future of food diversity?
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
Here to stay.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
The future of diasporic cooking?
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
Expanding.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
And finally, the future of Seattle?
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
Still going.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Amazing. Ifrah, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast. If we want to continue to support you, we are the best places to find you?
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
So Instagram would be the primary place, so my personal account, @ifahmed, I-F-A-H-M-E-D, and then also the Milk & Myrrh account. If you want to follow along with the pop-ups, just @milkandmyrrh, all one word. And then if you want to try my recipes, you can find them by going to the New York Times Cooking page and just searching my name.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Amazing. Thanks so much.
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
Thank you.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Before we go, our guest is going to leave a voicemail at the Future Of Food Mailbox, just talking to themselves 10 years from now. You have reached the Future Of Food Is You mailbox? Please leave your message after the beep.
Ifrah F. Ahmed:
Hi, Ifrah. This is you 10 years ago. I hope that wherever you are, whatever you're doing, you feel fulfilled. I hope that you feel proud of yourself. I hope that by now the cookbook is out and that people are enjoying it whether they're Somali people who are reconnecting with their culture, or they are non-Somali people who just want to learn about Somali cuisine and culture. I hope that you have gotten a TV show or have done a documentary in relation to migration and its impacts on food. I hope that you're still getting to meet new people and learning stories of food, of migration, of cultural preservation. I hope that you're seeing your daughter grow up and that you're getting to take in every day with her and you're getting time with your mom. I hope that you're just ultimately fulfilled with whatever it is that you have going on, and that you're continuing to learn every day, and continuing to cook, and share your gifts, and your passions with the people around you.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
That's it for today's show. Do you know someone who you think is the future of food? Tell us about them. Nominate them at the link in our show notes, or leave us a rating and a review, and tell me about them in the review. I can't wait to read more about them. Thanks to Kerrygold for sponsoring our show. The Future Of Food Is You is a production at The Cherry Bombe Podcast Network. Thanks to team at CityVox Studios, executive producers Kerry Diamond and Catherine Baker, and associate producer Jenna Sadhu. Catch you on the future flip.