shaah, tea. casariyo, the afternoon break for tea or coffee and something sweet, after Asr. fadhi ku dirir, fighting while sitting down: the long arguments over tea. marti, guest. martigelin, hospitality. soo dhawoow, welcome. quraac, breakfast. qado, lunch. casho, dinner. cunto, food. sabaayad, a flatbread oiled and folded into layers. canjeero, a thin fermented pancake, also called laxoox. muufo, a flatbread baked in a clay oven. malawax, a thin sweet pancake. bariis, rice. korkasaarka bariiska, the topping made apart and laid on the rice. basbaas, a hot sauce served on the side. cambuulo, aduki beans with butter and sugar. sambuus, a filled and fried pastry. xalwo, a sweet stirred for hours until it shines. doolshe, cake, from the Italian dolce. bun, coffee beans fried whole in ghee. qaxwo, coffee. caano, milk. subag, ghee. sonkor, sugar. hayl, cardamom. qorfe, cinnamon. sinjibiil, ginger. macaan, sweet. dhiil, a woven milk vessel, smoked inside. bakaar, an underground store for grain. dheri, a clay cooking pot. saxan, a plate. koob, a cup. malqacad, a spoon. gambar, a low stool.
Miis is Somali for table.
About
I first had the idea for MIIS a year ago, drawn to still life paintings and how an arrangement of objects can suggest something about the people who use them. I wanted to explore that through Somali food, and was curious about what other people would notice in the photographs. The articles then follow the people whose work a photograph can leave out.
Contributors
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@zak.ore
Zakariye Ore
Creator & Creative Director
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@ayooni.studios
Eni Mohamed
Set Design Collaborator
Eni contributed to the development and refinement of the MIIS set designs. She’s a spatial designer with a background in film. Her practice draws on Somali heritage and community to explore how spaces hold stories and memories.
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@xirsi.1
Ibrahim Hirsi
Cultural Consultant
Ibrahim advised on Somali language and cultural references throughout MIIS. His work spans poetry and archival research, alongside his roles as an editor at Journal Gobanimo and co-founder of Koor Archives. He is currently writing his first monograph on the metre of southern Somali poetic forms.