Magazine_October_2023

[Ethiopia]
Brooklyn (5)
loves food and
wants to be a chef
Mango, mango, coconut, papaya… The ladies from
K3 sing about them, but it could just as well have
been five-year-old Brooklyn. She's crazy about
fruit, and mangoes in particular, which are almost
her favourite...
Brooklyn tells us: ‘My real favourite fruits are
apples, especially mixed with yoghurt and
cinnamon. But mango comes pretty close!
I think bananas are yucky. I want to be a chef
when I grow up, because I really enjoy working
with food. Just like my grandma.
She likes to make injera, a kind of sourdough
pancake from Ethiopia. That's where my dad
comes from. He came to the Netherlands
when he was five, along with grandma.
My mum likes learning more about Ethiopian
culture, and making Ethiopian dishes.
That means I get to discover more and
more foods from Ethiopia. Injera is
normally filled with all kinds of
vegetables and sauces, but often
it's a bit too spicy for me.
So I just eat the pancakes without
the fillings. So much tastier!
Do I want to go to Ethiopia one day?
My mum really wants to, but we
can't right now because of
the war. Maybe we'll all go
together one day.
I think I'd really like that!’
[Somalia]
Ami (8)
learns a lot
from his
grandmother
Ami got to know another culture through his Somalian father. The big advantage: tons of tasty food!
Because Somalians can certainly cook...
Ami: ‘I was born in the Netherlands, but my father is from Somalia. He left when he was five. My granddad
and aunt are still really into Somali culture. At home we celebrate the feast of sacrifice and the sugar
feast, and I can speak a bit of Somali. If you talk to my grandma about Somali food, she always starts up
about the mangoes. Somalian mangoes are really big and really sweet! Tastier than any other mangoes,
my grandma says. And did you know that Somalian mandarins are green? That's because the nights
there are so hot. Mandarins only turn orange when the weather cools down. At grandma's we often eat
sambusa, which are like triangle-shaped filo pastries that you can fill with stuff. My grandma likes to put
really spicy things inside. But the hottest thing is the sambal from Somalia. I asked my dad for some
ginger biscuits the other day, and he said to me: ‘First taste this sambal, then you can have some ginger
biscuits.’ Oh my god, it was so hot! What do I want to be when I grow up? A professional footballer.
Maybe on the Somalian team, but actually I'm hoping for the Dutch team. Mum says if that's what I want
to do, I need to eat lots of vegetables. So I will!’
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