How Hawa Hassan Built a Cookbook Around East African Grandmothers

This episode was originally published in October 2020. 

This week, we're revisiting our conversation with Hawa Hassan, whose cookbook, In Bibi's Kitchen, could be found on many of last year's most anticipated book lists. The cookbook is filled with recipes from eight African countries that border the Indian Ocean and stories from 24 grandmothers, and brings a new narrative to the table, one that Somali author, sauce maven, and former model Hawa Hassan is honored (if not a little overwhelmed) to share. “I was telling these new stories—I was expected to carry these stories—and I didn't know I could," she says on this week's episode. "I lived somewhere between inspiration and fear a lot of last year.”

That self-imposed pressure has paid off. Her book launched earlier this week, so we sat down to hear about her time with those bibis and what it was like to create a cookbook written and photographed exclusively by women and featuring recipes crafted exclusively by women, based everywhere from New York City to Comoros.

Order In Bibi's Kitchen: https://fave.co/3gnIVLA

Read a full transcription of the episode: www.cntraveler.com/story/how-hawa-hassan-built-a-cookbook-around-east-african-grandmothers

Follow Hawa: @hawahassan

Follow Meredith: @ohheytheremere

Follow Lale: @lalehannah

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