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| - Jamile's, a Somali restaurant, prepares their goat according to East African tastes. It comes in both soup and suqar.
A crystal chalice of goat broth soup precedes every meal, and is served with a wedge of lime on the side. It's very fragrant and light, with a distinctive meaty flavor, though no discernible goat or vegetables float in the broth. It's the perfect dish to rev up your appetite.
The suqar, on the other hand, is a hefty portion of goat that has been chopped and sautéed. It's not overly spicy, allowing the almost delicate flavor of the goat to come through, and very tender, owing to having been first boiled, then marinated before finally hitting the pan. All the meat is halal, or prepared according to Islamic law, which stipulates a humane and hygienic method of slaughter.
Jamile's owners are from Mogadishu, and they cook according to Southern Somali tradition, which is less fiery than the in the north. But the house-made hot sauce on the side can fool you. It's cucumber green, cool, creamy-looking and hotter than the devil's daughter. Made of cilantro, onion, jalapeno peppers, garlic and vinegar, if you can handle the heat the symphony of flavors will set your mouth abuzz.
The federation is also good; a split plate of spaghetti--left over from Somalia's 19th century Italian colonization--and fluffy, jasmine-like rice dotted with raisins and carrot shavings. This fantastic dish, and nearly everything else on the menu, rings up around $10.
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