Hawa Hassan is a Somali-American author and chef. Her first cookbook, ''In Bibi's Kitchen'', won the 2022 James Beard Foundation award for Best International Cookbook.

Early life and education

Hawa Ali Hassan was born in

Mogadishu Mogadishu (, also ; so, Muqdisho or ; ar, مقديشو ; it, Mogadiscio ), locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and List of cities in Somalia by population, most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port ...

, Somalia, the second eldest of ten siblings; her early life was spent in Mogadishu. Her family fled the country in 1991 during the

Somali Civil War The Somali Civil War ( so, Dagaalkii Sokeeye ee Soomaaliya; ar, الحرب الأهلية الصومالية ) is an ongoing civil war that is taking place in Somalia. It grew out of resistance to the Military dictatorship, military junta wh ...

when Hassan was four years old, going to a

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

refugee camp in

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of the British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital city status. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

, Kenya. Hassan was soon sent to

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

. Her father returned to Somalia. In 1993, when she was seven, Hassan's mother sent her to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, Washington, to live with family friends in the city's South End; the goal was for the rest of her family to join her eventually, but by the time she was in middle school she "realized no one was coming". She later lived with a friend's family. Her mother and siblings went to Norway. She did not see them for fifteen years and has only seen her father once since he returned to Somalia. Hassan graduated from high school early and enrolled at Bellevue College when she was 16.

Career

Hassan began modeling while attending high school and college. She moved to Brooklyn to pursue modeling but soon started creating Somali sauces and chutneys using her mother's recipes, which she'd practiced while visiting

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

for her first reunion with her family in fifteen years, with a goal of selling them. In 2014 she opened Basbaas Somali Foods. By 2015 she was selling several varieties. She hosted several programs for ''Bon Appetit'''s YouTube channel, including "Hawa at Home;” “Hawa in the Kitchen,” and “Spice of Life”.

''In Bibi's Kitchen''

In 2017 Hassan met

Julia Turshen Julia Turshen (born 1985) is an American cookbook author, food writer, cook, and food equity advocate. She lectures on food and home cooking and has published four solo books on the subject and has contributed to many others in collaboration or as ...

, with whom she co-authored the 2020 cookbook ''In Bibi’s Kitchen: The Recipes and Stories of Grandmothers from the Eight African Countries That Touch the Indian Ocean'', which won the 2022

James Beard award The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. They are scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media award ...

for best international cookbook. Multiple publishers rejected the book, and only one,

Ten Speed Press Ten Speed Press is a publishing house founded in Berkeley, California in 1971 by Phil Wood. Ten Speed Press was bought by Random House in February 2009 and is now part of their Crown Publishing Group division. History Wood worked with Barnes & N ...

, entered negotiations. The book focuses on foods from African countries that border the Indian Ocean (

Comoros The Comoros,, ' officially the Union of the Comoros,; ar, الاتحاد القمري ' is an independent country made up of three islands in southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. It ...

Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, and

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

) and were important in the spice trade; the authors collected recipes from "bibis", the

Swahili Swahili may refer to: * Swahili language, a Bantu language official in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and widely spoken in the African Great Lakes * Swahili people, an ethnic group in East Africa * Swahili culture Swahili culture is the culture of ...

word for grandmothers, and the book was photographed by Nairobi-based Somali Khadija Farah. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' named it one of the best cookbooks of 2020.

Bibliography

* With

Personal life

As of 2021 Hassan was living in New York City.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hassaan, Hawa American people of Somali descent Women cookbook writers James Beard Foundation Award winners Somalian refugees Somalian emigrants to the United States 1980s births Living people