How Hawa Hassan Built a Cookbook Around East African Grandmothers

If you're an avid reader or home chef, you've likely seen In Bibi's Kitchen on many of the 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 Follow Women Who Travel: @womenwhotravel All products featured on Condé Nast Traveler are independently selected by our editors. If you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.