Authentic Swahili cuisine arrives in Columbia from Abbey’s Swahlian Delights
The rich smells of cardamom and cumin fill the kitchen at CoMo Cooks in Columbia as Abbey Mitchell prepares a traditional Swahili dish, beef pilaf. In April 2023, Mitchell opened Abbey’s Swahili Delights inspired by the flavors and food of her home Mombasa, Kenya. Every Friday, Mitchell sells food at weekly pop-up shops outside CoMo Cooks, the shared communal kitchen where she preps and cooks her food.
Key spices for one of Mitchell’s favorite dishes, beef pilaf, sit in the CoMo Cooks shared kitchen on Monday, Feb. 19, 2024, in Columbia, Mo. After not being able to find the quality of spices she needed in Columbia, Mitchell looked for other solutions. “I found most of them were bland and didn’t have any taste to them,” Mitchell said. “They look the same but they don’t taste the same.” She now makes frequent trips to St. Louis, Missouri where she sources higher quality ingredients.Mitchell tastes her beef broth after adding it to the pilaf. “My passion for cooking came from my mom […] I would step on a stool and watch to see what she was doing. When she wasn’t at home I would practice what I saw her doing.Mitchell mixes the pilaf on the stovetop as other chefs work on their own dishes in the shared kitchen. CoMo Cooks is home to over 25 food vendors and offers food storage, appliances and support to small culinary businesses.“I wanted to start small, but I didn’t know how,” Mitchell said. “I love all the support we get from the kitchen and the people all across Columbia.”Mitchell washes basmati rice in a sink. Mitchell enjoys serving and providing people with nutritious and tasty food. “It is my passion because I can serve so many people,” Mitchell said. “When you put a smile on people’s faces and food on their table, it is a special feeling.”Mitchell prepares passion fruit juice with basil seeds. Mitchell said she will be adding passion fruit juice to her menu in the summer.After an hour of preparing, Mitchell serves beef pilaf. “This is a delicious and quick meal,” Mitchell said. “The secret to having a good pilaf is in the onions. It needs a lot of onions; it is one of the main ingredients.” Every week Mitchell creates a new menu and shares it on her social media platforms. Her beef pilaf regularly makes the menu since it is a fan favorite.
Edited by Hannah Schuh | hschuh@themaneater.com
Copy edited by Katie Hoffman and Sterling Sewell | ssewell@themaneater.com
