In a kitchen pungent with the scent of spices and hope, Saba Abraham traces her colourful journey from northern Africa to Brisbane's West End.
Abraham was born in Eritrea in 1961. By the age of 14, she became a freedom fighter with the Eritrean Liberation Front, passing on information about the enemy during Eritrea's war of independence against Ethiopia. At the age of 18, she picked up her first gun.
"It was dangerous. I believed we should be independent. There was a lot of killing, raping and torturing happening by the Ethiopian Government and the only choice we had was to fight," Abraham says. "I was fighting for freedom for women's rights. It was my passion."
In 1981, Abraham moved as a refugee to neighbouring Sudan where she continued the battle for women for another 10 years. But Sudan also proved unsafe, with her colleagues being kidnapped or killed. Even though Eritrea finally won its independence in 1991, she couldn't return home to her country run by a dictatorship and no opposition party.
Mu'ooz owner and former freedom fighter Saba Abraham. Source: Christine Retschlag
She spent a year in Egypt before being resettled in 1992 in Australia – a country of which she had never heard before and initially believed was in Europe. A single mother with a 9-year-old daughter, Abraham decided to continue the fight for women.
"Traditionally in Eritrea, cooking was women's work, and while it was something I helped my mother and grandmother with, I never worked with food. I was more interested in fighting," she says.
But in 2011, with the assistance of a government grant, she established Mu'ooz – a restaurant charity – with the name meaning "tasty and healthy" and the menu serving exclusive North African cuisine.
"The aim is to address the issue of unemployment and underemployment for refugee women from all around the world. They are suffering isolation and depression because of the language and cultural barrier and especially having been through a traumatic experience," she says.
Since opening, we have helped more than 400 women and everyone who has participated in this organisation has gone on to be successful.
"It was a leap, but every woman in my tradition are really good cooks because if you are not a good cook you don't get a husband. They are even better than commercial cooks because they do it with passion."
Mu'ooz uses spices such as berbere (a chilli blended with traditional herbs) and tesmi (clarified butter with spices such as roasted fenugreek seeds and onion, garlic and basil). "People love our asmera dish, which is a meat and potato curry, and qulwa, our tender lamb cubes."
ABOUT BERBERE
Berbere
When Abraham is hungry or tired, she eats shiro, a dish of finely ground chickpeas with oil and spices, which is served with stuffed green chillies.
"Some Eritreans think of it as a poor man's dish but it connects me to home."
Even though the menu features lots of chilli, garlic and tomato, it's not very hot or salty. "Our Australian customers get a happy surprise. It is a friendly food."
A constant item is the staple injera bread, a pancake-like sourdough which works as an edible utensil that's specific to Eritrea and Ethiopia.
A little corner of Africa in Brisbane. Source: Christine Retschlag
But Abraham's story doesn't stop there. Last year, she was named as the Queensland Local Hero for the 2022 Queensland Australian of the Year awards. And in September 2022, she was invited to join Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as an "extraordinary Australian" to attend Queen Elizabeth II's funeral.
"It was a Sunday and I was doing a traditional coffee ceremony for my family, and my cell phone was ringing and I thought it was just junk. The same number rang three times, and when I took the call it was from the Department of the Prime Minister," she says.
"I didn't think it was real but I was flown to Sydney and then on to London with the Prime Minister [Anthony Albanese], who was very humble and easygoing. It felt like a big family reunion. It was an amazing experience."
Back in Australia, Abraham continues to ensure that Mu'ooz is about both food and community.
"Since opening, we have helped more than 400 women and everyone who has participated in this organisation has gone on to be successful," she says.
"Through this food, we can embrace our differences for a useful purpose."
Sara Abraham's berai zighni (ብዕራይ ዝግኒ)
This Eritrean ceremonial spicy beef curry is flavoured with berbere (chilli powder blended with more than 12 different spices and herbs), onion, tomato, garlic and tesmi (clarified butter). You can replace beef with chicken, goat or pork.
Ingredients
- 200 g beef
- 150 g onion, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp garlic, minced
- 1 tsp ginger, minced
- 2 tbsp berbere
- 2½ tbsp tomato paste
- 70 g crushed tomatoes
- 1½ tbsp tesmi
- 300 ml water
- ¼ tsp salt
Method
- In a medium saucepan, cook onion with oil over medium heat until golden brown, stirring occasionally.
- Add garlic, ginger and berbere. Cook for 1 minute while stirring continuously.
- Reduce heat to slow, add crushed tomato and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add tomato paste and simmer for another 2 minutes.
- Add beef and cook for 5 minutes over medium heat.
- Add tesmi and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Add water and salt, simmer for 10 minutes with lid on and stir occasionally.
- Remove from heat and let it cool for 5 minutes.
- Serve with injera or rice.
West End, Brisbane, Queensland
Tuesday-Saturday: 11:30am-2:30pm, 5:30pm-9pm
ERITREAN FOOD
Kulwha (Eritrean stir-fry)
