At Djibouti-ville's port-side grills, French brochette form meets Somali, Afar and Yemeni cooking: cubes of goat or young lamb are marinated with cumin-heavy xawaash-style spice and grilled over charcoal, served with laxoox flatbread or French fries in a legacy of the colonial garrison town. Similar Italian-inflected grilled-meat skewers turn up in Eritrea's Asmara bars, marking the Red Sea corridor's shared kebab habit.
Also known as: brochettes djiboutiennes, brochettes de chèvre, Red Sea brochettes
Watch it made
Ingredients
- 700 g goat or young lamb leg, 3 cm cubes
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 0.5 tsp ground cardamom
- 1 tsp chili powder or 2 minced green chilies
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 1 baguette
- for a zhug-style relish: green chilies, coriander, garlic, cumin, oil
How to make it
- 1
Blend the cumin, cardamom, chili, garlic, oil and salt and slather over the goat; marinate 3 hours — the spicing sits where Somali, Afar and Yemeni kitchens meet.
- 2
Pound the relish ingredients into a rough green heat.
- 3
Skewer and grill over glowing charcoal 10-12 minutes, quarter-turning so every face takes color at the port-side pace.
- 4
Rest briefly while the baguette warms at the grill's edge.
- 5
Serve the brochettes tucked into or beside the split baguette — the French loaf is the local plate — with the green relish.
Pro tip: Cardamom is the tell of Djibouti-ville's grills; grind it fresh from pods, since pre-ground loses the perfume before the meat ever meets it.
The story of Djiboutian brochettes
At Djibouti-ville's port-side grills, the French brochette form meets Somali, Afar and Yemeni cooking: cubes of goat or young lamb marinated with a cumin-heavy xawaash-style spice and grilled over charcoal, served with laxoox flatbread or French fries — a legacy of the colonial garrison town.
The fries alongside a spiced goat skewer capture the whole history in one plate. Similar Italian-inflected grilled-meat skewers turn up in Eritrea's Asmara bars, and together they mark a Red Sea corridor where European colonial forms and Horn of Africa cooking merged without either quite winning.
The technique that defines it
The marinade is a wet paste of xawaash-style spice with garlic, a little oil and lemon — heavier on cumin than the Somali blend and closer to a Yemeni hawaij in emphasis. It is applied for several hours, which suits goat.
Grilling is over charcoal at moderate heat. Goat is lean and worked and needs the time; young lamb is quicker. The port-side grills work continuously and the skewers are basted occasionally with oil and lemon, which is the French inflection on an otherwise Horn of Africa method.
Choosing your ingredients
Goat or young lamb in two-centimetre cubes with fat included. Goat is the more common and the more characteristic. A xawaash-style blend heavy on cumin, with coriander, cardamom, black pepper and a little cinnamon.
Garlic, oil, lemon. Laxoox (the fermented flatbread, the same family as Somali canjeero and Ethiopian injera) or French fries. A chilli sauce on the side, and often a simple tomato-onion salad.
Mistakes that ruin it
Grilling goat fast
It is lean and worked. Moderate coals and a longer cook with turning.
Under-cumining
The Djiboutian blend leans heavier on cumin than the Somali one. It is the local emphasis.
Skipping the basting
Oil and lemon brushed on during the cook is the French inflection and it keeps lean goat from drying.
Serving it without the bread or fries
Both are standard and both are part of the dish's colonial-and-local character.
How it is served
With laxoox or fries, a chilli sauce and a tomato-onion salad, at a port-side grill in the evening. Sweet tea afterwards. It is casual and social, and the mixed-heritage plate is the point rather than an oddity.
Questions about Djiboutian brochettes
What is laxoox?
The Djiboutian and Somali fermented flatbread, related to Ethiopian injera, used to scoop grilled meat.
Why fries with a goat skewer?
A legacy of Djibouti's history as a French garrison town. The mixed plate reflects the city's Somali, Afar, Yemeni and French layers.
What spice blend is used?
A xawaash-style mix heavier on cumin than the Somali standard, with coriander, cardamom, black pepper and a little cinnamon.
What meat is used?
Goat most commonly, or young lamb. Goat is lean and needs a longer, gentler cook.
