African Crossroads

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The rest of the family kept us company as we waited. Aweis, the family patriarch, showed us a photo of the Mogadishu soccer team he played on as a young man. Majeda, an eight-year-old niece, kept up a running patter that her older brother, Mohamed, mostly ignored. One late night, while winding down from a long day slinging pizzas, the owner of the adjacent Little Caesar's franchise, clearly a regular, advised us of his favorites--samosas, lamb and goat stews, and the mango smoothie.

That mango smoothie is delicious and, if you can refrain from consuming it all while you wait, a good way of taming the heat of the spicy potato appetizer. Mashed potato croquettes blended with curry spices, then battered and fried, these oblong patties are addictive. Less so are the falafel--dense, heavy orbs made from a mixture of beans rather than ground chickpeas.

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