Sudan in Berlin

"Berlin isn't Germany. Just like that website you write for���it's really its own country." ���Sudanese restaurant owner, Mohamed Jebella.





Image credit Caitlin L Chandler.

There are fourteen Sudanese restaurants in Berlin. The newest of these, a��caf�� called��Kush, opened a few weeks ago on��Afrikanerstrasse, in a neighborhood known as the African��Quarter���Afrikanisches��Viertel. The location was unintentional, according to Sudanese business partners Asa��El-Dishoni��and Mohamed��Jebella.

Afrikanisches��Viertel��derives its name from the 19th century, when ���animal trader��� Karl��Hegenbeck��proposed the area host a permanent zoo exhibiting African people and animals.��Hegenbeck��had already trafficked Sudanese people and displayed them in moving exhibitions across Europe. (He later died after a snake bite slowly poisoned him).

Inside Kush, which serves up��modern��Sudanese street food,��El-Dishoni��and��Jebella hope that focusing Berliners on Sudanese culture can educate them to the broader region���s history. The��caf����gets its name from the ancient kingdom��that��extended from Sudan into Egypt.��Mero��, the��former capital��(300 BCE���300CE)��is in present-day Sudan and the site of more than 200 pyramids. ���Many foods���like wheat and millet���started from this time in Kush and we���re still eating them today,�����says��El-Dishoni��as she��pours��us cups of steaming cinnamon tea. ���Sudanese food is incredibly diverse���it has Turkish, Arabic and African influences.���

The restaurant is decorated with large-scale wooden carvings created by the Sudanese artist��Samreen��Syliman. Kush crafts all its sauces��(peanut, sesame, eggplant)��from scratch��and fish is on the menu��one day a week, rubbed in chopped herbs and grilled.��There is a satisfying crunch to the��tamiya, the Sudanese version of falafel, the outside shell��hiding��a crumbling interior flecked with coriander. The hummus is creamy and tangy��with plenty of��crushed garlic. The perfectly grilled��kofta��still smells slightly of smoke.

El-Dishoni was born in Sudan, but her parents moved to East Germany when she was�� two months old. Her father, a professor of agriculture, taught in Leipzig and then later around the world���Eritrea, Algeria and Yemen. Her mother, who worked as a dental technician, stayed with El-Dishoni and her siblings in Leipzig. El-Dishoni studied business administration and then managed the financial departments at several embassies in Berlin.

Jeballa came to Germany some 28 years ago for a degree in applied physics after finishing high school in Khartoum. He later obtained a masters in laser technology, and then worked for various German and American companies until he and El-Dishoni met through mutual friends. They decided to start a medical supply business five years ago; Kush is their first food venture. Eventually, they say they’d like to open a larger Sudanese restaurant in Berlin with a more extensive menu.

As we talk, men stream in on their lunch break wearing bomber jackets and sweatshirts.��The restaurant is located in the working-class neighborhood of Wedding, where a recent movement has fought to re-name several streets that honored German colonizers to African leaders. While the street names will��symbolically change, German politicians are scaling-up measures to control migration from the Middle East and Africa. Most recently, some centrist and far-right political leaders have called for Germany to shun international migration agreements���turning the signing of a United Nations pact into political��grandstanding.

There is no political grandstanding at Kush, just good food and a welcoming��vibe, because�����Berlin isn���t Germany,�����says Jebella. ���Just like that website you write for���it���s��really its own country.��� When they opened, members of the Sudanese community distributed flyers in the mailboxes of all the nearby houses.�����Kush isn���t business,��adds Jebella. ���It���s love.���

Kush is located at:��M��llerstra��e��97, 13349 Berlin. On��Facebook.