House of the Dragon’s Abubakar Salim dreams of Kenyan kebabs for his last supper
House of the Dragon star Abubakar Salim tells us what he’d eat for his last meal on earth, from Kenyan kebabs to a warm bowl of ramen
My mum has always been the cook in our family. My memories of being young are just my mum being in the kitchen cooking all the time – that was her love language. I grew up in Welwyn Garden in Hertfordshire but my family is from Kenya so there was a lot of Swahili food, which is heavily influenced by Indian and Arabic cuisine. So we had yams and plantain but also a lot of curries, some great omelettes, lots of dishes that mix sweet and savoury.
She made something called maharagwe, which is kidney beans simmered in a tomato and coconut sauce, and an amazing biryani, which wasn’t really like the Indian-style biryani you tend to get here – with ours the meat was cooked as a sauce separately to the rice. Then there was matobosha, which are these sweet, coconutty little flour dumplings, which I loved. So much great food!
It definitely rubbed off on me – being in the kitchen cooking is the only place I can really switch off. It’s almost like meditation for me, I just love it. I’ll make anything, from the dishes my mum cooked to lasagne and baking. It’s my way of just zoning out of everything and focusing on being in the moment, being present.
I do like to eat out though. I love, love, love a good steak so Sagadi, this Basque restaurant in Shoreditch, is one of my favourites. The way they cook their steak is the best bar none, man, it’s incredible. It’s a recent discovery for me and I like to go there as a little treat whenever anything good has happened, whether it’s with the family or friends or just by myself. I’m a big fan of going to restaurants alone, it means you can really savour the food.
As an actor it’s important to watch what you eat but thankfully I’ve never been someone who snacks on sweets and fizzy drinks. It’s not my thing. It’s important that you don’t overthink your diet, though – I did a series called Raised by Wolves and I had to lose a bunch of weight in a short time and it almost sent me crazy. My relationship with food turned really sour and I’ve just now started to see food as something fun and enjoyable rather than fuel.
Abubakar Salim’s last supper
Which brings me to my last meal. I want to start off with a reminder of where my love for food came from, so I’m having a Swahili dish: my mum’s mahamris, which are these hollowed out doughnuts that you can fill with coconut or peas or maharagwe, and I’ll have some Kenyan beef kebabs – called kababu – which are coated in egg batter and then deep fried so you get this lovely crunchy finish.
Next I’m going to go really specific. I want a bowl of ramen – but ramen from a particular place. When I was filming Assassins Creed in Montreal I found a restaurant called Yokato Yokabai and I just loved it. Every time I landed I’d walk for like an hour from my hotel, through the snow, all the way to this place, where I’d queue for another hour because the line would be round the block. But I’ll never forget their noodles. They were al dente – almost crunchy – and they came with seaweed, egg, pork belly, spring onion, mushroom, a tiny bit of chili oil and this tonkotsu broth. It just leaves you all warm and satiated – the perfect comfort food. Then I’d go back out into the cold and walk back to my hotel.
To drink – and this is going to seem really boring – I’m ordering water. Plain tap water. I find that having drinks with food can distract from the flavours. I was brought up Muslim, so alcohol wasn’t really a thing in my family and over the years I’ve discovered it’s just not really me.
And for my dessert I want a warm chocolate cake. Nothing fancy – in fact the less fancy the better. I want the Tesco own brand. There’s just something really innocent and beautiful about that kind of simple dessert you remember from your childhood. I think we’re always chasing that feeling, especially as actors, trying to remember what it was like to be a kid. That chocolate cake will transport me there straight away. I remember whacking it in the microwave, struggling to put it in a bowl and just loving life while I was eating it. A good way to go, I think!
• Abubakar Salim stars in the latest season of House of the Dragon, available on Sky Atlantic or Now TV from 21 June