Tekebash and Saba

Born in Sudan, to Ethiopian parents, Saba arrived in Australia in 1999 with her mother when she was nine. After finishing school, Saba joined the Australian Army and was a part of the first era of women in the Australian Army to go into combat. After the army, Saba opened an eponymous restaurant in Melbourne's Fitzroy. She worked front of her house while her mother, Tekebash Gebre cooked the food of her homeland by memory, taste and instinct in the kitchen. Tekebash was born in Tigray, under the rule of the last Ethiopian emperor, who was overthrown in 1974 by a communist military government backed by the Soviet Union. She became a refugee in Sudan at the time of the rebellion during the transition in the 1990s from communism to a democratic government. After the closure of the restaurant, Saba relocated to Lagos, where she works in music and arts events and curates art shows.

Where is Tigray?
The backbone of the cuisine
Berbere and dilik
The first dish she ever cooked
Education during a civil war
Fleeing Tigray
Learning to cook in transit
Wedding? No. Married? Yes!
His favourite dish with a side of mistress
Pregnancy cravings
May Virgin Mary be with you
Shipped off at four years old for praying to the wrong god
Starvin' Marvin
Leaving Sudan
My mum butchered a hen in an apartment
Opening a restaurant with my mum as head chef
Raising a child through a tea cart
An attempt at dessert
Coeliac-safe restaurant
COVID-19!

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