Family reunification was the driving force behind Iby, the Dallas area's newest Somali restaurant and the first to be opened in the heart of east Richardson. Owner Abdulkadir Egal says it was the only way to tempt the chief chef, his mother-in-law Khadija Farah, to leave Puntland, her own hugely successful restaurant in Canada named after a region in Somalia. "Mom has been in the food business for 30 years, and she was very well settled in Toronto," Egal says. "But my wife had no family in Dallas, and we knew the only way to get her to come to live with us and our five children was to let her continue her passion, and the trick worked!" he says with a laugh.

"We have flavors from Italy, Turkey, Arabia, India and of course East Africa," says Egal, 49. "Our food is healthy, we don't use a lot of oil, and we use light spices like turmeric, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon, as well as herbs like cilantro and parsley."

Anyone who knows the history of Somalia, the small Horn of Africa coastline country with a population of under 15 million (compared to neighboring Ethiopia's 100 million), will appreciate these culinary traditions stemming from its 19th-century colonial legacy. The Italians, French and British left their marks, as did bordering countries like Kenya with its Indian influence. But Somalia's own overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim population also has strong links with Yemen and Saudi Arabia across the nearby gulf, and the official languages of the country are Somali and Arabic.

Iby, the nickname of Egal's son, 4-year-old Ibrahim, is situated among a host of competing Mediterranean and South Asian eateries, and manages to be a fusion of myriad cuisines.

Egal, who is actually an electrical engineer by trade, says goat and camel (which he says is lean and slightly tough) were the staple meats back home. Unfortunately, the lack of readily available camel in the D-FW area means that the less exalted chicken became a necessary substitute.

The "spiciness" of Somali food is optional, he adds. At Iby, patrons are welcome to add hot spices and green chilies, but it's not naturally imbued in the cooked food. Flavors tend to be more subtle — halfway between Mediterranean fare and racier South Asian dishes.

Farah and her team of sous chefs have perfected traditional Somali recipes such as canjeero, a crepe-like breakfast dish served back home with oodkac — dried and fried small cubes of beef (think jerky). Lunch and evening meals consist of spaghetti or aromatic rice served with tender marinated and skewered chicken or beef, and popular stewed goat and chicken with a tomato-based sauce called suqaar, laced with more of an Indian edge.