Syrian refugee women cooking up a business in Toronto — Metro Toronto

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Young recent Syrian migrant Jury Musri eats watermelon during a break in the preparation of a typical Syrian meal at a community kitchen in Toronto on Thursday July 7, 2016. The Newcomer Kitchen Project is an initiative for recent Syrian migrant women, organized by Len Senater and Cara Benjamin-Pace at the Depanneur restaurant in Toronto.

By: Metro Published on Tue Jul 19 2016

Walk into the Depanneur, a restaurant and gathering-place in Toronto, on any Thursday, and you’ll be hit with savoury and distinctly Syrian smells like kibbeh (bulgur balls with spiced lamb), Khyar belaban (cucumber-mint dip), or Torab el Melook (a trifle-like concoction of pineapple, custard and crumbled cookies).

You’ll also see around 10 Syrian women — from 20-somethings with babes in arms to grandmothers — busily making and packaging gourmet meals.

They’re part of a project called the Newcomer Kitchen. It got its modest start in April after Len Senater, The Depanneur’s owner, learned government-sponsored Syrian refugees were cooped up in crowded hotels…

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Syrian women in Canada cook up a taste of home — Middle East Eye

The Newcomer Kitchen, a volunteer-run initiative that brings Syrian refugee women together in Toronto to cook meals from their native country and share them with Canadians (MEE/Jillian d'Amours)

The Newcomer Kitchen, a volunteer-run initiative that brings Syrian refugee women together in Toronto to cook meals from their native country and share them with Canadians (MEE/Jillian d’Amours)

Jillian D’Amours Monday 18 July 2016

TORONTO, Canada – Chatting around a large wooden table, Syrian women methodically scoop a mixture of rice, tomatoes, onions, fresh parsley and mint onto grape leaves.

Wearing plastic gloves and aprons, they delicately roll the leaves and place them in small mounds on plates in front of them. Then, without skipping a beat, they grab more and start the process over again.

All the while, the animated and jovial conversations around the table do not stop – nor does the cooking.

This is the Newcomer Kitchen, a volunteer-run initiative that brings Syrian refugee women together in Toronto to cook and share traditional meals from their native country with Canadians.

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Syrian refugee women cook up fun and profit in Newcomer Kitchen project — CTV News

Syrian women prepare food at the Newcomer Kitchen Project, hosted by Len Senater and Cara Benjamin-Pace at the Depanneur restaurant inToronto on July 7, 2016. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press)

Syrian women prepare food at the Newcomer Kitchen Project, hosted by Len Senater and Cara Benjamin-Pace at the Depanneur restaurant inToronto on July 7, 2016. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press)

by Lois Abraham, The Canadian Press

TORONTO — Walking into the Newcomer Kitchen, one’s senses are assailed. Chopped onions bring a tear to the eye, the scents of lemon and mint mingle in the air, and amid the clatter of utensils and pots is the sound of happy chatter as Syrian women discuss combining the ingredients for yalanji — stuffed grape leaves — and gossip a little.

The women, who came from Syria as part of the federal government’s sponsorship program for refugees, were housed for months in hotels with no access to a kitchen to prepare food for their families.

The Newcomer Kitchen in Toronto is the brainchild of Len Senater, founder and owner of The Depanneur, which hosts pop-up food events and workshops. When he heard about the plight of the refugee families, he decided to open his kitchen to them to cook and enjoy communal meals.

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Estas refugiadas sirias se han convertido en emprendedoras culinarias en Toronto – VICE News

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Por Leo Moncel
Una mujer menuda apoya su cuerpo entero sobre el rollo de amasar. Está aplastando una obstinada masa de harina integral. Lo hace con insistencia hasta conseguir dejarla aplanada y moldeable. Otras dos mujeres, éstas sentadas, aporrean rodajas de pasta de harina y se ponen a envolver empanadas de ternera. Estas mujeres — y las otras cuatro que cortan perejil, tomates y cebollas entre salsas embriagadoras y platos de cocción lenta— son todas refugiadas sirias.

Mas

Syrian refugees gather to cook and sell traditional meals – Yahoo News

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Canadian Press Videos July 13, 2016

Syrian refugee women in Toronto make traditional dishes and sell them online every Thursday as part of a program called Newcomer Kitchen. Rahaf Alakbani says living in a hotel prevented her from cooking when she first arrived in Canada.

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مطعم كندي يعطي فرصة للسوريات لإظهار مواهبهن في الطبخ.. فماذا كانت النتيجة؟

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 |  ترجمة
تم النشر:

إنه لمن المثير جداً أن يُترك باب مطعم دبانيور مفتوحاً للهواء. فرائحة البصل المقلي والدجاج بالصلصة تفوح إلى الخارج، في وقت ما بعد الظهيرة المُشبع بالبخار بمدينة تورونتو الكندية.

ومن الصعب ألا تتوقف وتُحدّق فيما يحدث في آخر ذلك المطعم المزدحم المفتوح، بحسب تقرير نشرته النسخة الكندية لـ”هافينغتون بوست”.

لسن عاملات

قرابة دستة من النساء، بعضهن يرتدين الحجاب، والبعض الآخر يرتدين الجينز، مشغولات بطبخ وجبة مكونة من 3 أطباق، لكن جميعهن لسن عاملات، فهم لاجئات سوريات جئن إلى وطنهم الجديد كندا منذ 3 أشهر فحسب.

“أحب رائحة الطبخ”، هكذا تقول ماجدة مافالاني التي أضافت: “إنه شعور عظيم أن أطبخ مجدداً، أشعر بأنني وُلِدت من جديد”.

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Newcomer Kitchen Cooks Up Business Venture For Syrian Refugee Women I Huffington Post

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by Andree Lau

It’s so hot that the door to The Depanneur restaurant is propped open for air circulation. The smell of frying onions and then stewed chicken wafts outside into the steamy Toronto afternoon.

It’s hard not to stop and peer at what’s going on inside the crowded open kitchen in the back.

About a dozen women — some wearing headscarves, others in jeans — are busy cooking a three-course meal. But none are staff; they’re Syrian refugees who have been in their new home of Canada for just three months.

“I like the smell of cooking,” said Majda Mafalani. “It feels great to be cooking again. I feel that I was born again.”

>> Read the article

>> Watch the video

Newcomer Kitchen on the radio! The Pay Chen Show on Newstalk 1010

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The Pay Chen Show is a weekly one-hour talk show on Newstalk 1010 that focuses on the interesting, the entertaining and sometimes the absurd. With guest experts and the occasional celebrity guest host, The Pay Chen Show explores a variety of lifestyle topics and timely issues.

“Have you heard of the Newcomer Kitchen? Did you know there are a group of Syrian moms making delicious Syrian meals that you can order to take hoe? Len Senater (The Depanneur) offered his kitchen space to a group of Syrian moms new to Toronto who were staying in hotels and didn’t have a kitchen to cook in. With the help of Rahaf and Esmaeel (recently arrived Syrians who assisted in coordinating), that one event snowballed into many opportunities for the Syrian women including cooking for 1000 people at the recent Laminato arts festival and catering a private VIP dinner for guests that included the Mayor. Learn about how you can get involved with Newcomer Kitchen to help them grow and expand.”

>> Listen to the episode
(starts at approx 20 minutes)

Canada Day VIP Iftar with Mayor John Tory

Mayor John Tory meets the Newcomer Kitchen cooks.
Zaib Shaikh kicks off the breaking of the fast.
Tabbouleh
Muhammara
Nammoura with pistachio
Fattoush
Kebab Hindi
Baba Ganoush
Hummus
A glimpse of the spread
Congratulations to the Newcomer Kitchen crew!

Yesterday was an incredibly special night for the Newcomer Kitchen. Last week we were approached by Mohammad Al Zaibak with an invitation to prepare the meal for a VIP Canada Day Iftar hosted by Kirstine Stewart and Zaib Shaikh, with some of Toronto’s most distinguished guests, including Mayor John Tory. How could we say no?

With the super-human efforts of Cara Benjamin-Pace, together with the amazing Newcomer Kitchen cooks, Tolga & Murat of M&T Boutique Meals, Hiyam Samara of Akram’s Shoppe and Maria Abdelkader, we pulled together what many guests told us was “the best Iftar they ever had”. The ladies got a private audience with the Mayor, and our multi-talented co-ordinators, Esmaeel & Rahaf, ended the evening with a beautiful performance of traditional Syrian folk songs and original composition, “Thank You Canada”. I’m sure the applause could be heard around the block!

It was an incredible amount of work, undertaken by an amazingly tough and talented group of women – most of them fasting through the whole 3 days of preparation – all determined to raise the profile of the Newcomer Kitchen’s FundRarz campaign, and help us get this idea into any kitchen, in any city in the world.