Toronto Suddenly Has a New Craving: Syrian Food — The New York Times

By David Sax — JAN. 12, 2018

“Ms. Alakbani smiled at her little namesake and broke out in song (“always love songs, sexy songs”), clapping a syncopated beat, as others thwacked maamoul dough onto baking sheets from a mold. Soon the kitchen was a riot of singing, dancing and smells, as a potluck lunch of fresh hummus and baba ghanouj, vegetarian kibbe and spiced meat pies called shamborak filled the table for lunch.”

…No Syrian food businesses has felt the spotlight more acutely than Newcomer Kitchen, a nonprofit group of women who come together each Wednesday to cook a traditional Syrian meal in a small cafe and food business incubator called the Depanneur.

Newcomer Kitchen began in March 2016 as a way of giving newly arrived Syrian refugees who were temporarily living in airport hotels a chance to cook a meal. But it has grown into a collective of 60 cooks, who rotate in groups of eight to make 50 three-course takeout dinners each week, for $20 apiece.

The group has been the subject of dozens of news stories around the world, and a documentary film is in the works. A year ago, Mr. Trudeau visited with the press in tow, and his smiling face is proudly displayed around the kitchen.

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Monday, Dec. 12, 2016

When Canada pledged to take 25,000 refugees fleeing war in the Middle East, one restaurateur in Toronto opened his doors, giving a group of Syrian women the opportunity to cook for the community, spread the wealth of their home country’s cuisines – and find new purpose in a strange city.

Watch the video

For the one-year anniversary of the Syrian settlement, CBC Toronto’s Metro Morning gathered a group of newcomers as well as sponsors to reflect on the past year and discuss the road ahead in the heart of the Newcomer Kitchen.

See excerpts from the conversation in CBC’s special online feature, Far and Wide

RADIO
CBC Metro Morning | Dec 5, 2016, Syrians meet the Prime Minister
CBC Metro Morning | Dec 6, 2016, Newcomer Kitchen (@ 20:00m)

PRINT & VIDEO
Syrian newcomers tell Justin Trudeau what they need to succeed in Canada
Matt Galloway, Dwight Drummond on Justin Trudeau roundtable with Syrian newcomers
‘I’m proud to be here’: Syrian refugee has tearful reunion with Justin Trudeau
Justin Trudeau vows ‘significant improvements’ to refugee system
Trudeau talks Trump, politics

Cooking Up Opportunities for Refugee Women

Through cuisine, Toronto’s Newcomer Kitchen fosters economic and social relationships for Syrian immigrants.

LISA FERGUSON @LisaFergieTO Sep 1, 2016

Practiced hands press layers of finely shredded phyllo pastry into baking sheets. Others follow with spoonfuls of ricotta cheese. Once baked, the knafeh Nabulsia will be drenched in orange blossom syrup and sprinkled with pistachio. “It’s always good to know how to cook something traditional,” says Majda Khalil, one of the bakers and a Syrian refugee. “It reminds you of home.”

The dessert prepped, six women crowd around a map, showing each other where home was before war ravaged Syria.

Len Senater is used to inviting strangers into his kitchen. It’s the business model of The Depanneur, Senater’s eatery and community hub housed in an old convenience store just west of Toronto’s downtown. For five years he’s been inviting strangers to come, make their favorite food, and sell it to the community.

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Four-year-old Jore Almasri poses outside the Depanneur, where her mom is inside taking cooking with other Syrian women. (Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail)

Newcomer Kitchen project gives Syrian refugees a taste of home in Toronto

by MAHNOOR YAWAR — The Globe and Mail

Sinaa Fakhereddin does not like eggs. She makes that clear to a kitchen full of strangers when she is asked to add an egg to the pot on the stove. Never in her life has she made sauce with eggs and she’s not about to start now. The other women are tense, not willing to argue with a 67-year-old woman who has seen more and done more than any of them.

“Mom, just add the egg. It doesn’t matter,” mutters 27-year-old Muhammed Aboura, laughing.

Ms. Fakhereddin arrived in Toronto just a week ago to join her son, who has been here a year. The two are Syrian refugees sponsored by members of the United Church of Canada, and they are keenly aware that they haven’t gone through the hardships that many others in the kitchen have, most of whom are on government assistance.

Mr. Aboura is just relieved to have his mother here, safe and protected from the Syrian regime. “I got to eat my mother’s cooking for the first time in three years last week. I couldn’t stop crying,” he says.

He watches her carefully, ready to jump in and help communicate if necessary. He spent time researching how to help newly arrived women adjust to life in Canada, and it led him to the Newcomer Kitchen.

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