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.
>> Read the story
Cooking Up Opportunities for Refugee Women | City Lab
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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Newcomer Kitchen at The Depanneur — Edible Toronto
Newcomer Kitchen at The Depanneur
Building Community for Syrian Refugees
WORDS AND PHOTOS BY JASON FINESTONE
I walked into The Depanneur on an uncharacteristically balmy day in early June. Maybe it was because spring weather had been sparse this year, but the sunshine and the heat of the afternoon permeated in a visceral manner. It signaled a season of renewal. People were smiling at one another while passing by on the street. Toronto had emerged from its winter shell, physically and emotionally.
The sunlight careened through the broad northwest-facing windows of the community kitchen-cum-restaurant-cum-social hub. The warmth inside was not just a product of the heat. The atmosphere at The Depanneur that Thursday afternoon was incubative.
At the periphery of the gathered group were young children dancing on tables, holding their fathers’ hands for support, while others were doing arts and crafts or napping in their strollers. A documentary film crew circled the perimeter, discussing shot angles in hushed tones. Several apron-clad women with nametags casually but methodically delegated tasks, balancing between clear directives and spur-of-the-moment decisions.
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Des réfugiées syriennes mettent à profit leurs talents culinaires — Sonar TFO
Syrian refugee women cooking up a business in Toronto — Metro Toronto
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.
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)
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)
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.
>> Read the story
Estas refugiadas sirias se han convertido en emprendedoras culinarias en Toronto – VICE News
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
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؟
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
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
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)