Newcomer Kitchen: How Syrian refugee women are cooking their way to success

Leah Rosenthal, Advancement Officer | Hamilton | February 21, 2017 | DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University

Imagine packing up only what you can carry. Imagine fleeing a war-torn country and landing as a refugee in Canada.

Now picture a kitchen. The different smells, the cacophony of sounds. There is laughter, there is sharing, there community in this kitchen. There is healing.

Newcomer Kitchen invites Syrian refugee women to cook a weekly meal and socialize. The meals are then sold, and the proceeds shared among the cooks. Currently there are 59 women enrolled in the program.

The initiative, which began at The Depannuer in Toronto, is working to create a model that can be replicated with any newcomer group, in any restaurant, in any city in the world. What began as a safe space for women to cook and prepare meals for their families – many of whom were living in hotel rooms without access to a full kitchen – has now transitioned into a way for those women to make money.

Newcomer Kitchen has already been covered by Time and the Huffington Post, and the relatively new start-up had the pleasure of hosting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau when he broke bread with several Syrian newcomers on the first anniversary of their arrival in Canada. With a second Toronto location opening in May 2017, Newcomer Kitchen has big hopes for what it can accomplish in the near future.

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A Taste of Home

by Alex Mlynek | January 2017 | Investors Group

Newcomer Kitchen gives Syrian refugee women an opportunity to share their food culture with Canada.

Len Senater heard that many Syrian refugees who came to Canada were living in hotels and had no kitchens to make their own food. He did have a kitchen and wanted to provide a space where Syrian refugee women could cook.

Between sips of tea in glasses, some enhanced by fresh mint leaves, roughly a dozen Syrian refugee women prepare malfouf: cabbage rolls stuffed with halal ground beef, rice, spices and a few dashes of pomegranate molasses. These refugees, many of whom have been in Canada only a few months, spend the day cooking together in a Toronto storefront for 50 people who have preordered their meals. Between stirring steaming pots and searching for tender cabbage leaves, they show each other photos of family members on their smartphones, tell stories and debate the best way to make their dishes. It all takes place at the Newcomer Kitchen, a weekly event where up to a dozen Syrian women gather together to cook meals from home.

Last spring, Len Senater, owner of the Depanneur, a space that hosts pop-up food events in Toronto’s West End, heard that many Syrian refugees who came to Canada were living in hotels and had no kitchens to make their own food. He did have a kitchen and wanted to provide a space where Syrian refugee women could cook. Although he didn’t speak Arabic or have any connections with the community, he did have a group of volunteers who wanted to help. One of them connected him with Rahaf Alakbani, 25, and her husband Esmaeel Abofakher, 29, who had come to Canada as refugees from Syria in February. The couple then found a group of women who wanted to cook, and brought them to the Depanneur.

“There was a language barrier and a culture barrier,” says Senater, “but Cara [Benjamin-Pace, the Newcomer Kitchen’s executive director] and I bought a bunch of random ingredients, and when the women arrived, we said: ‘Why don’t you just cook something?’ They were like, ‘Really? You want us to do the cooking?’” After he answered “yes,” they took over the kitchen.

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In honor of Terra Madre Day – Slow Food International’s day to promote the diversity of food traditions around the world — Slow Food Toronto is proud to announce that we are partnering with The Depanneur and Newcomer Kitchen to host an event in celebration of Syrian food. It’s also a day that explores how the Slow Food movement can use its creativity and knowledge to express love for the planet and defend the future for the next generations.

A very special thank you to 100km Foods and The Big Carrot for sponsoring this event!

Tickets are $60 for Slow Food Toronto Members and $70 for non-members.
We are encouraging people to purchase tickets soon if they are interested in attending this unique event.

>> PURCHASE HERE <<

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Starter ~ Fattoush فتوش  |  Fattayer Jibneh فطاير جبنة

Fattoush is a popular Levantine salad made using toasted or fried pieces of pita bread combined with mixed greens, fresh vegetables like tomatoes, cucumber and radish, but varies according to season and region. Mint and parsley lend a freshness and fragrance, and dried sumac (the same staghorn sumac that grows here in Ontario) gives the olive oil-based dressing a distinctive tangy flavour. (#vegetarian, can be #GF)

Fatayer are a whole category delicious small baked treats that range from open-face, pizza-like flatbreads to cute little baked turnovers, with countless different shapes and fillings. Tonight will feature a cheese fatayer, as well as a vegan options such as muhamarra (spicy red pepper) or zataar (thyme and sesame).

The Main ~ El Maldoum ملضوم  |   Khyar belaban خيار بلبن

Maldoum can be found in kitchens from Turkey to Lebanon; this is a more rustic, countryside version of of the dish, that adds green peppers, tomatoes and potatoes, which are traditionally arranged in attractive layered patterns in a large shallow round pan before baking. A meat and vegetarian version will be served alongside a combination of short-grain rice and fried vermicelli noodles. This dish will be served with Khyar Belaban. Much like tzatziki, it’s well-known Greek cousin, this combines cool yogurt with garlic and cucumbers, but the addition of mint makes for an especially cool and refreshing salad.

Dessert ~ Harissa هريسة  |  Figs & Dates with Tahini and Grape Molasses

A relative of Namoura or Babousa, Harissa is one of the region’s many delicious syrup-soaked semolina cakes. This one doesn’t use yogurt, but rather tahini, giving an extra rich and nutty flavour. A traditional selection of dried figs stuffed with walnuts, and dates stuffed with almonds will also be served, with tahini & grape molasses for dipping.

Tea and Coffee