Hearts do not know despair, smiling faces that are accustomed to spread joy and happiness wherever they are despite the harsh circumstances of life. They are Syrian striver women who war can not conquer or break their will although they were earlier living comfortable life in their houses without any need. However they suddenly found themselves in an unlimited circle of deprivation and miseries which has increased on the journey of displacement and seeking asylum extra misery.
“Zaina” is a Syrian refugee in Turkey and she is from Alzabadani in Damascus countryside where she was forced to leave her home seeking a safe shelter away from bombardment and humiliation living under regime mercy. She is just like the rest of Syrian women who refuse failure; the Syrian kitchen of its original widely known dishes becomes the career of many refugees outside Syria which offers them a respectable life away from need and poverty.
Zaina ,with grape leaves “Yabraq” on her table that are prepared for cooking besides Kobbeh dough to make “Aldarawesh” tamped with meat and nuts, talked about her small humble kitchen in Istanbul city in Turkey: “after we arrived Turkey and spent all our money where we hoped that my husband to find a work. However, all the promises and hopes narrated by our relatives was just words; most workshops and even facilities prefer who speaks Turkish and works for long hours with simple salary that almost enough to afford the high rent of the house”.
“The Syrian cook like our grandparents said is of taste, the Syrian traditional dishes have their fans in all the countries. My husband has many friends here in Istanbul who at first asked me to make some dishes which later become lists of requests by close friends then days later my kitchen becomes a source to earn living for me and my family”,Zaina added after she finished preparing food to start cooking it and frying Kobbeh.
She said laughing while pouring the food in the tanks which are delivered to customers later : ” sometimes I forget to leave some food for my family so that I have to cook again”.
Zaina forgets her self and her grieve for her country once she enters the kitchen; she cooks with all love so that her dishes have special flavor and Syrian deep rooted taste that not any dish can be similar. She sells her dishes with lower price than those of restaurants the thing attatacts a lot of Syrian customers and even the Turkish ones considering the similarity between the two cultures of these two peoples particularly after Turkey recieving more than two million and a half refugees and that is why they melt with the Turkish community exchanging experiences and cultures including food.
Zaina said social media plays a role in spreading her kitchen attracting a bigger number of customers. She every day makes requested dishes to deliver them on time. She on the last days of Ramadan prepares candy and Syrian cakes of their different kinds. Finally she said: ” Whenever I smell the Syrian cakes I remember Syria and Damascus with Eid ceremonies.. I cry asking Allah that next Eid will be in Syria next time in victory and relief Allah willing”.
By Samah Khaled
Translated by Sabah Najem
#Syrian_Press_Center
The Syrian Kitchen In Asylum Countries.. A Career Of Syrian Women Beating Failure
المقالات ذات الصلة
