{"id":691,"date":"2018-11-30T20:13:34","date_gmt":"2018-11-30T20:13:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/foodforott\/?p=691"},"modified":"2019-03-15T18:39:52","modified_gmt":"2019-03-15T22:39:52","slug":"691","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/foodforott\/2018\/11\/30\/691\/","title":{"rendered":"A taste of home helps Syrian refugees adjust to a new life"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Maan Alhmidi 
\nNov. 30, 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The flavoursome smell of the fresh-cooked vegetables and meat laden with coriander, sumac, and other mediterranean spices lures you into the basement of the United Church on Epworth Avenue in Nepean. Follow the thickening cloud of seasonings and you\u2019ll find a group of Syrian women who have started new lives in Ottawa, cooking the food they love. <\/span><\/p>\n

While working hard to make their best home cooking, they often joke, laugh, sing, and even dance. Their happiness  is not just because of the taste of home but also because they have the chance to share it with others. <\/span><\/p>\n

Yasmin <\/span>Syria<\/span><\/a> is one of a few catering businesses providing Syrian food to meet the growing demand in Ottawa as more Syrian refugees are settling in the city and more people from other ethnicities are introduced to the Syrian cuisine.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Ayda Alnoofoory, a Syrian mother of three, founded the business in September 2016 because she felt a need to do something for the Syrian women who are facing obstacles while trying to start a new life in Ottawa. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI know that Syrian women cook tasty food. So, I suggested the idea of starting a cooking business to 14 Syrian women who were part of a summer camp in 2016. Eight women said they were ready to work.\u201d  Alnoofoory says. \u201cThe First United Church allowed us to use their kitchen, and we borrowed some money to buy ingredients when we started. Now we work in our kitchen and we have a registered small business.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For refugees and immigrants, food is not only something they use to fuel themselves, but also an important part of their identity and culture. They conserve and share it with others to establish their identity in their new country.   <\/span><\/p>\n

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Two Syrian women are making yabrak, rolled vine leaves stuffed with rice, beef and other ingredients. Photos by Maan Alhmidi.<\/span><\/p>\n

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On the menu, Yasmin Syria offers 16 main dishes and a variety of different kinds of soups, salads, and desserts. Everything is 100 per cent Syrian, according to Alnoofoory, who says that her team focuses on serving food with \u201ca real Syrian taste.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

However, it is not only Syrians who are enjoying the authentic taste of their dishes.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Canadian customers liked our food because they tasted the uniqueness of its flavours,\u201d Alnoofoory adds. <\/span><\/p>\n

Karin Hill volunteers at Yasmin Syria as a business manager. She believes that one of the benefits of volunteering to help these Syrian women is that she gets to taste the Syrian food. \u201cI enjoy all of it. I like the light spices. It\u2019s not heavy and over powering,\u201d Hill says.<\/span><\/p>\n

AUDIO:<\/strong> Karin Hill talks about her role at Yasmin Syria.<\/span><\/p>\n

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