Syrian Mezze from One Home To Another

Although I no longer work with asylum seekers and refugees in my day job anymore, I quietly when opportunity presents continue to do some volunteer work.  I like that I am still able to tap into skills, knowledge and experience from my previous roles to support individuals who may benefit from them.  I don't boast about it, because I am selfishly doing it for myself.  I want to remain true to myself and to keep myself rooted to the real world.  Its easy to lose sight of reality when your working in a middle class environment where people ponder their first world problems and millennials talk about selfies and social media presence.  Its not my world and I don't actually fit in, so I look for other opportunities to engage with people who keep me grounded.

I have on some occasions had the honour to cook some vegetarian meals that happen to be accidentally vegan for asylum seekers and refugees.  I am pleased share food over smiles. I don't like taking photographs of people there, after all they are people.  However, I do notice that some people are so desperate to take photographs asylum seekers and refugees at event and do not ask for permission, they are showing disrespect.  Some of theses human beings have escaped war, torture, exploitation and much more and do not want their face plastered every where on social media for numerous reasons.  I understand their reservations, but some people continue to see asylum seekers and refugees as a photo opportunity for their website or publication. This kind of charitable work disheartens me. 

Anyway, a little while back we made a mezze of Syrian foods.  Here are just a couple which included Mutabal Shwandar is Beetroot Dip; and Muhammara which is Red Pepper and Walnut Dip.  We also made Kibbeh; Zahra wa Kamoon which is Roasted Cauliflower with Cumin; and Aubergine Maqluba - Upside Down Rice Cake. There was bread and lots of fresh salads. 

I feel at present I can afford and contribute some of the ingredients and share my skills of cooking.  This may not always be the case going forward - but while I can, I am happy to play a small part and eat at their table and listen to their refugee food stories (not those fake food stories that are really adverts promoting a supermarket). 

Eritrea and Ethiopian Inspired Recipes for Vegan Month

Vegan Mofo prompt today is Your Favourite cuisine,.  Truth is I quite like most cuisine so it was really hard to choose one, but whilst I was catching up with some of my blog reads: Rock My Vegan Socks, I was reminded me of how much Eritrean and Ethiopian cuisine is fast becoming my favourite cuisine.

Early on this year, I shared some vegetarian and vegan Eritrea for Refugee Week. I also wrote about the plight of refugees and asylum seekers in the UK.  Please see that blog post here if you wish to read it further.  Today, I share some both Eritrean and Ethiopian recipes for World Vegan Month of November.

Well before starting this blog, I only had Ethiopian - Eritrean cuisine twice in my life.  The first time ever was in 2000, when I went to see my best friend Leah in the US.  She picked me up from the airport in San Francisco and took me to an Ethiopian restaurant in the big smog fog city for a meal.  It was one of the best meals I had ever had.  The second time was when I lived in Scotland and I cooked the entire Ethiopian-Eritrean menu that was featured in Celia Brooks World Vegetarian Classics cookbook (2005).  I was inspired to make everything from scratch, the Berbere Ethiopian Hot Spice Blend, the Nitteh Kibbeh - Spiced Clarified Butter and the Injera - Sourdough Flatbread,  following the whole fermenting process that took a days.  On the menu was Ye'atakilt W'et - Spicy Mixed Vegetable stew, Yedifin Miser Alicha We't - Mild Lentil Stew with Basil and Yeshiro We't - Stew of Spiced Powdered Chickpeas. 

In the same cookbook that I stumbled upon Eritrean Zigni Spaghetti - Noodles with Hot Sauce.  I wasn't quite sure about it assuming it was more of a recent fusion recipe, but a few years later when I was volunteering for Venture Scotland on a camping trip to Glen Etive, Scotland I asked some of the participants who happened to be from Ethiopia and Eritrea about Zigni Spaghetti , they confirmed to me that this pasta dish indeed real. 

Spaghetti Zigni hails back to the 1930s when the Italians tried and failed to colonise Ethiopia, however they did  leave behind culinary influences.  Zigni Spaghetti was one of those influences. 

Zigni is essentially pasta coated in a deep rich tomato sauce enhanced with the highly spiced Berbere blend.   Berbere in Amharic means hot.  Berbere is a Hot Chilli Spice Blend that is essential to many Ethiopian and Eritrean dishes .  Its become one of my favourite spice blends. 

I followed a recipe for Spicy Lentil Misir W'et (Stew) that came from Ethiopian cook, Alemtshaye Yigezu.  For the recipe, follow this link. The only thing I did in addition was add both sweet potatoes and chickpeas to the dish, nothing more. 

 D'ba Zigni 

Ethiopian Supper of Tibs 'Soya Beef' with Berbere and Cherry Tomatoes and Caramelised White Cabbage, Carrot and Potatoes. adapted from Mazi Maz in The Guardian. I did veganize all of these recipes. 

Recently I was excited to find a little Ethiopian eatery called Neferetti in the town where I work, but noone at work is brave enough to come with me to eat there, and I am a bit hesitant about going on my own.

Finally, my fusion take on a Courgette Soup incorporating Berbere Spice Blend.

As well as some Injera Crackers made from leftover Injera - Sourdough flatbread.  

Do you like Eritrea or Ethiopian cuisine?  I am bookmarking Rock My Vegan Socks variation of Ingudai Tibs, a mushroom recipe, but do you have any other Ethiopian or Eritrean recipes to share with me, please do - this greedy girls needs to diversify her meals.

Berbere Split Pea, Sweetcorn and Yellow Courgette Soup

Its a soup kind of day.  

 I actually made this Berbere Split Pea, Sweetcorn and Yellow Courgette Soup when I had courgettes growing in the garden plot, they have come to an end now (though I have still have some courgette dishes to share).  

In recent years I have been exploring and enjoying more and more Ethiopian and Eritrean cuisine. The last recipe I made was during Refugee Week.  I have to admit this Berbere Soup is not authentic, but it is inspired as I was given a little jar of homemade Berbere spice blend by one of the volunteers in my workplace.   

This soup not only has homegrown courgettes, it also has but yellow split peas and sweetcorn enhanced with a good sprinkling of Berbere spice blend.  If your  interested in seeing more Ethiopian and Eritrean recipes, please see here.  I am sharing this with Healthy Vegan Fridays hosted by Rock My Vegan Socks and V Nutrition;  Food of the Wold hosted by Simple Living Eating and the spotlight is on Ethiopian cuisine; and  Soups, Salads and Sammies hosted by Kahakai Kitchen. 

Maqluba - Middle Eastern Upside Down Savoury Rice Cake

All week,  except for Friday much to do with the EU Referendum I have been trying to raise some awareness of Refugee Week through Cooking A Dish from Another Country .  Refugee Week  in the United Kingdom is an event that promotes positive encounters between asylum seekers and refugees and members of the receiving communities, as well as raising awareness. The theme for Refugee Week  2016 was Welcome.  

Today I will share another Middle Eastern dish called Maqluba. .

Over the years, I've seen various versions of Maqlub.   Maqluba is a Palestinian dish popular throughout the Middle East.  Once the dish is cooked, the cooking pot is turned  upside down and removed to reveal  the edible crown beneath.  

I have no doubt that Maqluba takes centre stage on the table at Middle Eastern family feasts, especially now when many Muslims across the world are taking part in the holy time in the Islamic calendar of Ramadan and this may be part of the Iftar meal - breaking of the fast.  I do however wonder how the Syrian asylum seekers  in the Calais Jungle in France are coping at this trying and testing time.  There is an initiative called The Refugee Community Kitchen which has seen a group of compassionate people band together to help the refugees living in the camps of Europe.  The Refugee Community Kitchen have come together to create a kitchen to feed people to sustain them and their children.  I hope we can all play a small part here and donate a little.

Maqluba is often made with meat, but I have adapted a meat version from Libyan Food and Kitchen of Palestine. into a version, suitable not just for vegetarians but also vegans.  This one is made with aubergines and cauliflower.

I have to admit, I was expecting it to collapse on removing the pot, but it remained perfectly intact. I was really pleased to even slice it perfectly too.  Feel free to sprinkle with toasted pine-nuts, almonds or herbs.  
Other posts related to Refugee Week
Eritrean Zigni and Berbere
Middle Eastern Kibbeh
Somalian Fava Beans 
Syrian Cauliflower Zahra Mnazalet
Zimbabwean Butternut Squash

Middle Eastern Sweet Potato Kibbeh

The theme for Refugee Week  for 2016 is Welcome.  Refugee Week is a collective acknowledgement across the world to raise awareness  of the plight of refugees and asylum seekers across the world.   As my blog is a vegetarian food blog my Simple Act was to Cook A Dish from Another Country and try and raise some awareness that way among some of my readers.

Kibbeh is a popular dish from the Middle East, especially in Aleppo in Syria.  It is made from bulgar wheat, meat, onions, spices and then deep fried.   It often comes in torpedo shape croquettes which I have yet to master and many variations.  In Aleppo, Syria there are many varieties including those made with vegetables.  Some of you may remember me mentioning a Middle Eastern cookbook I found at my local library a little while back called Classic Vegetarian Cooking from the Middle East and North Africa (2000) by Habeeb Salloum which shared a a number of Kibber recipes, including one made with Pumpkin.  

Kibbeh is the national dish of many countries in the Middle East where refugees have fled from such as Iran, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria respectively.  In 2011, an estimated 9 million Syrians were forced to flee their homes because of the outbreak of the Civil War.  This is perhaps the biggest refugee crisis since the Second World War.

The first time I heard of kibbeh was from a Scottish mature student at the University.   It was in her home on the Southside of Glasgow when she cooked for me that I was  introduced to kibbeh and tabbouleh, tabbouli.  She told me she was of Armenian diaspora. She said her family had come into the UK after the Second World War.  I was completely fascinated as I knew nothing about the Armenian people.  We do forget how many people around us have refugee heritage and ancestry, even the UKIP leader Nigel Farage's ancestors were refugees from Huguenot background fleeing to England from France to escape religious persecution (The Guardian, May 10 2013).  Some of us are able to assimilate and change our names because of our skin colour.  Some of us who have been in this country for decades, born and bred will always be seen as immigrants; 'the Other' because of our skin colour.  

Anyway, it was only after graduating from University that I  attempted to make Kibbeh  from scratch , I have to admit I was not happy with the final dish, it was gritty.  Hence, I am glad to be given the excuse through Refugee Week to make it again. It was much lovelier this time. Its very much like a falafel that you stuff it in a pitta bread and munch.  Enjoy!  I am sharing this recipe with Cook Once Eat Twice hosted by Searching for Spice; and Utterly Scrummy for the No Waste Food Challenge run by Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary. 

Eritrea Recipes for Refugee Week

Refugee Week is often celebrated between 2- 26 June. It is a unique event as it brings people from all backgrounds together to highlight and celebrate the contributions that asylum seekers and refugees make to the U.K.   

The theme for Refugee Week for 2016 is Welcome.  Throughout this week, my Simple Act through my blog has been to Cook A Dish from Another Country and try and raise some awareness of that particular country through its cuisine.

Today I will share some vegetarian and vegan Eritrea plates, but before I share the recipes, I'd like to begin by admitting that I had never heard of Eritrea until the refugee crisis.  Eritrea's neighbour Ethiopia had been imprinted on the memories of many thanks to Bob Geldof's  'Feed the world' campaign; but Eritrea a small country in the Horn of Africa was to come to our attention in the mid 1990s when many vulnerable asylum seekers and refugees from Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan and  Eritrea were being dispersed across the U.K.  

The UNHCR estimates that 5,000 people leave Eritrea every month and account for the largest group of people applying for asylum in the UK.

An asylum seeker is " A person who has left their country of origin and formally applied for asylum in another country, but whose application has not yet been concluded ."

Sadly I have met more Eritrean asylum seekers and refugees in my life than from any other background; and many have made the treacherous journey across the Mediterranean.  

One of the reasons Eritreans are fleeing is forced military conscription, not just young men, but also the elderly and this often results in forced labour.  What should last 18 months is indefinite, lasting decades.  If you do not uptake, then the consequences are arbitrary detention and often torture for the individual and his family.  Many Eritreans have described Eritrea as a Totalitarian state comparing it to North Korea.  Amnesty International are calling on Eritrea to end the system of indefinite conscription into national service and to recognise it as a human rights violation.  

The Theatre for Justice in association with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School are 'committed to creating exceptional works on the theme of social justice'  Something that I am personally very passionate about.  Theatre for Justice's 'vision is to establish s network of theatrical pioneers who are passionate about giving a voice to those who are silenced'.    They will be showcasing a play called 'Still Here' based on the experiences of an Eritrean refugee. See the Trailer HERE.   Still Here will be premiering at the Edinburgh Festival in August 2016.

Now onto food - before starting this blog, I only had Ethiopian - Eritrean cuisine twice in my life.  The first time ever was in 2000, when I went to see my best friend Leah in the US.  She took me to an Ethiopian restaurant.  The second time was when I lived in Scotland and I cooked the entire Ethiopian-Eritrean Menu that was featured in Celia Brooks World Vegetarian Classics cookbook (2005).  I was inspired to make everything from scratch, the Berbere Ethiopian Hot Spice Blend, the Nitteh Kibbeh - Spiced Clarified Butter and the Injera - Sourdough Flatbread,  following the whole fermenting process that took a days.  On the menu wasYe'atakilt W'et - Spicy Mixed Vegetable stew, Yedifin Miser Alicha We't - Mild Lentil Stew with Basil and Yeshiro We't - Stew of Spiced Powdered Chickpeas. 

In the same cookbook that I stumbled upon Eritrean Zigni Spaghetti - Noodles with Hot Sauce.  I wasn't quite sure about it assuming it was more of a recent fusion recipe, but a few years later when I was volunteering for Venture Scotland on a camping trip to Glen Etive, Scotland I asked some of the participants who happened to be from Ethiopia and Eritrea about Zigni Spaghetti , they confirmed to me that this pasta dish indeed actually existed. 

Spaghetti Zigni hails back to the 1930s when the Italians tried and failed to colonise Ethiopia, however they did  leave behind culinary influences.  Zigni Spaghetti was one of those influences. 

Zigni is essentially pasta coated in a deep rich tomato sauce enhanced with the highly spiced Berbere blend.   Berbere in Amharic means hot.  Berbere is a Hot Chilli Spice Blend that is essential to many Ethiopian and Eritrean dishes .  Its become one of my favourite spice blends. 

I followed a recipe for Spicy Lentil Misir W'et (Stew) that came from Ethiopian cook, Alemtshaye Yigezu.  For the recipe, follow this link. The only thing I did in addition was add both sweet potatoes and chickpeas to the dish, nothing more. 

 D'ba Zigni 

Ethiopian Supper of Tibs 'Soya Beef' with Berbere and Cherry Tomatoes and Caramelised White Cabbage, Carrot and Potatoes. adapted from Mazi Maz in The Guardian. 

Not authentic, but as I had some Injera - Sourdough flatbread left over from a meal, so made some Injera crackers.  I am still waiting for an Eritrean acquaintance to show me how to make Injera from scratch, watch this space!  Please check out this short film made by the BBC showing One Child's Journey from Eritrea to England. 

Zimbabwean Squash Stuffed with Pulled Jackfruit 'Pork"

One of the aims of Refugee Week is to promote positive encounters between asylum seekers and refugees and members of the receiving communities, as well as raising awareness.   The theme for Refugee Week for 2016 is Welcome.  As my blog is a vegetarian food blog my Simple Act is to Cook A Dish from Another Country and try and raise some awareness that way among some of my readers.

Today I will share a vegetarian Zimbabwean Butternut Squash recipe.  But before I share the recipe, I would like to shine a little light on Zimbabwe.  Since 2000, the scale of state violence, the political instability and economic deprivation  in Zimbabwe has seen the UK receive refugees from there. 

A refugee is someone whose asylum application has been successful and who is allowed to stay in another country having proved they would face persecution in their homeland.

Zimbabwe's human rights record under Robert Mugabe has been criticised by the international community, including the European Union, UN, US and other countries. Mugabe's authoritarian regime has used force and torture to oppress political opposition. But not all Zimbabweans in the UK are refugees.  The NHS has attracted many Zimbabwean doctors and nurses, so it is important to recognise and embrace the positive contributions made by Zimbabweans too. 

Zimbabwean cuisine is heavily meat based.  However there are some crucial vegetable based dishes, but they are staples and are often served as accompaniments such as covo, maize and sadza.   Sadza is made from maize.  It is described as a across between mashed potato and rice. Covo is a green vegetable similar to spring greens and is often served with sadza, meat and sauce.  

After speaking to two of my colleagues, both of Zimbabwean heritage, they both recommended a Pumpkin dish, a change from the traditional Peanut Stew known as Haku ne dovi, but like true African men neither cooks.  One relying on his mothers cooking ;and the other on his wife's, neither were not able to give me a recipe.  I did a little research and got their approval on the authenticity of a vegetarian dish made with Gem squash.  The only comment was that they had had this dish, but it wasn't filled up so much with additional ingredients.   I went ahead and adapted the recipe with the more readily available butternut squash in the UK.  The roasted butternut squash was really delicious.  It was cooked well that you could literally spoon it from the glossy skin like mash lifting upon your fork popping sweetcorn and melty cheesy goodness.  The original recipe states that you could make it with your choice of protein, instead of some cooked beans like kidney beans, I decided to add Jackfruit.  It was truly one of the best dishes I have made without the addition of spices, just some fresh herbs and seasoning.  This is made with cheese, but is very easy to veganize.  I am sharing this with Bake of the Week hosted by Casa Costello and Maison Cupcake; Cindy for Gluten Free Fridays 

and CookBlogShare hosted Hijacked By Twins;  

Somalian Shahan Ful (Fava Beans in Xawash Tomato Sauce)

Refugee Week is a continuation of World Refugee Day and marks a collective acknowledgement across the world to raise awareness  of the plight of refugees and asylum seekers across the world.   

The theme for Refugee Week for 2016 is Welcome.  As my blog is a vegetarian food blog my Simple Act is to Cook A Dish from Another Country and try and raise some awareness that way among some colleagues and some of my readers.

Today I will share a vegetarian Somalian dish, that also happens to be vegan.  It is Shahan Faul, Ful Sahan.  This is a bean dish that is also very common in Eritrea, Ethiopian and Sudan.  But before I share the recipe, you may be interested to know that Somali's have been in the U.K for over a century, arriving here as merchant seamen and settling in port cities like Bristol, Liverpool and Cardiff.  However, it was in the 1990s following famine and further conflict in the region in 2011 that many Somalis began to arrive in the UK after being granted with a refugee status.  

A refugee is "a person who owing to a well founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of 'race', religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it" 

The 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. 

So back to the recipe...when I originally asked a Somalian colleague in my workplace could he give or suggest to me a vegetarian recipe that I could cook at home and he immediately put his hand to his mouth and tried to contain the roar in his laughter - we are big meat eaters.  

This is true, Somali cuisine is meat orientated.  Vegetarianism is quite rare.  Vegetables appear to largely be side dishes, or a combination of meat and vegetables.  By the way, you may be interested to know that in Somalia pasta features quite a bit a part of their cuisine. This arrived with the Italians n the 1880s and sweet dishes came with the Arabs.

Anyway, after musing at my question he mentioned this fava bean dish and here it is a bronze gold bowl of loveliness.  Ful Sahan is often served with anjara, injera bread or Sabaayad which is made with a sourdough starter, but we had it with chewy brown rice.  The slow cooking of the sauce intensified the flavour and made the beans soft inside, but still retaining its wholesome shape.  I totally loved it and could have just easily eaten this from a bowl.  I am sharing this with My Legume Love Affair #96 hosted by Lisa's Kitchen;  and No Croutons Required.

World Refugee Day : Syrian Cauliflower Zahra Mnazalet

I do feel my calling is to work in a big community kitchen with people from diverse, cultural and ethnic backgrounds.  I even dream one day if I win the lottery big time to start a community canteen where people from all backgrounds can come together, share and eat food and mostly talk with each other to break down preconceived ideas and challenge misinformation disseminated often by cheap paper tabloids.  I would not want it to be one of those places, where people come along, a bit like so-called 'Diversity days' 'eat the food from different countries, dance to the music, have their hands painted in henna', then go back to their homes continuing to still carry those prejudices.  I've seen that way to many times and always avoid it as tokenism.  Anyway, today (and the rest of this week) is not about me.  This week I give my blog space freely over to Refugee Week in the hope that it will raise some awareness of refugees and asylum seekers across the world for what its worth.

Today it is the 20th June and today is World Refugee Day.  World Refugee Day marks a collective acknowledgement across the world to raise awareness  of the plight of refugees and asylum seekers across the world.  

When I started this blog I lived in Scotland and through some of my work in the voluntary sector I was involved with the Scottish Refugee Council.  It was in the 1990s and many vulnerable asylum seekers and refugees from Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan and  Eritrea were homed in the Red Road flats in Glasgow and Edinburgh, Scotland.  Previous to that my only experience of refugees was through books and history lessons.  And the only real life encounter I had up until then with a refugee was when I was a child in Wales.  I learned of 'the boat people' - Vietnamese people who came to Wales in the  1970s.  If you are a regular reader, you will know that dotted throughout my blog are thoughts on how 'we are all foreigners somewhere'.  

In 2011, an estimated 9 million Syrians were forced to flee their homes because of the outbreak of the Civil War.  This is the biggest refugee crisis since the Second World War. The rest ...we all know.  

The theme for Refugee Week for 2016  is Welcome. On a daily basis I engage and interact with people from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds, some are from an asylum seeker and refugee background, some are not - but the one thing we all have in common is that we are all human beings looking to better our lives.  But for the purpose of my blog my Simple Act is to Cook A Dish from Another Country and try and raise some awareness that way among some colleagues and some of my readers.

In Syria Zahra means cauliflower, it is also the same word for flowers.  Kano - The Syrian Foodie writes, and the word Mnazalet is a generic word for vegetable dishes.  

I have adapted the meat version which is made with minced lamb with reconstituted soy mince, but you can omit it all together if you wish.  For those of you who like mild flavours, then this one is for you.  I liked it, for me the fresh coriander elevated the dish.  You will find the recipe below if you wish to recreate it at home. 

On another note about Syria, I went to an exhibition called from Syria With Love. 

This is a UK based initiative.  The exhibition shared artwork created by Syrian children living in refugee camps in Lebanon.  Here are some pictures I took on that day.

If you get the chance, visit Savouring Syria - A project that tells the stories of Syrians and Syria through food.  Also if you have time, please watch Queens Of Syria.  

In 2013, 50 Syrian women came together in Jordan to create and perform their own version of The Trojan War, a take on the Greek tragedy about the plight of women in the war.  It is Arabic with English subtitles and is directed by Yasmin Fedda. Here is a review by The Guardian.