Wondering about the hottest food trends in 2017? Syrian food tops the list as the world’s attention is being increasingly drawn to the ancient food culture which is the hallmark of this once beautiful region. Syrians who have managed to safely escape from their war-worn country are able to produce simple yet mouth-watering meals in their new countries. Their meals feature meats (stewed or grilled), salads, soups, grains, breads and desserts that are a part of Syria.

The hospitality and generosity so commonly found among Syrians appears to be so ingrained that even refugees, who have very little to call their own, are preparing authentic feasts for house guests in their new countries, including their social workers.

One such social worker and community activist is Saima Jamal of The Syrian Refugee Support Group in Calgary, Alberta. She has visited several Syrian refugee families as part of her work, and each time she is awed by their incredible hospitality as they lay out the best of what they have and insist that she partake from it. Saima has shared photographs of some of the impressive meals at which she has been a guest.

Thanks to their commendable skills in cooking and baking, Syrians are able to find employment in bakeries and restaurants. One family who arrived in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, has even opened their own chocolate shop called Peace by Chocolate. When Issam Hadhad made the painful decision to close his 30-year-old chocolate factory in Damascus and flee to another country, he never imagined that he would soon have a successful chocolate-making business that would be visited by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and also be mentioned by him in an address to the UN General Assembly.

Cook For Syria is a nationwide fundraising initiative that originated in the UK last year. The month-long campaign focused on the cuisine of Syria to encourage people to learn about it as well as donate funds to the Unicef’s Syria Relief fund. Organisers are hopeful that in the new year many more cities around the world will do the same to help collect monetary donations for the settlement of displaced Syrians.

Soup for Syria is a humanitarian cookbook project which originated in Massachusetts in collaboration with bestselling food writer, Barbara Abdeni Massaa. The profits collected by the sale of the book are donated to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to provide urgently-needed food relief for Syrian refugees. Up to 80 world-renowned chefs (including my favourite, Anthony Bourdain) have contributed at least one of their soup recipes to the book.

Greg Malouf, who is the executive chef at Clé Dubai, writes: “I’ve always believed that there is no better way to banish differences and bring people together than through sharing food and soup is, perhaps, the ultimate shared dish. It’s a small enough thing, to contribute a recipe, but perhaps the many small voices that have joined together in this lovely book can, together, sing a loud message of hope.”

RECIPE

Red Lentil Soup by Jill Boutros (from the Soup for Syria project)

INGREDIENTS

Onion 1 medium, chopped
Garlic 2 small cloves, chopped
Salt To taste
Aleppo pepper or paprika ½ teaspoon, plus more for serving
Tomato 1 medium, chopped
Tomato paste 1 tablespoon
Dried mint 1 teaspoon, plus more for serving
Red lentils 1 cup (200 g)
Coarse bulgar (burghul) ¼ cup (40 g)
Chicken or vegetable stock 4¼ cups (1 l)
Juice of 1 lemon

METHOD

Heat oil in a large soup pot over medium heat and sauté onions until soft.

Add garlic and sauté for an additional minute. Season with salt and Aleppo pepper or paprika. Stir in tomato, tomato paste, and mint and continue to cook for another two minutes.

Stir in the lentils and bulgar, then cover with the stock and two cups (475 ml) water. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer, partially covered, for one hour, stirring occasionally.

Sprinkle each serving with a little dried mint and Aleppo pepper, along with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, January 22nd, 2017