Stirring a huge pot of Ethiopian spiced lamb, Yosef Mesfin’s face lights up as he chats about his love of cooking.
“At the hotel we don’t get the chance to cook so that’s why I came here to show our culture and our cooking,” says Yosef.
Opening hearts and minds while filling bellies, Yosef was one of four refugees who gathered at Cfine’s community kitchen ‘Cook at the Nook’ in Aberdeen to rustle up delicious dishes from their home countries before serving them up for local people.
Supported by the Scottish Refugee Council, the event, aptly entitled ‘World Piece’, brought the community together while celebrating the diversity of the Granite City.
Escaping civil war
Chatting while keeping an eye on the six different dishes he was cooking including mitmita spicy lamb with garlic and spicy beef plus a colourful array of homemade sauces, Yosef, 24, says he has found peace and solace in Aberdeen since arriving 10 months ago.
“Back home wasn’t good as there was a civil war going on – it wasn’t good at all,” says Yosef.
“If you didn’t support the government then you would be put in jail.
“Aberdeen is a quiet place to live, the people are welcoming and kind.
“The only challenge is the weather.”
Breaking bread and barriers
For Yosef, cooking isn’t just a chore, it’s a way of life that has the power to break down barriers.
“I learned to cook from a very young age,” says Yosef.
“So I absolutely love to cook and show others Ethiopian food.
“Events like this are great as it allows us to meet more people in the community.”
Cooking unites communities and cultures
With a safe place to call home, Yosef smiles as he chats about the future.
“I’m quite interested in electricity so I might study to be an electrical engineer,” says Yosef.
“I’ve just registered for university so I’m excited for the future.”
Across the kitchen, Nabaz Haji beams with pride at his Middle Eastern inspired lamb dish which he served up with okra and beans.
Originally from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, the 32-year-old says events like this have helped him to integrate into the Aberdeen community.
“Aberdeen is a nice city,” says Nabaz.
“Cooking makes me happy so it’s great that they’ve helped us to come here to cook and eat with the community.
“Food brings people together.”
Like Yosef, he’s also looking forward to the future.
“Back home I used to work as a nurse so I would like to get a degree here so I can nurse here,” says Nabaz.
Dreams of opening restaurant in Aberdeen
Also working hard in the kitchen was Nebyat Assefa, 31, who would love to open up his own Eritrean restaurant in Aberdeen one day.
“I would love to open a shop and an Eritrean restaurant with traditional food, music, dancing and good coffee,” says Nebyat, who is from the northeast African country.
“Back home I worked as a chief mechanic so I would also love to open a car repair shop too.”
Kindness shown by people of Aberdeen
To show his gratitude for the ‘kindness’ he has been shown by the people of Aberdeen, Nebyat spent five days preparing his dishes for the local community to try.
“I’ve made enjera, a sour fermented pancake-like flatbread,” says Nebyat.
“It’s a staple back home and small pieces are torn and used to grasp the stews and salads for eating.”
Refugees made to feel welcome
As well as events like this, Nebyat says running and keeping fit have helped him to integrate.
“I enjoy running so I do the Hazlehead 5k parkrun every week and my personal best time is 20.34,” says Nebyat.
“I also love going to the Aberdeen Sports Village too.”
Hopes for more refugee community events
With a passion for food and culture, Sean McVeigh, a development worker at Cfine, hopes to organise more events like this in the future with the help of his colleague Will Redpath.
“Myself and Will are largely volunteering our time outside of work to do these events because we’re really keen on promoting immigration to our country and inclusion and diversity in whatever form that takes,” says Sean.
“Within Cfine we work with loads of different groups so we’ve got a couple of refugees involved with us at the moment and we’ve formed close friendships.
“So we were thinking about different things we could do to support them.”
60 people from the community taste the dishes
Through funding from the Scottish Refugee Council, Sean and the team came up with the idea of the ‘World Piece’ cooking event.
“When refugees come over here they get fish and chips in a hotel room which is food that is nothing to do with where they come from,” says Sean.
“So we thought it would be a nice idea to let them cook dishes from their countries and invite the local community along to try it.”
Thanks to the funding they received, the refugees were able to attend a couple of practice cooking sessions before the main event which was part of the Refugee Festival Scotland.
“We managed to get 60 members of the local community through the door on a Tuesday night to eat some food they’ve never tasted before which fills me with joy,” says Sean.
“As a charity we would love to do more of this.”
For more information about Cfine, check out their website cfine.org or for more about the Scottish Refugee Council, check out their website scottishrefugeecouncil.org.uk
Conversation