Naseema, Aminah, Astou, and Adila serving their dishes on the Green. “The word ‘refugee’ hurts,” said Aminah Alsaleh, “it means you don’t have a home.”
As she served yalanji — vegetarian stuffed grape leaves — to New Haveners on the Green, more than 8 years after fleeing war in her home country of Syria, she reflected that she no longer identifies with the label.
She was one of three representatives from Sanctuary Kitchen, along with Chefs Astou and Adila, who brought dishes from their home countries to Arts & Ideas’ World Food Bazaar on Thursday evening in celebration of World Refugee Day.
Alsaleh said the stuffed grape leaves she brought are a perfect party dish in her culture. She didn’t make this particular dish; instead, it was a collaboration among three other women in Sanctuary Kitchen, the local refugee chef training program.
Now an assistant kitchen manager with the organization, Alsaleh said she wants not only to prepare food but also to teach the newly arrived how to support themselves and be independent.
Around 40 people secured the $45 tickets to the event on the Green. Two other vendors, Lalibela and Havenly, also served up plates for attendees to enjoy under tents shielding them from the sun.
Rashid, a Moroccan immigrant helming the Lalibela Ethiopian food cart, served guests plates of grilled chicken, kosta (sauteed spinach and potatoes), and yassa wat, a stewed fish in a spiced garlicky tomato sauce. He described New Haven as “friendly” and “safe.”
Hibiscus iced tea, baklava, and kleicha (date cookies) from Havenly, beside the plate from Lalibela and many cleaned ones. Next to him, Chef Astou served her Senegalese Jollof rice: a slightly spicy, tomatoey dish. She came to New Haven from Dakar, Senegal last year, and is currently in Sanctuary Kitchen’s training program along with Chef Adila, who left Afghanistan with her husband and five children six months before the Taliban returned. Adila’s dish was spinach and leek-stuffed dumplings called aushak. The dumplings were soft and savory, covered by a layer of mung beans and then yogurt sauce. They were the favorite meal of many on Thursday, including attendee Rebecca Weiner, who noted that she is already a regular customer of hers.
Maria Teresa Delgado, refugee program director at Yale’s Macmillan Center, which cosponsored the event along with New Haven Bank and Tzedakah House, looked toward the row of chefs noting that they mostly come from countries that the UNHCR has listed as emergency locations. She hoped Thursday “highlights the resilience of people to become productive members of society if they are allowed.”
Naseema Gilson, Sanctuary Kitchen’s program director, also relayed the importance of having a designated day to raise awareness for refugees by saying “in order to understand what they’re going through, you have to understand what they are coming from.” Roughly 120 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced during the last year, including 9 million in Sudan, the highest rate in the world.
Gilson said the chefs have found New Haven to be a “really supportive” place to settle, citing relief organizations like IRIS, JCARR, and CIRI.
Alsaleh also spoke positively about her experience in Connecticut, saying that “people here just see us as other humans.” She stated that not every single person can be like that, and recalled being stuck in traffic recently when another driver yelled at her to “go back to your country.” Alsaleh recounted this experience with a smile on her face, telling this reporter “this is my country.”