SOUL FOOD SISTERS

W hen civil war raged in Liberia during the ’90s, sisters Victoria Zinnah, left, and Judy Cole were forced to flee their home. Then in their teens and mid-20s, the women were separated amid the chaos – Zinnah, now 33, ended up in Ghana, while Cole, now 46, sought refuge in Guinea.

Eventually, in 2002, Cole migrated to Australia and settled in Hobart. Two years later, the sisters were reunited when Victoria also settled in Hobart.

“When we were reunited in Hobart, there were tears, laughter, I was jumping like a baby,” Cole says. “I was just so happy. I was six months pregnant and my sister got to meet my [then] six-year-old daughter for the first time.”

The women, who each have two children and both live at Warrane, love their adopted homeland but still enjoy celebrating the cuisine and customs of their West African roots and have enjoyed being involved in the Moonah Taste of the World festival for the past two years. They will share some of their favourite recipes with crowds at tomorrow’s popular community event.

The festival, which is part of Harmony Week, is in its seventh year and will include food from countries including India, Germany, Tibet, Indonesia, France, Bhutan, Italy, the Philippines, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Sierra Leone.

Musical acts will include the Chinese Lion Dance, Indian Bollywood, Nigerian and South African children’s dancing, as well as an eight-piece Latin American band, a Persian hip-hop group, street guitars from Soweto and Afghani pop.

The sisters will be at the Liberian Community Food Stall, serving traditional dishes such as the Liberian staple okra (a flowering plant valued for its edible green seed pods), cooked with chicken and beef with a hot chilli sauce on the side and fufu – a cassava dish served with rice.

“Cooking helped me a lot when I was in the refugee camp, and my sister loves cooking too,” Cole says. “Okra is our favourite dish. It’s the dish we grew up cooking at home with our mum.”