From crisis to cuisine: Zaatari refugee camp’s unlikely culinary delights
The Zaatari refugee camp in northern Jordan shelters 80,000 Syrians. It is not the kind of place where you would expect to discover culinary delights.
Nine years ago, Karen Fisher, a Canadian professor of information science, went there to investigate how residents used the internet.
However, it was the cuisine that left a lasting impact on her. “It looked beautiful,” recalls Prof Fisher.
She is now the author of a new book that details what she found. Zaatari: Culinary Traditions of the World’s Largest Syrian Refugee Camp was published last month. It contains hundreds of recipes and dozens of stories about life in Zaatari.
Over centuries, the cuisine of present-day Syria has been shaped and enhanced by its proximity to Turkey and its position along the historic Silk Road trading route.
Syrian cuisine has extended its influence throughout the Arab Peninsula.
Numerous Syrian recipes have been recorded in cookbooks, predominantly highlighting those originating from Aleppo and Damascus, two illustrious ancient cities.
In Aleppo, the culinary heritage is so deeply ingrained that it is often said that whenever two people meet in the city, the conversation immediately turns to food.
Prof Fisher’s book, however, predominantly features recipes from Hauran in southern Syria, the region where the 2011 uprising against President Bashar Al Assad originated.
Zaatari’s residents mainly came from the rebel areas in Hauran that were bombed by forces loyal to Mr Al Assad before Jordanian authorities closed the kingdom’s borders to refugees in 2014.
Since Roman times, Hauran has served as a vital breadbasket for the region.
Merchants from Damascus played a pivotal role as intermediaries, distributing its grain to Najd – which forms much of present-day Saudi Arabia – as well as other regions of the peninsula.
Primary components of Hauran cuisine revolve around cereals, while another staple is goat and sheep yoghurt, transformed into dehydrated stones known as kethi.
Although some dishes may have originated elsewhere, Hauran’s culinary flair lies in adding its unique twist, as noted by Prof Fisher.
Almost “everyone in Zaatari is a foodie”, says the professor at the University of Seattle.
“I had no idea how big a project this would become.” The culinary book opens with a recipe for hummus, a dish even adored by Bogey, Prof Fisher’s beloved late golden retriever. The recipe originates from Abu Abdullah, famed for serving the finest hummus on Shams Elysee, the main street in the Zaatari camp.
Prof Fisher has downsized the recipe from a yield of 11kg to a more manageable amount. Abu Abdullah’s secret, it appears, lies in the precise addition of cold water, tahini and lemon-salt in batches to achieve a smooth chickpea paste. Ice is intermittently added to the blender during the process.
Abu Abdullah is from Deraa, the provincial capital of Hauran. In early 2011, inspired by the Arab uprisings sweeping the region, schoolchildren in the city painted graffiti demanding the removal of Mr Al Assad. Their arrest and subsequent torture were catalysts for the uprising.
Authorities resorted to force to stop the ensuing protests in Hauran and across most parts of the country.
By the year’s end, the uprising evolved into armed conflict, with its primary fighters largely originating from Hauran.
In her interviews with hundreds of camp residents for the book, Prof Fisher says that very few people discussed the war. The topic is too painful for many to address.
Lunch, typically prepared by women, is the main meal in the camp. Occasionally, these women express their discontent to their husbands by either oversalting or undersalting the food.
The refugees live in caravans. Their movement and work is restricted. Building is banned.
Among the residents is Abu Yazan, a bicycle mechanic who cannot afford adequate tools,
and Najma, who teaches football and dreams of finishing high school.
Her education was interrupted when she was forced to leave Deraa after security forces arrested her father.
Abu Mahmoud, a former Zaatari resident, says the cramped dwellings and widespread poverty take the joy out of cooking in the camp. “The kitchen traditions are being kept but it is not pleasant to live in a caravan,” he says.
The book was launched last month at a reception in Amman, organised by the Canadian embassy.
Women refugees cooked. Umm Mamdouh, from Adam, south of Damascus, made rgagah, a pastry with pulled chicken, caramelised onion, ground cardamom, and other spices.
She was with her two daughters when she arrived in Zaatari in 2013.
One of Prof Fisher’s favourites is a thin, crispy, deep fried dough that is half open and filled with chicken and cabbage, with pine nuts and a bit of sauce. “Taste that,” she says. “It is incredible.”