The Arab Spring in 2011 was a hurricane of political change across the region and its aftermath continues to be felt by millions, including in war-torn Syria.
Hundreds of thousands of Syrians displaced from their homeland have migrated to Europe and elsewhere, including other nations in the Middle East. Certainly, many have come to Egypt, setting up new – if temporary – lives here, and bringing various aspects of their culture with them.
One expression of this is the growing number of Syrian-style restaurants and food vendors across Cairo and several other cities. You can’t go to any neighborhood in Cairo now without spotting a Syrian restaurant, or at the very least a Syrian kebab joint.
For any diaspora, food is one element of culture that can recreated in a new setting, bringing with it memories of home, helping to preserve the sense of a distinct cultural identify. In some cases, it also translates into a viable business opportunity, providing much needed incomes for refugees as they struggle to adapt.
All of which is illustrated by a group of Syrian refugee women living in Al-Obour City on the edge of Cairo, where large numbers of Syrians displaced by the ongoing war have now settled. The women have founded a catering service that continues their Syrian food heritage, providing a genuine taste of home that is several notches above the average kebab shop.
"Zeit Zeitoun” takes its name from that essential component of Levantine cuisine: olive oil. The company says it provides Syrian cuisine made by Syrian cooks of the highest calibre, while maintaining very high standards of hygiene. The recipes are entirely traditional, handed down from generation to generation of Syrian women. Those preparing the meals are refugees keen to keep at least one aspect of their culture alive amid the chaos and loss of the Arab Spring diaspora.
Zeit Zeitoun currently operates mostly as a catering company, providing meals for weddings, embassies and business events. However, the company is also venturing into the general home-delivery market, although it does not accept orders below LE400. If things continue to go well, there will some day be a restaurant.
Source of inspiration
The brains behind the operation is humanitarian worker and Cairo resident Tamara al-Rifai. Her vision is what made Zeit Zeitoun what it is today: a professional catering service with a business-oriented mindset.
The original inspiration came when she visited the Syrian refugee community in Al-Obour City on the Eastern outskirts of Cairo. It has been said that you cannot bring two Syrians together without the topic of food creeping its way into the conversation. This is precisely what happened during Rifai's visit to the refugee community in Al-Obour. She met people, shared stories and started to compare recipes.
Each woman seemed to have a slightly different recipe: a little more salt here, a little more thyme there. These were recipes that had been passed down from generation to generation, little pieces of the homes they have left behind, each with the personal touch of home and family. Every recipe brought a little fragment of Syria back to these women.
