Poland: Creating culinary connections
Białystok, Poland: February-May 2024
The Muslim Religious Union in Poland is working to empower Muslim women, support their full participation in society, share culinary heritage, exchange experiences, provide support and education, and familiarize them with the history of Poland, including Tatar settlements. Their project, supported by a MARIO grant from MRG, also aims to support the participation of Muslim children and youth in society and help them discover their identity.
The project has three components: culinary workshops conducted by women from the Polish Tatar, Crimean Tatar, Chechen, Arab, and Turkish minorities; a two-day meeting of Muslim women; and the education of Muslim children and youth about their identity through workshops and a trip to Warsaw. This blog post focuses on the culinary workshops, which proved great way to promote intercultural integration between Muslims and non-Muslims and strengthen community bonds between Muslims from different minorities.
On February 24, 2024, the first culinary workshop took place at the Tatar restaurant Halva in Białystok. It was conducted by Lilla Świerblewska, the chairwoman of the Community and the restaurant owner. She is a woman passionate about cultivating Tatar traditions and helping refugees. The workshop was attended by Muslim women from the Polish Tatar, Crimean, Syrian, Tajik, and Belarusian minorities, as well as Polish women interested in Polish Tatar cuisine. The main goals of the workshop, which were the integration of Muslim and non-Muslim women and sharing the traditions of Polish Tatars, were achieved. As the women made kołduny (dumplings), shared touching memories, helped each other master the delicate dumpling edges, they got to know each other and exchanged experiences, traditions, and warm conversations.
Two weeks later, on 9 March, 2024, another workshop took place at the Halva restaurant. The theme was the cuisine of Crimean Tatars. The workshop was led by Susanna Izzetdinova, a woman with a warm smile and culinary mastery, the owner of the restaurant Azima Tatarskie Przysmaki in Gdańsk. Under her watchful eye, they made meat burma (a traditional meat pie), pumpkin burma, and tiny meat dumplings called kaszyk kasz. This was the second meeting for women that resulted in an incredible breaking of barriers. Cooking together was just a pretext to connect worlds, traditions, religions, and generations, creating a space for women to open up in a friendly environment filled with shared passions and laughter.
The third culinary workshop for women at Halva restaurant, this time was dedicated to Chechen cuisine. The workshop was led by Khedi Alieva, President of the Wandering Women Foundation and Manager of the bistro-shop, Wandering Women’s Kitchen. While preparing chepalgash (cheese-filled flatbread) with chives and hingalsh (a kind of filled pancake) with pumpkin, Khedi shared her experiences regarding the integration of migrants, spoke about difficult moments in her life, the strength found in fighting for her rights, and how she supports women in Gdańsk and Warsaw.
On May 25, for the fourth time at Halva Tatar restaurant, an Arab cuisine culinary workshop took place. The workshop was led by Nehal Nadaf, organizer of women’s meetings at the Islamic Cultural Center in Białystok, and her daughter Zinab Kartouma. They came to Poland 10 years ago, escaping the war in Syria. Here in Poland, Nehal created a new home that smells of dishes from her homeland. For the workshop, she chose two dishes that are very popular in her home: jalanczi, also known as dolma, made from grape leaves, rice, vegetables, and spices, and sambusa – triangles of very thin yufka pastry with meat or cheese filling (halloumi and mozzarella), with the addition of spices and pomegranate sauce. After the joint effort, all participants sat at a long table, savoring the delicacies they had prepared together, forgetting about differences in age, religion, or nationality. The workshop also welcomed non-Muslim women, providing them with an opportunity to be close to Muslim women, that can be rare for many, and learn about their traditions firsthand, in a friendly and pleasant atmosphere.
