The cookery school 'Amazon Queens' in Harran in southeastern Turkey opened its doors to over one hundred refugee women last year. The goal is to offer training as well as to preserve the culinary traditions of areas destroyed by war.
The ISIS stronghold of Raqqa in Syria is barely 100 km away from Istanbul and the scars of war continue to afflict tens of thousands of Syrian refugees living in the area. For this reason, a Turkish chef decided to make it the focus of a project for the local women using the universal instrument of food.
Last year, Ebru Baybara Demir launched the cookery school 'Amazon Queens' in Harran in the southeastern Turkish province of Sanliurfa for one hundred women. One third were Syrian and the rest Turkish, the majority coming from the Kurdish areas of Mardin and Urfa. The aim was to train them for work and at the same time to recover the culinary tradition of the area that risks disappearing.
Project supported by UNHCR
The project is supported by the UNHCR and the local authorities and is among the ten finalists of the prestigious annual Basque Culinary World Prize that is to be awarded next month. Should she win the first prize of 100,000 euros, Demir will invest the money in creating a permanent structure for the school in Harran and broadening access to new aspiring chefs.
The biggest problems in our region are linked to unemployment and migration. Then there is cultural loss. This rich culture is at risk of extinction because Syrians are unable to find a platform for transmitting it. We want to support both communities (local and refugee) by bringing them together and helping them to create work for themselves starting from the thing they know how to do best, namely cook,
Demir exlained. Recently the cookery school has also tried to attract new tourists, despite the fact that the area is considered dangerous for travellers. Demir is determined to take up this challenge. "If the prize is awarded to our region, we will finance the school and record this rich culinary tradition in order to transfer it to future generations," she said.