Meet Rana
Rana believes that cooking for loved ones is a form of healing. A type of culinary medicine for both chef and guests. And Rana would know. In Iraq, where she’s from, she worked as an emergency doctor. “I love medicine, and I’d love to practise again,” she says. “But meanwhile, as I train to do that here in Australia, showing people how to cook these recipes combines the two things I love – teaching others and sharing stories of home.”
Rana’s stories are of Baghdad during peacetime. They speak to a cosmopolitan city that’s as chaotic as it is beautiful – a city that smells of cardamom tea, fried bread and fresh coriander; a city of bustling bazaars and museums that house an intersection of Middle Eastern cultures; a city of springtime picnics and noisy morning markets packed with young children clamouring for sticky sesame sweets.
“I want to share a brighter picture of my home,” she says. “Iraqi people are warm and welcoming, they’re very generous… that’s what I’m hoping people will take away from my classes – more of an understanding of the positive, beautiful side of my heritage.” Rana’s recipes are testament to that heritage, and they’ve made the long journey from Iraq to Australia, via Jordan, with her. “Food is a major part of our culture, it’s a way to show others that you care,” she says. Growing up, Rana remembers her mother making huge meals – more than enough for her own family – of which she’d always send a dish to their neighbours. And those neighbours would respond in culinary kind. “Baghdad was full of many ethnicities and cultures, so we learned a lot from each other through sharing food.”
“I want to share a brighter picture of my home... that’s what I’m hoping people will take away from my classes – more of an understanding of the positive, beautiful side of my heritage.”
The sharing of knowledge was also important, and many of Rana’s recipes have been passed down through her mother and grandmother. When you’re eating Rana’s babaganoush, it’s the babaganoush of her mother. When you eat your first bite of Rana’s potato and meatball stew, Ras Asfoor, you’re eating the exact recipe of her childhood – down to the spice mix preferred by her grandmother.
In Iraq, uniqueness is valued. “You will never taste the same dolma (stuffed vegetables) from two families,” Rana says. “Each family has its own unique recipe, their own way of doing it. And that’s the same for all over Iraq, what you’ll eat in the south is nothing like Baghdad. When you eat Iraqi cuisine, it’s very representative of the place.”
To eat with Rana, to cook alongside her, is a transportative experience. One that she hopes will fill our bellies with more than just food – but with stories of another home, of a busy, joyous Baghdad.
This beautiful piece was written by our friend Tayla Gentle from GOOD & PROPER.