Meet Raya
When Raya was a young girl in Iran, she often volunteered to help her mum with the cooking, but it took a while before an opportunity presented itself. The big problem? Her mother’s food was too delicious.
“When we were little, mum didn’t let us cook,” she says with a smile, “because Dad preferred to eat Mum’s cooking all the time, and she’d say, ‘I’ll just do it myself. It’s better than hearing your father nag’.”
But Raya persisted, and eventually started experimenting with confectionery – cakes infused with saffron and cardamom, or sprinkled with crushed pistachios. Sweet Persian koloocheh cookies. Rosewater ice-cream. Finger-licking pomegranate syrup. Soon she was inventing her own recipes and baking sweets for the whole family.
When her Dad tried Raya’s creations, he grudgingly relented. “He said, ‘If you want to make this food, it’s okay’,” she laughs.
That was just the beginning. By 30, Raya had worked her way up to become the manager of an educational institute for women, helping young mothers earn their diploma in family management, or continue their education elsewhere. Part of the job involved teaching Iranian women how to cook.
“I was running the institute and managing all these teachers, so I decided to get some qualifications in cooking,” Raya says. “I got my diploma in confectionery, and any time my teachers were sick, I’d become the substitute.”
For Raya, food is an extension of her other love: painting. Everything comes back to good design. Balancing flavour and texture and scent – adding a pinch of saffron or turmeric – it’s the same challenge you get on a canvas. That endless tug-of-war between light and shade, sweet and sour, colour and contrast. “I think the base of everything is design,” she says.
“You can design your food to suit your taste, it’s flexible, you know? You have a variety of things you can mix, and you have access to break the rules.”
Raya was raised with a lot of rules. Her parents were originally from Azerbaijan, but moved to Iran before Raya was born. Back then, family and tradition were very important; the weft and warp of Iran’s social fabric. “My dad was very strict,” she says, “especially when it came to eating and serving food.” Raya remembers her mother spreading out the traditional sofreh on the floor at mealtimes. Everyone would gather around and eat together, and no-one could leave the sofreh until the food was all gone.
Unfortunately, the good times didn’t last. With US and EU sanctions crippling the Iranian economy, inflation skyrocketing, and the government cracking down on student protestors, Raya had to make the difficult decision to leave Iran in 2013. It meant abandoning the institute, her parents, her students – everything she’d built. With a heavy heart, she got on a plane and flew 9,500 kilometres to a new country on the other side of the planet: Australia.
“When I moved here, I couldn’t find any job related to my career, and my qualification didn’t help me,” Raya says. “I was busy with kids at the time. Now I’m doing an online course at Swinburne University. I finished my Bachelor of Social Science this year, too. My next step is to get my Masters of Art Therapy.”
For Raya, work always comes back to two things: creation and community. Hospitality is a big part of Iranian culture, and Raya wants to spread that joy and togetherness in her new country, whether that’s through food, art, or community work. Maybe all three.
“I think I made the right choice,” Raya says, “I think it was the right choice, to get involved in this.
“I hope people will enjoy our food [at Free to Feed], and also become interested to learn more about our culture.”
