Ola is Syrian and fled to Turkey with her family when the war began. She studied economics and has three master’s degrees in business management. Before moving to the UK she worked for a non-governmental Organisation in Gaziantep.

Ammar is a Palestinian Refugee born and raised in Syria. He had a phone repair business and specialised in fixing software issues before moving to Turkey in 2015. He started out with a job in Marketing before taking a role at an NGO in Gaziantep. There he met Ola and they began dating.

Ammar later joined Re:coded as a trainer assistant and progressed to a Senior Trainer. They got married and soon after moved to the UK, arriving in March 2023. They are now building their home in North East London. They are a sociable, fun couple who love to entertain and cook for others.

Ola chose to make Fatteh, a popular middle eastern dish made of layered flatbread and chickpeas with a yoghurt & tahini sauce. She chose this particular dish because it is one of her favourites and enjoys preparing it for others, it has become her signature dish.

The dish also reminds her of Fridays spent with her family in Syria. She used to eat it every week from the time she was a child. When she moved with her family to Turkey, they continued the weekly tradition. The dish holds fond memories of being with family and friends.

“Everyone has a memory with me with this dish and I make it today with you.”

Ammar chose to make Kofta bil Tahina, tray baked, fragrant meat topped with sliced pototes in a creamy tahini sauce. This is a popular middle eastern dish which varies depending on each region. This particular version is typical of Jordan and Palestine with an additional twist courtesy of Ammar’s mother.

She adds pomegranate molasses to the tahini sauce, which Ammar has adopted, which gives a sharp, sweet and sour tang.

The dish holds a lot of memories. as it was something he ate at home with his family in Syria. He would also make it while in Turkey as an ode to home. During the Covid lockdown he discovered that he enjoyed cooking and was good at it too, since then it became his go to dish.

It is especially important to him as he has not seen his family in eight years and is unsure of when he will again. Both Ammar and Ola rely on different ways to feel connected to home and family, food is one of those ways. They explained how food has an incredible ability to evoke fond memories of home as well as helping them feel at home in a new place.

“Food is not just about filling the stomach or gaining nutritional benefit - it’s about memories.”

Being able to have access to all of the ingredients they are familiar with was a really pleasant surprise. When they first arrived, they feared they would not be able to find some of the basic foods they are used to and questioned if they should bring certain things with them. Having access to the foods in the UK through restaurants and groceries have been pivotal in easing the integration process and making them feel more comfortable, more at home and giving the opportunity to maintain their cultural identity through food. They even found a specific Syrian snack food in the UK that they could not find in Turkey, small things like go a long way in helping them feel more settled here.

“I still remember the smile on Ola’s face when she realised everything is here”