Mehria did not just prepare a dish, she prepared a feast. Coming from a big Afghan family she would regularly cook large meals and host large groups of people.

Mehria and her immediate family, husband and two children, relocated to the UK after securing employment with an International Immigration Law Firm through TBB’s Displaced Talent Mobility Pilot programme.

They arrived to Sheffield in February 2023, just weeks before her friend Mahrokh, also Afghan and employed by the same Immigration Law Firm, arrived with her husband and son. Both families left their homes, careers, livelihoods and families after the Taliban takeover, with hope to provide a safer, more sustainable future for their children.

Mehria prepared Kabuli Pulao, Aushak and Kofta with salad and french fries and invited Mahrokh and her son to join the feast. Mehria shared that every Saturday she would go to her mother’s house and would cook these dishes with all of her sisters and family. There would be around ten people preparing the meal and cooking together, they would take this opportunity to spend quality time with each other. She has many fond memories of those times.

Mehria and Mahrokh feel it is important for their children to continue eating this way as they grow up in a new country. They desire to relive their family traditions in the UK in order to maintain their cultural identity.

“We cook afghan food to transfer the food of our culture to our kids in this new environment.”