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When Huda Albardawil is cooking, she often has the feeling she's back home in Qatar's capital of Doha with her late maternal grandmother, "Teta".
"I remember the wrinkles on her hands when she was working with the doughs," the owner of Melbourne caterer, , tells SBS Food. "When I cook the dishes she used to make, I feel I can see her, like she's at the same stage of the recipe as I am. I'm always trying to reach the taste of a dish she used to make, trying to make it close to how she would."
Albardawil may have grown up in Qatar, but her heritage is Palestinian. Her family comes from , a city north of the Gaza Strip. During the Palestine War, Albardawil's family and almost all Palestinian inhabitants of Ashkelon were deported.
"People from Ashkelon and other towns were forced to move from their land, and they found themselves living in different countries," Albardawil says. "Many had to leave behind their belongings, even precious things like gold and papers. They didn't know what the future would be."
Teta and Albardawil's grandfather, "Seda", were a young couple when they settled in Qatar and started their family. Although they left many belongings, they didn't leave their culture. "They started from nothing, creating a home in Doha. There were five boys and three girls. It was a really challenging time for them to start in a place they didn't know; often they couldn't even find their ingredients for cooking."
By the time Albardawil's generation was born, the family had found its footing. As a young girl, she'd spend every day at Teta's, absorbing Palestinian culture. "It was like we were inheriting culture, one generation to another. We ate together, I watched them, heard their accent, saw the rituals they practised in their home, especially in Teta's small kitchen."
The most significant cultural experience involved olive oil made from olives grown on family farms. Although Albardawil's family had moved to Qatar, they were still sent olive oil and told stories of the annual harvest festival.
"In late October, they collect olives, they take it to the press and make extra virgin olive oil. It's so special, different from any other oil I've tasted," she explains.
Families go to the farms and collect the olives, kids pick up olives from the ground and women sing songs about daily life, including the challenges they're facing.
"It's sad and at the same time, you feel happy. It's very confusing, the mix of happiness and sadness. We're continuing the heritage from far away."
Olive oil is a staple ingredient in Palestinian cooking. It's earthy and tangy with a golden-greenish hue. It forms the base of national dishes like musakhan – sumac, onion and marinated chicken on bread.
The onions are slowly cooked in plenty of olive oil, and then fresh bread baked in a taboon (clay oven) is dipped in more olive oil. Onions are spooned over the bread. The chicken, marinated in black pepper and allspice, is placed on top. The dish is sprinkled with plenty of sumac. "It's really magic if you smell it, a little nutmeg, cinnamon, black pepper, many different spices. Teta would marinate the chicken and then dip it in the same olive oil that cooked the onions."
It's really magic if you smell it, a little nutmeg, cinnamon, black pepper, many different spices.
The bread is then torn and used to scoop up the onions and chicken. "You feel the olive oil comes out everywhere, your hands, your face, your clothes. Later after you eat, you feel a big amount of energy from this dish that is 800 years old."
Olive oil also gives deep earthy flavours to dishes like a dak dak salad, which can be eaten alongside any meal, at any time of day.
"Some dishes…like dak dak salad are really simple and easy. Even the ingredients are easy to find. But it's like magic: these simple ingredients – three or four ingredients – turn into an amazing, special dish. And from the same ingredients, you can create another taste, another dish."
After moving to Australia, Albardawil started her catering business, Huda's Kitchen Rules, as a way to reconnect with her heritage.
Dak dak can be served alongside any meal, from breakfast to dinner. Source: Huda Albardawil
"Five years ago I arrived in Australia. I was working in a pharmacy, but I found it challenging with three kids at home and no family around to support me. I decided to leave my job to stay home with the kids. I started to think I can’t sit and do nothing, and friends told me I should open a restaurant." Instead, she started a catering business, at first only serving a handful of people.
Today she serves at events with up to 300 guests. The business weathered the pandemic, a time when small migrant businesses had no support.
"Keeping consistent, that's the hardest part. Anyone can start anything, but can you keep it up and continue, this is the question."
Her resilience is a testament to Teta and her displaced ancestors who were forced to leave their homeland and scattered across the world.
"Teta passed away three years ago, and it's not easy because I wasn't there. We kids grew up in her house more than our mother or father's house. She raised us, with ethics, and food and culture. When she died it was such a loss for us."
Albardawil has never been to her grandparent's homeland. But through her grandmother's cooking, and the traditions and stories passed down through generations, the Qatar-born Melbournite has an unbreakable connection to it.
"I'm far away from Qatar and Palestine. It feels like I need to keep my culture alive for my kids because it's like something in our spirits, we can't forget it. I can't not do it. I need to do it."
Photographs by Huda Albardawil.
Dak dak salad
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 2 Lebanese cucumbers, diced
- 2 tomatoes, diced
- 3 green chillies
- 1 small white onion, diced
- ½ bunch mint
- ½ bunch dill
Dressing
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Method
- Chop salad ingredients and place in a colander to drain.
- Place salad ingredients in a salad bowl.
- Immediately before serving, add dressing ingredients and mix gently.
Note:
- This salad can be a side dish, or a main with rice or pita bread. We eat this salad almost every day.
