When you taste the food that chef Aheda Amro cooks, you'll want the recipe, but be prepared for it not to taste exactly the same. "The secret is in the hand," she says. "I can give you my recipe, but when you cook, it has [a] different flavour, it's not like mine, it will be a little bit different."
Aheda was born in Halhul in the Palestinian Territories and learned how to cook from her grandmother and mother. Her very first dish was a simple garden salad.
"Everyone in my country has a big garden around their house; you use what is in the garden," says Aheda. "What you plant in the garden, and what you have in the seasons, you cook with."
She studied to be a librarian at her father's request but soon found it wasn't for her. After moving to Saudi Arabia in the 1980s with her husband, Aheda started cooking for her neighbours. When they returned home in the late 1990s, she had to start afresh, working three jobs.
Arriving in Australia as a refugee in 2018, Aheda studied English and gained a Certificate IV in Commercial Cookery to become a chef. Helped by the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, she then started volunteering in its Foodbank and Community Meals programs, which enabled her to practise English.
Aheda now lives in Footscray, an inner-city suburb of Melbourne, in a house with a small garden. One of the first things she noticed on moving to Melbourne was how different the soil was. "The soil in my country is red," she says. "Here, I planted everything, and when it grew, I tasted it and thought, 'Oh my god, this is not tasting the same!' I tried planting cabbage and it tasted salty to me."
So she sourced soil from the southwest outskirts of Melbourne, which helped the vegetables taste more familiar. "It's not exactly the same, but [it is] closer. I try to make everything the same, I try to make it like in my home," she says. "I hold my culture; I bring my culture here. I put love into it, I chat with the plants, they are like my family."
People can try the Palestinian food and feel the love, the warmth.
In 2019, Aheda started a catering business in Melbourne's St Kilda. During the pandemic, her catering business kept her busy. She also started hosting cooking classes. Soon, her dream of running a food truck is expected to be realised. She's called it Aheda’s Kitchen.
The truck has been secured in part thanks to a GoFundMe campaign her friend Sam started, which raised almost $20,000.
"I want to travel around Australia sharing Palestinian food. When people try my dishes and say, 'Oh my gosh, that's so delicious', it makes me feel proud," writes Aheda on her online fundraiser page.
Seasonal cooking is the Palestinian way, says Amro, who in winter serves maqluba with cauliflower, lentil soup (her grandmother's recipe) and maftoul (her grandfather's specialty).
Falafel, hummus and baba ghanoush are staples throughout the year. She opts for organic ingredients a lot of the time and avoids food colourings, using turmeric instead to give her knafeh its red shade. "A lot of my food is healthy for the body."
Whether it's through catering, running classes or dishing out meals in the food truck, Aheda loves meeting people. "It's good when I chat with the people, meeting people from different cultures," she tells SBS. "And it's a good way for me to practise my English."
"Communication is important," she says. "If you just come and eat the food, you can go to any restaurant and eat; with me, I like to talk about my food, what is in the food. People can try the Palestinian food and feel the love, the warmth, and I'm very happy for this."
What you plant in the garden, and what you have in the seasons, you cook with.
Aheda is featured in Stories of Power, a short series by Samuel Kostevc. "When I saw the film in the cinema in Sydney, I thought, 'Oh my god', I am very happy." In her short film, Aheda can be seen tending to the herbs in her garden and talking to her plants. "In the morning, I drink coffee with my flowers and chat," she says. "I planted coriander and it grew about five centimetres, and then the possum ate it," Aheda shares.
"Before I was scared of the possum, but now he is a friend," she says with a laugh. "One time, I see the possum in the window, and I am so scared! But now it's normal; it's a friend. I give him food. I put the vegetables out for him and now he's friendly with me."
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