An Iftar across oceans - connecting people through food during Ramadan
Welcome to an Iftar across oceans - a social event in partnership with homieats, Breadwinners and Care4Calais to connect different people through food during the holy month of Ramadan.
We were excited to host this Iftar social organised by homieats, bringing young people from our community, both past and present programme participants, as well as new friends from Care4Calais.
homieats is a start up that aims to create spaces for refugees and asylum seekers to re-live and re-create new tastes of home. We were very happy when they came to us with this idea to connect with young people during this time, through foods embracing the vibrance of diverse communities observing Ramadan.
The holy month of Ramadan is an important, reflective period of the Islamic calendar. It’s a time when Muslims around the world abstain from eating and drinking from dawn to dusk - to practice abstinence and consider those less fortunate. When the sun disappears, so does the fasting. The meal that breaks fast is called Iftar, and it’s accompanied by prayer.
An iftar across oceans was inspired to support refugees and young people seeking asylum to reconnect with foods from home during Ramadan and celebrate distinct flavours within their new community in the UK to build collectivity based on difference.
The menu represented a diversity of countries in which Ramadan is observed, which reflected the diversity of people enjoying the event in the room. Homieats provided dates, ta’amiya (a Sudanese-style mung bean falafel), nafaqo (Somali egg-stuffed potato croquettes), spring rolls (Malaysian sweet chilli vegetable and potato spring rolls), briouat (Moroccan-inspired spinach and feta-stuffed puff pastry) as well as hummus and flatbreads and rooh afza (Pakistani rose-flavoured drink with lime) to quench day-long thirsts.
Food is an evocative force. It unites people around shared tastes and memories and even transcends borders. Discussions in the room centred around different names for similar foods, as well as sharing different traditions for how Iftar is celebrated in different countries and regions. Some at home would break fast with friends, others with family and others by themselves. It felt really pertinent to have an event to mark a different, welcoming and multicultural way to break fast in the new home of many in the room: London - an embracing, culturally diverse city.
At Breadwinners we celebrate and champion the varied, rich cultures that enhance our community. Together with homieats, the iftar social aimed to bring different people together with food. And sure enough it did! Religion, food, music and smiles were shared. Whether united by all or some - the humbling human need for food and water continues to bring us all together.
Take a look at this video to see our community Iftar in action.
Has reading about food got your mouth watering? Check out homieats' recipes and take your taste buds on a delicious trip around the world!