OUr story

WE WERE REFUGEES…

Of war during the last Taliban reign from 1996=2001. Our family was split due to the fact, and we lost our father during our move to Pakistan. Healthcare was scarce and inaccessible. The devastation is unfathomable as we know families right now are enduring similar and worse difficultties in and out of Afghanistan. We were the lucky ones back then to have found a home in Canada and to have made a life for ourselves, but luck is an undependable variable.

Through mum’s cooking, we see the sacrifice of a single mother with four young boys in an unknown land, with pennies in our pockets, when we first sought refuge in Canada. Through her cooking, we see a humble reminder of where we come from, of our heritage. We see her passion, her care for every dish she makes — a reminder of home, that despite all the terrible things that we have been through, at least in the moment of eating, we are loved.

Afghanistan is at times portrayed as a desolate, ungoverned and ungovernable land. The vast majority of Afghans are civilians who have endured years of civil war, economic drought, and entrapment. Afghanistan has been the crossroads in Asian & Middle Eastern history, due to its location and fertile lands. There is unwavering hope that we embody, through our cultural values of hospitality and generosity.

To share mum’s passion for cooking, and our love for Afghanistan through Afghan Kitchen is, to say the least, a dream come true.