Friday, January 22, 2010

International Refugee Food Fair

The UNHCR Office in Kuala Lumpur recently held an International Refugee Food Fair from 20th - 22nd January 2010 to generate income for the refugee communities and to bring the various communities closer together through food. It was also an opportunity for the staff and volunteers to sample the food of the communities that they have been working with.



A copy of the menu for the day.



Somali sambousa (i.e. samosa) with a filling of potatoes, peas and meat.



Somali Abu Timir Cake.



Sri Lankan Fish and Potato Cutlets.



Sri Lankan Ulunthu Vadai (Vegetarian).



Sri Lankan 'Kool' - A spicy seafood soup.



Sri Lankan 'Roti' (flatbread) with Seeni Sambal (sweet and spicy onion relish) on the left, and Modaka/Modak sweetmeat made with flour, coconut, green beans, sugar and spices on the right. Hindu friends will know Modaka as the sweet offered to Lord Ganesha every Vinayagar Chatthurti.



Shan noodles (Siang Lah Miang) from Myanmar, cooked in a soup containing tomato and dried shrimps.



Afghan 'Zereskh' - Mixed rice and chicken.

Note: I could not provide food reviews as most of the food is not vegetarian. In addition, in some of the photos, you may notice that Styrofoam tableware was used, simply because the particular communities did not bring sufficient tableware. Nobody had thought of supplying the stalls with biodegradable tableware, which would be more expensive but less harmful to the environment. Measures could be taken in future to create incentives for customers who bring their own cutlery, takeaway containers and tableware.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Address: 570, Jalan Bukit Petaling, 50460 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Telephone: (603) 2141 1322
Fax: (603) 2141 1780
Email: mlslu@unhcr.org

11 comments:

mamasita said...

Did they manage to raise a lot of funds?

Pat said...

Everything looks so yummy!!! I want a taste of all!!!

~CovertOperations78~ said...

Dear Datin,

They managed to make a little money for their families. It was also an opportunity for them to see if they could get jobs as cooks or domestic help, or unofficially supply food for private parties.

~CovertOperations78~ said...

Dear Pat,

I enjoyed the Sri Lankan food most of all! Are you familiar with most of the Sri Lankan stuff, like Seeni Sambal? The cakes were nice. When my colleague asked what I liked about the cake, I replied: "Well, it's BIG"! Ha ha! I hve a huge appetite!

Ellen Whyte said...

Looks yummy!

~CovertOperations78~ said...

Thanks, Ellen, it was! I had mostly Sri Lankan and Somali food as I love spicy stuff.

Unknown said...

Food fair is a good way of fund raising. Not only that, it gets people together in so many ways to understand other people's cultures etc. Hope some new opportunities came out of this event for the refugees. Spread the word!

~CovertOperations78~ said...

Thanks, Keats! I hope so too. Some of them gave out calling cards so they could cater for events. But many can't speak any language other than their own, struggle with currency and calculations and have limited cooking space, equipment and manpower, so they can't start a proper business yet.

Dreamer said...

for some reason I have a difficult time leaving you comments.. this site doesn't recognize me since I don't have a blog here.

anyway. You take the best pix.. all the food looks great.. Glad they made some money and had the opportunity to network.

~CovertOperations78~ said...

Thank you for coming by, Peg! Sorry about the blogpost difficulties. I have resumed posting in DD, so we can continue to visit each other there.

How's your Mom, by the way? Has she been discharged from hospital yet?

blogger misteri said...

nyum nyum..