Last week I went to very special supper club. Second Home, recently opened near London Fields, hosted Majeda and her ‘Choose Love’ kitchen; cooking a delicious three-course meal in collaboration with the charity Help Refugees. It’s a unique opportunity to enjoy some beautifully cooked Syrian specialties, and support a worthy cause in the process.
Majeda Khoury had an unusual motivation to begin her supper club. A doctor and mother of three, she suddenly found herself a refugee – forced to flee war-torn Syria and settle in London without her family.
During this difficult transition she began to understand the power of her cooking. It’s ability to bring people together, but also create a space for connecting in a way that transcended delicious food and drink.
The event was part of Second Home’s Redefining Femininity Series – celebrating the multifaceted experience of 21st-century womanhood with all money raised going towards Majeda’s ambitions to set up a catering company for women refugees.
The food is both beautiful and abundant; there isn’t a physical menu, so I do spend some time asking questions and playing a bit of a ‘what am I eating’ guessing game.
To start; large sharing plates of the most perfectly balanced fatoush. Its picant, fresh with the delicious crunch of fried pitta adding to the texture. Accompanying, smoky baba ganoush with fresh pita and a dish called Harrak Esbao, a rich combination of lentils, pasta and garlic, the pomegranate and coriander combining to create a sweet and savoury contrast.
Main; a lamb kibbeh in a creamy yogurt sauce and rice with nuts and peas. I can’t get enough of the sauce and spend a great deal of time soaking the rice on my main plate in an attempt to consume every morsel.
I’m on the brink of overeating at this point, but dessert is yet to come. A syrupy cream filled pancake (I wish I knew what it is called) with the distinct essence of rosewater and crushed pistachios. It’s very decadent. I could eat less of it (being as full as I am) but figure it would be a waste not to eat it all.
I leave full and impressed, and at £37.50 (not including wine) for the evening it is money well spent. I really do hope we will hear more from Majeda and her Choose Love Kitchen in the future, and when that happens, I’ll happily be the first in the door.
thatdayigothungry 