Lebanese food and the migrant experience, Karima Hazim

Karima Hazim shares the motivation behind her efforts to document and share Lebanese food culture and how it relates to the history of the Lebanese migrant experience in Australia.

One of the ways Karima is doing this is through Sunday Kitchen, a cooking class she runs with her mother whose family left Lebanon at the start of the civil war in the 1970s and migrated to Australia where traditional Lebanese recipes, ingredients and cooking methods were passed down through the generations.

Karima had been a student of Fashion Design at UTS and went on to create her own small fashion label, and she tells the story of her experiences meeting with tailors in regional Vietnam and how she found a way to overcome the language barrier and cultural differences by relating through food.

Thanks to Karima for supplying the below photos that correspond to her experiences in Vietnam.

You can subscribe for free for an extended version of this conversation via the Wide Open Air Exchange podcast.

(Above) Karima with her tailor at the time, Mr Anh Bong, who she grew to adore and respect very much, and her friend Hong who would translate.

(Above) Karima with her other tailor at the time, Ms Chi Dung, and her family who treated Karima like part of their family, and with whom Karima shared some of the most incredible meals during her visits.

(Above) Karima at the fabric markets on the border of Vietnam and China.

 

All images are owned by Karima Hazim and were supplied for use by the Wide Open Air Exchange.

You may also like