DINNER IN DAMASCUS Bec Marshallsay
On the menu is comfort, a sense of belonging, spiritual nourishment and social intimacy.
Griffith University Gold Coast PhD Candidate, Jovana Mastilovic, is aware of the extraordinary power of food to bring people together.
Food offers more than physical sustenance. Food is central to our sense of identity, well being and connection with others. This is why we go out to dinner to celebrate with friends, or look forward to family favourites like mum’s parmigiana or dad’s laksa. It’s why we seek comfort food when we are down or tired. And it’s why we recreate dishes that remind us of happy times with loved ones or on holidays.
‘The power of food is well-known and longstanding. By sharing a meal, you share not only food, but also your culture, your story, and your customs,’ says Jovana.
It is not just the process of eating but every aspect from start to finish – setting the table while your partner cooks, standing around the BBQ with friends, bringing wine for your host, sharing stories while you pass dishes, clearing the table together – that create an experience steeped in community and connection. Perhaps nowhere is this more obvious than in migrant communities. Researchers such as Fabio Parasecoli observe that ‘immigrants cope with the dislocation and disorientation they experience in their new environment by re-creating a sense of place in their domestic environment around food production, preparation, and consumption’. Food is not only a way to preserve connections and recreate memories for individuals within a community but also a way to others in and to share cultural practices and identity.
In March this year Jovana harnessed this power to host a Dinner in Damascus on the Gold Coast. Around 100 people attended the event to enjoy a sumptuous banquet prepared by Syrian chefs. But the chance to try Syrian food was not the only thing on the menu. After the meal, guests heard stories from established and newly arrived Australians around the themes of migrant experiences, cultural connection and breaking down borders between people. ‘People are most often open to experiencing and even appropriating traditional foods, but more reluctant to getting to know the people behind it’ explains Jovana. ‘The famous saying “the easiest way to win hearts and minds is through the stomach” emphasises the importance of food diplomacy and why Dinner in Damascus was enriched with story-telling after the feast. Most people are ready to listen and be more open on a satisfied stomach’. The story-tellers of the evening included people with origins in Syria, Eritrea, Ethiopia, DR Congo, Sudan, Kenya, Greece, and China. Guests heard
Dinner In Damascus