Lives Less Ordinary

Lives Less Ordinary


How cooking landed me in a Syrian prison

October 17, 2019

Majeda Khoury loved to cook for her family back home in Damascus, so when conflict broke out in Syria she used her skills to help the displaced people fleeing the bombs. She smuggled food across checkpoints, but she was arrested and detained. Once she was released, she had to flee the country, leaving her two sons behind. Majeda moved to the UK where she used food to raise awareness about the conflict in her home country. She invited Emily Webb into her kitchen to share her mother’s recipe for her favourite Syrian dish, Harak Osbao’o, which translates to ‘he burned his fingers’.

Presenter: Emily Webb
Producer: Troy Holmes

Picture: Syrian chef Majeda Khoury serving food
Credit: BBC/Troy Holmes