Awafi Kitchen

We were honored to be interviewed for the afikra Matbakh podcast series about eating, making, appreciating and learning about the food and drink of the Arab world. Here is a clip from the interview, the full podcast can be found at: https://www.afikra.com/series/matbakh

Today on Matbakh, Annabel "Nibal" and Sam Rabiyah — the sibling duo behind The Awafi Kitchen — talk to us about Iraqi-Jewish cuisine, the state of Iraq's food production and agriculture today, and the inspiration and strength they find in Palestinian communities who continue to exist and honor their heritage in the face of the Zionist project. Episode out at 6pm Beirut time on YouTube and all major podcasting platforms.

We are witnessing a genocide. This violence is the continuation of a 75-year occupation that displaces, dehumanizes, and brutalizes Palestinians. The Western & Israeli media is using every tool to justify it, in the name of “fighting terrorism” and “democracy,” the same tactics used to carry out atrocities against our people in Iraq. We cannot look away, and we beg for a world that holds Arab and Muslim lives as dear as any other.

For everyone mourning a lost loved one right now across the region, your pain is real and incomprehensible, and we mourn with you. It’s vital right now to think about our own history in how we got to this moment of escalating violence. Our Jewish Iraqi people were displaced from our homes and many were coerced to the region as agents in the ethnic cleansing of their Palestinian cousins, as well as our own histories. We will never forget the Pogroms, the Farhud, and the Holocaust. But the Israeli project was never really for us, and Israel will never make Jews safe. It will only exacerbate hatred towards our people as the state kills in our name. You will never have true safety contingent on occupation and violence.

We dream of a free Palestine where all of us have a right to return: to our homes, our languages, our roots, and our people. Our work at Awafi to untangle and uplift our Iraqi culture is inextricable from the Palestinian fight for freedom.

Do not let the nuances stop you from taking a stand when thousands of lives are at stake. Now is the time to listen to and follow Palestinians in their resistance. Demand a ceasefire now. Call on your governments, boycott and make your voice heard.

Toolkit for actions: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hpHkM9KlH5Yn3xq7nk9xfPtIkWZDblWnCKD8xt5DBx0/mobilebasic

(Photo: Watermelons for sale at a fruit market in Mosul, 1932)

Another year with the

A year of seeds shipped across the country, some harvests, some losses, and many zoom conversations about food, diaspora, growing techniques, , butnej , rivkas magic melons, and more. Basil seed from Iraq made it into the catalog, and other varieties are soon to be offered !

Are you interested in joining us? Any Iraqi/Mesopotamian heritage people are welcome to join the community and help build. And we continue to look for experienced seed keepers (of any background) to help us save and establish endangered seed. DM or see link in bio to learn more about how to get involved. Or email [email protected]

Spring is here! The Iraqi Seed Collective has been busy. Iraqi seeds that were saved last year are being sent out to gardens and farms across the country.
This variety, "Aswad" simply means black in Arabic, and is a colloquial name for eggplant in Iraq. Eggplant is one of the most important crops in Iraqi food, most delicious when it's fried soaked in oil. What's your favorite Iraqi dish with "aswad"?