(by Stefano Intreccialagli) (ANSAmed) - ROME, JUNE 21 - Goodwin from Nigeria has prepared a dish with shrimps and mussels, Khoudia a fried entrée with sea bream and baby octopus, Amadou a stew with sweet potatoes, Mamadou a sable with peanuts and Alina a salad with smoked herring.
These are five ''national'' dishes made by refugees from Senegal, Nigeria, Guinea, Conackry and Ukraine who have cooked together with professional chefs at Rome's Eataly restaurant for the first edition of the Refugee Food Festival.
The international festival is promoted by the UNHCR.
After the first events in Milan and Bari, the festival opened in Rome for World Refugee Day Tuesday.
The event was celebrated in the Italian capital in cooperation with Altrove, a social restaurant where Italian chefs and refugees prepare dishes uniting different cultures.
Khoudia is a young refugee and a cook. She comes from Senegal and has been living in Italy for three years.
''I have always had a passion for cooking because I started to cook at 8'', she said, adding that it was something she was supposed to do as a woman.
While she was looking for a job in Italy she found a ''course on inter-cultural gastronomy. It was a wonderful experience. It is always beautiful to cook''. As a child, Khoudia wanted to become a pediatrician but today she says that she wants to be a chef. ''It was something that I knew was inside me, but when I did the course this passion surfaced''.
Meals are an occasion to discover multi-ethnic dishes while listening to music in events aimed at promoting integration.
''Eating food that has been prepared by someone already implies that you trust them, which is why we have chosen food as a way of getting acquainted'', said Carlotta Sami, UNHCR spokeswoman for South Europe.
''It is great to watch refugee and Italian chefs cooking together, studying dishes together and discussing ingredients and cuisine''.
The initiative also aims to offer employment opportunities as well as integration. (ANSAmed).
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