Home cook was only five years old when his clear understanding of his country and culture was violently shaken.
“There was war in Sudan, where I was born, and my family was in poverty,” Hamdin recalls. “It was very hard for us to survive and life was getting quite dangerous.”
The Sudanese child joined his parents and six siblings to flee Sudan and seek temporary refuge in Egypt. Although they remained safe, times were tough. The family of nine lived in a two-bedroom apartment for four-and-a-half years as they waited for a refugee visa.
“A lot of people think that refugees just get a visa or jump on a boat and they arrive in Australia. But that’s not how it was.
“For us, it was a really hard process that took a long time. My dad would go to the UN every day to see if he could get a visa. Sometimes he would leave at 8am and not return until 10pm at night because transport was so bad.”
Ful was a very cheap and simple meal but it’s also one that plays a strong role in my culture. It’s a uniting dish.
Within the trauma of it all, the child experienced moments of light: meal times spent with family around the table, feeling secure in the company of the people who loved him.
Hamdin fondly remembers the warmth of his mother’s traditional Sudanese cooking and how a simple plate of ful – a vegetarian breakfast made with large fava beans – provided the child and his family with food for several days and a sense of home.
“Mum used to buy a full bag of Sudanese fava beans and leave them in a big pot overnight. The next day, she’d make ful on one big plate for nine of us to share. We would all sit down together in the living room for a meal. Everyone would get into the dish and use their hands to eat it.
“Ful is a very cheap and simple meal but it’s also one that plays a strong role in my culture. It’s a uniting dish.”
Food memories of home
In 2005, Hamdin and his family were granted refugee visas. After spending almost half a decade in red-tape limbo, the family moved to western Sydney, where they have lived ever since.
“When we got to Australia, we were given a caseworker to help us settle in and show us where to buy food. We were introduced to new foods and ingredients that we had never seen before. I soon learned that, instead of eating ful, people in Australia ate cereal for breakfast.
“I also remember the first time I went to a carnival and saw hot dogs, dressed with tomato sauce and mustard. I didn’t know what they were and had never tried them before. But once I did, I just loved them. I’ve loved hot dogs ever since.”
These days, Hamdin enjoys cooking and eating a diverse range of dishes, from modern Australian to Egyptian. But Sudanese classics like ful remain his favourite.
“Ful is a special dish that I still make for breakfast or dinner because it takes me back to Sudan. It reminds me of the struggles my family have lived through and of the people we left behind to seek out a better life, here in Australia.
“Sometimes, it’s hard to remember the tough times and all that we risked to get here. It was difficult to get to the life that we have now.”
Food is a way that you can talk to people about their homeland, discuss recipes and taste new dishes.
“Food and My Kitchen Rules (MKR) changed my life forever. After MKR, I realised that it doesn’t matter which country you are from, we all speak the same language: food.”
He believes that cooking and eating foreign dishes can promote a cross-cultural understanding of refugees. By trying meals like ful, we can get to know a bit more about his personal story.
“Food is a way you can talk to people about their homeland. It’s also a way that people can connect more with refugees.
“Once you taste a refugee’s food, you get the chance to learn about the story behind the dish and understand a person's circumstances. I believe that food is a bridge that connects people. Food really is a love language.”
