Key points:
- Nada Gamal El-Din works as an instructor at the Free to Feed Foundation in Melbourne.
- One of her recipes was included in an edition of 'Delicious" magazine.
- She has since established her own business operating out of her kitchen at home.
A recipe used to help other migrant women feel more at home in Australia has hit the pages of a popular 'foodie' magazine.
Egyptian-born Nada Gamal El-Din has been working as an instructor at Melbourne's for the past six years.
The foundation provides a meeting place for women from a range of backgrounds to connect through cooking and eating together. Ms El-Din cooks with and for women from Somalia, Colombia, Afghanistan, Iran and Vietnam.
Ms El-Din said that when she arrived in Australia, she could not find a restaurant serving authentic Egyptian dishes which led her to the kitchens of Free to Feed in Northcote and Fitzroy.
"(The foundation) supports new migrants and refugees and aims to integrate them into Australian society," she said.
"I worked for them as an instructor of Middle Eastern culinary arts, especially Egyptian ones. The foundation employs more than one person from different backgrounds who teach cooking (of) their country's dishes."
One of Ms El-Din's recipes is a kind of pickled and stuffed cherry tomato dish which was featured in the September 2023 edition of food magazine, 'Delicious'.
Known as "Tamatem Mekhalel”, it is a popular side dish in Egyptian cooking. It contains salt, cumin and chilli and Ms El-Din uses coriander and mint for garnish.
Ms El-Din explains that she modified the original Egyptian recipe by replacing large tomatoes with smaller cherry tomatoes and adding extra herbs to the pickle stuffing.
She said the magazine feature was, “an important moment, especially as they took this recipe, applied it themselves and filmed it in Sydney.”
Nada Gamal El-Din's recipe as it appeared in 'Delicious'. Credit: Mark Roper.jpg
Ms El-Din works with migrant and refugee women at Melbourne charitable foundation, Free to Feed.
"I apply the recipe by telling the history of the recipe and the association of Egyptians to it, the secret of the effect of spices and additives on each recipe and what this dish and its ingredients represent to Egyptians," she said.
She also added information on what the particular dish meant to her life, her children and her extended family as each had been learned from her mother and grandmother.
"(It) contains many different ingredients and (takes) a long time to prepare ... but once they taste (it), they are surprised by its delicious taste and (often) order it because it is a vegetarian dish."
Koshari is an Egyptian staple and favoured by Australians because it is filling and also vegetarian.
Ms El-Din has established a business - Egyptian Tummies - from her home kitchen which she is promoting through social media.
“I looked for an attractive title. As for the logo, I designed it to represent Egypt and Australia at the same time, so a logo was created consisting of layers of Koshari in the colours of the Australian flag," she said.
To find out more about Ms El-Din's experience in achieving one of her culinary dreams in Australia, please click on the podcast at the top of the page.
