Welcome meal for refugees suggestions - GO!

Calling on the LTH hive mind here. I have volunteered to coordinate the welcoming meal for a refugee family who may or may not be arriving at any time. We do not know how many people are in the family or from which of these three countries--Congo, Syria, or Myanmar (Rohingya minority, who are Muslims)--the family is coming. Under the current crazy circumstances, we've been told we may have as little as two hours to prepare for the family's arrival. I'd like to have a menu planned for each that I can have mostly or completely shopped for and that is fairly quickly prepared. Most importantly, the meal has to be something familiar to the family and, of course, tasty.

I would appreciate any and all ideas. I'm especially clueless about food in the Congo.

Thanks! Helping with this will be doing a mitzvah (good deed).

Evy

How about hamburgers of freedom. Welcome to America, right?

This might put you in the right direction - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democra ... go_cuisine

EvA wrote:Thanks! Helping with this will be doing a mitzvah (good deed).
Evy

Sorry that I don't have any recommendations, but just wanted to say thank you for your kindness. It's a mitzvah indeed.

After doing a quick search on Google regarding cuisine from the Congo, many of the dishes appear to be similar to Ghanian and Nigerian dishes such as jollof rice, white rice, fried plantains, fried fish (such as tilapia), meat based stews, peanut stews, spinach stews and fufu. If you have access to any of these types of restaurants, I think you could order some dishes that would make these families feel at home.

buttercream wrote:After doing a quick search on Google regarding cuisine from the Congo, many of the dishes appear to be similar to Ghanian and Nigerian dishes such as jollof rice, white rice, fried plantains, fried fish (such as tilapia), meat based stews, peanut stews, spinach stews and fufu. If you have access to any of these types of restaurants, I think you could order some dishes that would make these families feel at home.

Thanks. I am hoping to cook and not get food from a restaurant. Rice is the one food I know I can make for people coming from any of the three countries. A lentil dish I think will work for Syrians and the Rohingya; I'm not so sure about the Congolese.

Have you ever traveled abroad and tried to get American food in a restaurant (I'm not talking about chains such as McDonald's, as I don't consider that to be food)? It always falls flat. Ingredients are not the same and even with the best recipes, it just misses the mark. As an example, a local chef who we all know is presently in the Mid East cooking Mexican food. He posted on Instagram that although his recipes are the same, the difference in ingredients makes his food taste different. Not necessarily bad, but different enough that he doesn't feel it's a proper representation of the cuisine. I'm afraid you're setting yourself up for failure. Why not go another direction and feed them some local delicacies to welcome them to their new home? You could go with something more or less familiar, such as chicken & dumplings or arroz con pollo, for example.

stevez wrote:Have you ever traveled abroad and tried to get American food in a restaurant (I'm not talking about chains such as McDonald's, as I don't consider that to be food)? It always falls flat. Ingredients are not the same and even with the best recipes, it just misses the mark. As an example, a local chef who we all know is presently in the Mid East cooking Mexican food. He posted on Instagram that although his recipes are the same, the difference in ingredients makes his food taste different. Not necessarily bad, but different enough that he doesn't feel it's a proper representation of the cuisine. I'm afraid you're setting yourself up for failure. Why not go another direction and feed them some local delicacies to welcome them to their new home? You could go with something more or less familiar, such as chicken & dumplings or arroz con pollo, for example.

I appreciate your point, but we may be getting people who will not recognize those things as food, as happened to one group who served a family from the Congo a spaghetti and meatball dinner; they did not know what the dish was or how to eat it. I'm not trying to make them a gourmet meal from their home country (many have been living for months or years in appalling refugee camps), but I do want to provide them something that seems familiar to them. I also would like the love to show with something home cooked.

For the Congolese, you might try making jollof rice; this is essentially rice cooked in a tomato sauce but seasoned with ground garlic, ginger, oil, salt, and hot pepper (if you want it spicy). Serve it with some type of fried fish. I buy tilapia fillets, dredge in flour and season with seasoning salt, garlic powder. If you can find ripe plantains, fry those up and serve alongside. If you need more recipes, just get in touch with me. My husband is from Ghana so I make a lot of West African dishes.

buttercream wrote:For the Congolese, you might try making jollof rice; this is essentially rice cooked in a tomato sauce but seasoned with ground garlic, ginger, oil, salt, and hot pepper (if you want it spicy). Serve it with some type of fried fish. I buy tilapia fillets, dredge in flour and season with seasoning salt, garlic powder. If you can find ripe plantains, fry those up and serve alongside. If you need more recipes, just get in touch with me. My husband is from Ghana so I make a lot of West African dishes.

Thank you, buttercream! This is very helpful and is something we can do.

EvA wrote:I appreciate your point, but we may be getting people who will not recognize those things as food, as happened to one group who served a family from the Congo a spaghetti and meatball dinner; they did not know what the dish was or how to eat it. I'm not trying to make them a gourmet meal from their home country (many have been living for months or years in appalling refugee camps), but I do want to provide them something that seems familiar to them. I also would like the love to show with something home cooked.

Yes. Spaghetti & meatballs would be out of left field, but I'm talking about something made from ingredients that are more or less familiar to them; just cooked in a North American style. I can see where you are coming from, though. I would suggest including at least one dish native to the US, though, even if they have other more "native" choices as well. After all, it's just as reasonable to assume that at least some of the folks will be excited to try American food as it is to assume that they wouldn't.

LOL. I just imagined... IF... right after I came from USSR someone wanted to give me warm welcome with borsch and stuffed cabbage. I would think these people are certified nuts. Hamburger, fries and ketchup on the side, please. WELCOME TO USA.

I agree with Lenny and I'd add pizza as a suggestion.