Memories of Grandma's Syrian Pantry — a lunch and a story with Maria from Studio Food:Culture

Can tastes and smells carry memories of a human being, a place or an escape? Childhood's pantry in her grandmother's simple two-room apartment in the million program area has made Maria reflect on how meals can carry identity and help us understand both our origins and our contemporary times.

At this lunch, she invites to a journey through her Syrian food heritage, shaped by her grandmother's simple but flavorful cuisine. It is a food heritage that bears traces of ancient practices from ancient Mesopotamia, preserved by a diaspora that has migrated over decades from present-day Turkey on to Syria and Lebanon, and which since the 1970s has taken root in Sweden.

As a child, Grandma Hasne's small storeroom was one of Mary's favorite places. It was an unassuming surface, intended for clothes and bed linen, but which had instead been carefully turned into a pantry filled with spices, dried wild and cultivated herbs, countless kinds of legumes, cereals and jars of leavened vegetables and fruits. The room became a place for the explorations of the senses, driven by the curiosity about her grandmother's life story and cooking -- a curiosity that has never left her.

At lunch, you are invited to taste a menu inspired by grandma's cooking. Maybe even a moment for conversation and sharing food memories that have shaped you, along with others around the table.

Lunch menu

• Humse Qarhone — a spicy tomato stew with bulgur balls, chickpeas and browned butter

• Wheat bread seasoned with nigella seeds

• Homemade yogurt balls flavored with herbs

• Seasonal leavened vegetables

Subject to changes based on seasonal goods.

On a day-to-day basis, Maria works as a project manager at a research institute focusing on sustainable food operations. A trained chef, she also runs Studio Food:Culture — a fledgling nomadic platform to explore, create and share meals, stories and culture through food.

Lunches and a Story at the Vegetable Square

In the middle of central Gothenburg, we set up a long table and invite you to a lunch you will not find in any restaurant in the city, any other time of the year.

Every day for five weekdays, a local food profile cooks a lunch based on a story. From locally grown vegetables and fish from the sea outside the city, from the vibrant food heritage of the outer city to the inner city squares — this is a table where Gothenburg's food stories are served by those who live them. This is an opportunity where we meet through the food around the table and get a taste of how Gothenburg's food culture is being shaped right now.

📍 Grönsakstorget, Gothenburg
🗓️ September 14, at 11:45 — 13:00
👥 25 seats per lunch
💰 135 SEK/person

The meal is vegetarian but contains dairy products and gluten.

Hosted by Food Fest Gothenburg & Maria Nehme O'Neill/Studio Food: Culture

One of many flavorful experiences during Food Fest Gothenburg 11—20 September. Discover the program here .