October 28, 2022

We are thrilled to have relaunched our cooking competitions in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq this year, after a two-year pause due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

We first started the cooking competitions in 2018 as an extension to our annual garden competitions. The cooking competitions showcase all the delicious produce being grown in home gardens with limited resources. They offer a way to remember and celebrate people’s culture and heritage – a connection to home. Food can be the conduit for keeping memories alive and bringing people together as a community.

And similar to gardening, cooking is often a therapeutic activity, positively impacting our mental health and wellbeing.

Garden to table: delicious home grown produce, combined with ingredients bought locally in camp, are whipped up into mouth-watering meals by our many talented cooks. 

Aveen Ibrahem, our operations manager in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, together with our gardening team, were delighted to run the competitions again this year.

Aveen says:  

One of our guiding principles is to support and empower women, and because cooking is such a big part of women’s daily lives in our culture, we celebrate their efforts and contributions in bringing about joy and beauty through food.

Of course, our competitions are open to both women and men and we were pleased to welcome a few men across our camp competitions this year. There were no age restrictions either; our youngest entrant this year was 12 and our oldest was 70. Food brings us all together, often in the most surprising and unexpected ways.

Preparation is everything

We ran cooking competitions in seven refugee and IDP (internally displaced people) camps across a two-week period. A lot of preparation went into organising each competition, with Aveen and the team working with camp management to promote the events and ensure there was a beautiful space in each camp for people to showcase their dishes. Tags for participants were made, balloons were inflated, hundreds of goodie bags were assembled, and tables and chairs were arranged to host the events on the day.

Judging – it’s a tough job, but someone has to do it!

Aveen and the team, together with camp management officials and chefs living in the camps, had the enviable reward of tasting and judging the many mouth-watering meals – all conjured from humble kitchens.

In each camp we welcomed between 40 to 50 participants and in Domiz 1 camp there were 100 participants.

We promoted different categories for savoury and sweet dishes; our judging criteria instructed that the winning dishes must combine the original taste and flavour of the traditional recipe with beautiful presentation.

Cooking competitions winners announced

Overall, we awarded 15 winners with cash prizes across the seven camps.

The first winner received $100 and the second winner received $50. Due to having such a high turnout In Domiz 1 camp, we awarded three prizes: $100, $75, $50.

Everyone who took part was gifted a consolation goodie bag containing some basic kitchen utensils or a saucepan or mug set.

28 September: Gawillan camp

Judging team

• Aveen Ibrahem, Operations Manager, Lemon Tree Trust  
• Mutabn Abdullah, Camp Director in Gawillan  
• Bilal Kamel, Chef and Owner of Abu Kamel Restaurant  
• Hamid Abdullah, Horticulture and Landscape Consultant, Lemon Tree Trust    
• Ihsan Zebari, Director of the Asayish (Kurdish security) in Gawillan  
• Muhyiddin Zebari, Director of Residences in Gawillan  
• Muhammed Mesi, Manager of Dulsa in Gawillan

Winners 

First place: Amina Mohammed Jihad Abdullah

Second place: Rogen Jamil Ismail

29 September: Domiz 2 camp

Judging team

• Aveen Ibrahem, Operations Manager, Lemon Tree Trust
• Kawa Haji Hassan, Chairman of the Refugee Protection Committee
• Sardar Balti, Camp Manager in Domiz 2
• Abeer Muhammad, Director of the Nirkaz Center for Women

Winners

First place: Safiye Hassan Mohammed

Second place: Ronahi Marwan Rasool

2 October: Essian camp

Judging team

• Aveen Ibrahem, Operations Manager, Lemon Tree Trust
• Khairy Hamou Youssef, a cook in Essian
• Gashin Akram Mirza, Assistant Manager in Essian
• Hamid Abdullah, Horticulture & Landscape Consultant, Lemon Tree Trust

Winners

First place: Badal Shkr Abdullah

Second place: Tayra Jndi Haji

Left to right: Badal Shkr Abdullah is awarded 1st place; Tayra Jndi Haji is awarded 2nd place.

3 October: Khanki camp

Judging team

• Aveen Ibrahem, Operations Manager, Lemon Tree Trust
• Per Alo, Camp Manager in Khanki
• Shalal Ahmed Mohamed, Azadi Community Garden Coordinator & Gardener

Winners

First place: Nofa Shammo

Second place: Sabah Hassan

5 October: Kabartu 1 camp

Judging team

• Aveen Ibrahem, Operations Manager, Lemon Tree Trust
• Miad Saeed Saleh, Assistant Director of the camp administration
• Musa Salman Alo, Manager of elementary school

Winners

First place: Kena Haji Shibo

Second place: Hori Sloo Ruffo

5 October: Kabartu 2 camp

Judging team

• Aveen Ibrahem, Operations Manager, Lemon Tree Trust
• Soleen Othman Mohamed, Director of Kabartu Camp 2
• Nechirvan Ahmed Mohamed, Assistant Director
• Shalal Ahmed Mohamed, Azadi Community Garden Coordinator & Gardener

Winners

First place: Firdous Abdel Qader Mahmoud

Second place: Burhan Goko Khadr

6 October: Domiz 1 camp

Judging team

• Aveen Ibrahem, Operations Manager, Lemon Tree Trust
• Zhian Hamid, Assistant Manager, Lemon Tree Trust
• Zahra Adam, Field Officer
• Shendar Mohammed Bashir Ahmad, Chef

Winners

First place: Zozan Mohammed Taher

Second place: Delvine Rober Al-Mustafa

Third place: Maleka Mohamed Mohamed

Help us run more cooking competitions  

With your generous support, we can bring our cooking competitions to more camps in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq in 2023, bringing community, joy and wellbeing to forcibly displaced people.  

Make a donation.