The finishing touches

I'm just back from my friend J's house along the road. A group,of eight of us gathered in her kitchen at 3:00pm to watch M, a Syrian woman living in Stirling, cook a Syrian meal for us. Which we then ate (see extra). M is a very accomplished cook and teacher and the food was absolutely delicious. Pomegranates, oil, garlic, tahini, yogurt, parsley and mint featured prominently, along with almonds, walnuts, lemon, aubergine and courgette. And lots of other ingredients. We all tried to help with the cooking but M was the only person on top of it all. Along the way M told us a bit about her life in Syria and how she has come to be living as an asylum seeker in Scotland. She often cooks for groups of 100 people and I can't see her creations ever failing to please. It was a lovely afternoon and a humbling one.