On June 16, 2022. IOM Bulgaria organized yet another multicultural event in Sofia, which presented the traditional Afghan cuisine. More than 40 guests visited the event and among them were representatives of partner organizations working in the field of integration of migrants, legally residing citizens of Ukraine, Moldova and Afghanistan.

The event took place in the restaurant of Sara Faizi (migrant from Afghanistan) - Khaala Sara Foodz, who is a migrant from Afghanistan and successfully runs its restaurant in Sofia, offering authentic Afghan cuisine to its customers.

Sara has been living in Bulgaria for 8 years with her two children. In Kabul, Afghanistan, she has worked in the banking and financial sectors (she holds a bachelor's degree in business administration), but her passion is cooking. In Bulgaria, Sarah found friends and support and managed to open her own small restaurant.

For the special culinary event, organized by the Information Center for Migrants in Sofia, Sara prepared shami kebab, sambosa and mantu. In turn, a master chef from Bulgaria enriched the culinary adventure with classical but also interesting proposals from the Bulgarian culinary tradition – “Sun” bread and banitsa with cheese and beet leaves. Thus, on a sunny Thursday at noon, Afghanistan and Bulgaria met at the tables in Sarah's restaurant, and the guests had the pleasure to enjoy delicious food, prepared and served with a smile.

Art, whether visual, musical or culinary - is the most natural, safe and direct way in which the culture of a certain nation presents itself to others. In realization of the project " Training and counselling of legal migrants and persons seeking or having received the international protection" IOM Bulgaria has organized over 30 multicultural events in Sofia and Burgas, providing a platform for the creativity that migrants carry with them and introduced them to the Bulgarian folklore and culinary traditions. Because the process of integration is a continuous, two-way flow of information exchange, of receiving and giving, of the desire that meets support.

The event was realized within the framework of the project "Training and counselling of legal migrants and persons seeking or having received the international protection" funded by the National Program of Bulgaria under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund 2014-2020.