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SUMMARY:Kitchen Lab – Reconstructing a Recipe: Memory\, Dementia\, and the Making of Za'atar
DESCRIPTION:Please join me and co-host\, chef and writer Marianna Farag\, for a live Kitchen Lab cookalong exploring the many variations of za’atar\, memory\, and the ways food connects us to people and places. \nOver two hours\, we’ll gather live on Zoom\, connecting Paris and Copenhagen through cooking\, conversation and shared curiosity. Together\, we’ll explore how recipes are passed on beyond written instructions\, how touch\, smell and taste can help sustain memory as it changes\, and why a spice blend such as za’atar is never simply a recipe\, but a living expression of culture\, history and belonging. \nDrawing on Marianna’s personal journey of reconstructing her mother’s Syrian za’atar recipe as dementia progressed\, this workshop invites us to consider food as a vessel for memory\, identity\, caregiving and cultural heritage. \nRecipes will be shared exclusively with registered participants. \nBirgitte \n \n“As my mother’s dementia progressed\, I found myself trying to recreate her Syrian za’atar recipe\, not from a written formula\, but through memory\, tasting\, observation\, and countless conversations. What began as an attempt to preserve a family recipe became a journey into questions of memory\, identity\, migration\, and the ways culinary traditions are passed from one generation to the next. \nToday\, za’atar is often presented as a fashionable ingredient\, yet its cultural\, botanical\, and familial histories are far richer than current food trends suggest. This workshop uses the reconstruction of my mother’s recipe as a starting point to explore the many meanings of za’atar: the plant and the blend\, the diversity of regional and family traditions\, and the role of food in preserving cultural heritage.” \nMarianna Farag \n  \nMarianna Farag is a Franco-Egyptian-Syrian chef\, writer and creative based in the Paris region. After a 15-year international career in marketing\, she left the corporate world to pursue her passion for food\, founding Marianna’s Kitchen in Kingston\, Jamaica\, a plant-based restaurant celebrated for its daily changing menu and food-curious philosophy of curiosity\, storytelling and community. \nEntirely self-taught\, Marianna’s work is rooted in what she calls food curious living: using food as a gateway to explore culture\, history\, botany\, memory\, identity and human connection. Through recipe development\, writing\, cooking experiences and research\, she encourages people to look beyond recipes and ingredients to the stories\, traditions and questions they carry. \nHer current work has been deeply shaped by her mother’s dementia and the journey of reconstructing her Syrian za’atar recipe through memory\, tasting\, observation and conversation. What began as an attempt to preserve a family recipe evolved into a broader exploration of food as a vessel for memory\, caregiving\, sensory experience and cultural heritage. \nInstagram: @mykitchennotes · @missmariannaf\nWebsite: www.stayfoodcurious.org \n 
URL:https://www.oxfordsymposium.org.uk/event/kitchen-lab-meeting-sept26/
CATEGORIES:Kitchen Table,Symposium main event
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.oxfordsymposium.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Marianna-Farag_-Sep-2026_.jpg
LOCATION:https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87173598313
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