Fatima Hammo

Fatima studied arts, crafts, and sewing in Aleppo, where she ran a beauty salon and made and sold ballgowns. She moved to Turkey, with her husband and seven children, to escape the war. Around the same time, Fatima developed asthma and couldn’t continue working in salons as she had planned to do. She needed to help pay for her children’s university educations though, so Fatima — already an excellent cook — decided to make sweets and pastries to sell to university students. It didn’t take long for people in her neighborhood to recognize the quality of her cooking, and Fatima received more and more orders — so much so that she decided to develop her business management skills and turn her side job into a full-fledged catering business. Her specialty, kibbeh, features a combination of lamb, bulgur, nuts, and spices that make for a magnificent harmony of flavors.