Taste of Syria owner says regulars have an 'addiction for the chicken' - Action News
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SaskatoonSASKATOON BITES

Taste of Syria owner says regulars have an 'addiction for the chicken'

The Al Soua family left Syria in 2014 because of the civil war. Five years later, they had settled in Saskatoon and launched a successful eatery, introducing customers to the complexities of Syrian spice blends in dishes like falafel, beef donair, and their number one seller: chicken shawarma.

Local writer shares the stories behind Saskatoon's food scene, one bite at a time

A woman wearing a headscarf cuts a wrap in a commercial kitchen. In the background, you can see chicken roasting on a vertical spit.
Taste of Syria owner Wafaa Al Soua prepares their number one best-seller: the chicken shawarma. (Naomi Hansen)

Wafaa Al Soua says Taste of Syria has become a home of sorts for her family.

"If you came before school started, you can find all of them here," she said, referring to her four children. "It's the second house for us."

A father and mother, wearing aprons, and four children of varying ages stand in a commercial kitchen. Boxes of pastries are set out in front of them, and chicken roasting on a spit canbe seen in the background.
Wafaa Al Soua, third from left, moved to Saskatoon with her family from Lebanon in 2016. They are originally from Syria. (Submitted by Wafaa Al Soua)

Al Soua and her husband, Badie Al Souad, opened the brick-and-mortar location of Taste of Syria in 2021 at 2605 Broadway Ave. They offer a menu full of family recipes that have been perfected over the years: falafel, beef donair, and their number one seller: chicken shawarma.

Al Soua said their regular customers some who come in daily ask: "What do you put on the chicken? We have [an] addiction for the chicken!'"

She tells them it's "just the spices nothing special. But you can recognize the cardamon, and some paprika, especially when you smell it."

A closeup of sizzling chicken stacked on a rotating spit.
Taste of Syria's chicken shawarma recipe features a blend of more than 12 spices. (Naomi Hansen)

Finding a home in Saskatoon

Before moving to Canada, the family lived in Syria, where Al Soua worked as a math teacher and helped run their family's book and grocery store. In 2014 three years after the start of the Syrian civil war the couple decided to leave the country and move to neighbouring Lebanon.

While living there, they received an invitation from the Canadian government to apply for permanent residency. Al Soua said she was "very excited about that," and in February of 2016, the six-person family arrived in Saskatoon.

Al Soua, whose first language is Arabic, quickly began learning English through the Saskatoon Open Door Society. She also began working as an interpreter and volunteering at local schools.

Then she was introduced to the Women's Business Hub, a program through the Saskatoon Open Door Society. It offers education, training and support to immigrant women with the goal of helping them start their own business.

After completing the program, Al Soua launched Taste of Syria in 2019 as a pop-up eatery at the Saskatoon Farmers' Market.

Two parents and two boys of different ages stand in front of a restaurant. Its windows are covered with decorative wraps that say 'Taste of Syria' and feature a variety of dishes.
After seeing success at their farmers' market pop-up, the family opened a brick-and-mortar location at 2605 Broadway Ave. (Submitted by Wafaa Al Soua)

"It was successful. People like it love it," she recalled.

Encouraged by the reception to their pop-up, the family decided to turn Taste of Syria into a permanent restaurant in Avalon, where it has become a neighbourhood favourite.

Experimenting with spices for the 'perfect recipe'

Al Soua said that complex spice blends are what makes Syrian cuisine unique. They import their spices, like cardamom, cumin andcoriander, from the Middle East. They then mix them in-house to create their own recipes.

"That's what makes our food special," Al Soua said. "My husband starts to develop something, add something, remove something, until we reach the perfect recipe."

The chicken shawarma recipe, for example, contains more than 12 spices and is marinated overnight. In the morning, it's layered on a vertical spit, where it rotates as it cooks for several hours, making the meat tender.

A woman in a commercial kitchen drizzles sauce on a plate of cut up pieces of a chicken wrap. There are metal containers of vegetable toppings in front of her.
The chicken shawarma wrap served Arabic-style: First the wrap is assembled, then cut into smaller pieces and served with garlic sauce for dipping. (Naomi Hansen)

Customers typically order the chicken shawarma one of two ways: either as a wrap stuffed with vegetables, pickles, garlic sauce and tahini sauce; or Arabic-style, which means the wrap is assembled, cut into pieces and served with garlic sauce for dipping.

Other popular dishes include grape leaves, which are stuffed with rice and meat; falafel, which is made with Saskatchewan chickpeas; andbaklava, which is a layered dessert made of filo pastry. Al Soua's version is stuffedwith almonds and pistachios, and topped with a sugary syrup.

A tray of tiny, golden, flaky patries drenched in syrup and topped with nuts.
Al Soua prefers to use sugary syrup on her baklava, instead of honey, because it is lighter. (Naomi Hansen)

Although she enjoys cooking, Al Soua said her favourite thing about running Taste of Syria is connecting with customers. She said they've supported her family a lot.

"I'm very happy here with my family, with my business, with my work. Everything [has] become better than before; everything is stable," Al Soua said. "I have my own house now. I have my own business. Everything is good."