Khadija Hemmati fled Afghanistan in 2016, looking for opportunities not available to women in her home country. She landed in Charlottesville and has found those opportunities in the form of a catering business and farmers’ market stall she calls Khadija’s Kitchen. Hemmati recently spoke with Knife & Fork about her journey.
Knife & Fork: How have you acclimated to life in the United States?
Khadija Hemmati: I’ve lived in Charlottesville for four years. Me and my ex-husband and five kids came here in November 2016. Now, I am a single mom living with my mother and my younger sister. We are eight people living together in the same house. And I am trying to get my GED.
What’s going on with Khadija’s Kitchen right now?
So, I am doing the farmer’s markets. I started them in 2019 in March. This year, I have started to work with [Richmond farmer’s market] GrowRVA.
How did you get started cooking your own food?
When I was at UVA, I worked for Aramark in the dining hall. But I quit my job because I realized the food we served was not good and healthy. I tried to start cooking on my own. I had a group of graduate students contact me and said, “Can you come and take care of 20 to 30 or so people?” That was 2018. Everyone enjoyed the food.
How would you describe your food?
I am from Afghanistan, but I also lived in Iran for 20 years. I know about Turkish food and Arabic—all kinds of Middle Eastern food. In the farmer’s market, I have dolma, kabob, baklava. I like to keep it traditional, but I usually add some sort of sauce to the menu. In the Middle East, we never have a sauce with the kabob. The spicy chicken kabob and lamb kabob, the dolma and falafel—those are my most popular dishes.
Have you had some help in growing Khadija’s Kitchen?
I appreciate so many people for helping me and supporting me. I have a volunteer who is helping me, and I have a lot of appreciation for my family and my sister. All of my five kids—they come to the farmer’s market. They wake up at 4:30 and help pack everything up.
All of these things have happened because I have support. In Afghanistan, we don’t have peace. I finished my high school education in computer science in Iran, but then I got married to a man from Afghanistan who had a relationship with my dad. In Afghanistan, I didn’t have freedom to do business or study. A woman can do all that here.