ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — It is one small food truck, but on any given day, it can hold 13 different countries.
Or at least the cuisine from them.
Inside the Global Eats food truck parked outside St. David’s Church on Elizabeth Avenue, are people who arrived in Canada as refugees from all over the world, studying with one Canadian-born person, Riley Hendrickson Pike, who works as the sous chef.
And though part of Hendrickson Pike’s job is to teach, being surrounding by so many different people and cultures, is a learning experience in itself.
“It’s definitely the best job I’ve ever had. I love every aspect about it. It hits a lot of the right notes for me,” Hendrickson Pike said.
It’s a project which was started last year as a social enterprise by the Association for New Canadian’s (ANC), to help train new Canadians in the restaurant industry. They had a soft opening last Thursday and were very busy.
“My life (has) become peaceful, with good people around me." — Zahra Khakoeei
Last Friday, despite the downpour of rain, when The Telegram arrived just before closing, the food truck was still on wheels, literally and figuratively.
One of the students involved is Zahra Khakoeei. In between making and portioning tahini — a sauce made from toasted sesame seeds — Khakooei sat down to discuss her life and involvement with the project.
Khakoeei moved to Canada from Turkey with her two sons about seven months ago and says she feels, “so rested.
“My life (has) become peaceful, with good people around me,” she said. “Yes, I find a little bit (of) peace in my life and I can find it more and more.”
Khakoeei says people would not be able to imagine how happy she is to be a part of the project.
“I am a (working) lady, I did marketing in Dubai, I understand (many languages) very well,” she said. “I cannot (sit) in the house and (wait) for my son.”
Sitting near Khakooei is Amr Alagouza. Khakooei frequently praises “Mister Amr,” as she calls him, and says when she moved to Canada, she gained a third son in Alagouza.
Originally from Egypt, Alagouza moved to Canada as a student just over a year ago. In April, he finished his masters degree in business administration at Memorial University.
“Oh, you finished it?” Jean Graham, communications, marketing and media coordinator with the ANC, asked.
“Yes, I did,” Alagouza responds.
“And we didn’t have cake?” Graham said.
Alagouza joined the ANC in February and is the project lead for Global Eats.
“The Global Eats food truck is a training program, primarily,” Alagouza said. “We make sure we hire individuals who would benefit from the program, who would add to the program (and) can make some sort of a legacy for next year’s cohort.”
Mustapha Moulid is a Moroccan-born chef who’s had years of experience working for cruise ship companies, hotels and restaurants before he moved to Canada with his wife in 2015.
“I (had) a dream before I came to Canada that I would like to start my own business,” Moulid said. “I just want the experience of the food truck industry.”
Moulid is head chef at Global Eats this year. And that dream of starting his own food truck is getting closer to reality, as he began doing market research last year.
In the meantime, Moulid is learning how to train people like Satinder Kaur, who grew up in India and moved to Kenya with her husband, before moving to Canada in July of 2019.
“I love trying the different food … I love these opportunities,” Kaur said.
In Kenya, she learned to cook through her mother-in-law.
“I started catering over there … a small business,” she said. “Then, I (had the) chance to come here. I moved here with my husband and two kids.”
It’s a new experience to work in a food truck, she says, but it’s one she won’t soon forget.
“A lot of things (are) new for me, but I love that,” she said.
Twitter: @AndrewLWaterman
