Poem: "Who Can Create the Future"
This poem is spillover from the May 4, 2021 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
chanter1944, technoshaman, and Anonymous. It also fills the "futurology" square in my 5-1-21 card for the Leaky Pipeline Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with ng_moonmoth and fuzzyred. It belongs to the Rutledge thread of the Polychrome Heroics series. It is the second in a set, after "Escape a Thousand Memories" and before "Good Food Choices Are Good Investments," "Layering Flavors, Tastes, and Textures," "A Vibrant Symbol of the American Dream," and "The People Who Give You Their Food."
"Who Can Create the Future"
[June 2014]
Kardal spent May
taking the class about
American food handling.
It was fussier than he was
used to, but they also had
a big clean teaching kitchen
and plenty of good fresh food,
so on the whole he liked it.
He had no trouble passing
the test at the end of class
to get his certificate.
After that, he could
start looking for work.
Kardal thought about
getting a food cart, but he
had no money to buy one.
So he checked the want ads
and found that Mandy's Diner
was looking for a Syrian cook.
Mandy was a plump grandmother
with a zesty personality who
grilled him mercilessly about
what foods he could make.
Kardal described all of
the different kinds of kebabs
he had made -- chicken, beef,
and lamb -- and their sauces.
He talked about baking mahshi
at home, and desserts such as
basbousa and ruz ib Haleeb.
"What about some beverages?"
Mandy said. "Can you do those?"
"Not fancy ones, but I can make
doogh, that's a salty yogurt drink,
and polo, mint lemonade," he said.
"How long would you work for me?"
Mandy said. "Do you want to start
your own business someday?"
"Someday, but classes for that --
maybe a year?" Kardal said.
"I don't know how long it would
take me to save up the money
to buy a food cart, or whatever."
He was currently working on
an Entrepreneurship Certificate
at the College of St. Joseph, which
was challenging and interesting,
but he wasn't sure about his future.
Mandy snorted. "Don't be a piker,"
she said. "Start with a food truck,
or a hole-in-the wall restaurant.
You already know more than
the people who do little carts."
That was probably true, since
since he had already done that.
"I will have to figure the numbers,"
said Kardal. "For now, I would like
to work for you and learn how
Americans do business."
"You'll do," Mandy declared.
"You can start on Monday."
"You really don't mind that I'm
a refugee?" Kardal whispered.
"A refugee is someone who survived
and who can create the future," she said
as she patted Kardal gently on the hand.
"My ancestors came over from Ireland.
You will find your place here, too."
Working at the diner, Kardal
learned that Mandy was
like that with everyone.
Some people didn't like
her nosiness, but he
didn't mind it at all.
It made him feel just
a little less disconnected.
* * *
Notes:
"A refugee is someone who survived and who can create the future."
– Amela Koluder
https://www.globalgiving.org/learn/12-shareable-world-refugee-day-quotes
Mandy's Diner has a central bar flanked by a left wing and a right wing. The kitchen lies behind them. Independent diners are small, agile businesses capable of quick response to changing circumstances. Thus Mandy's became the first restaurant to offer halal-certified foods, with intent to expand as they find more resources.
Successful refugee integration requires knowing what works and what doesn't. Effective programs support refugees in gaining employment, education, housing, and social networking. Refugees often need special services for diet, health care, mental care, disabilities, and so on. Their religious needs may differ from the local pattern and must also be met. Those who do not speak English require translators until they become fluent. The more funding available, the better these programs tend to work. Also, it's better to keep refugees in groups large enough that they can support each other through the difficult process of resettlement. Read a handbook on resettlement. Refugees face many challenges to integration. Learn how you can help them.
Refugee employment is a serious issue. They struggle to find good jobs and support their families. Unemployment causes many problems. Employment bans and other barriers are especially damaging, as they force traumatized people into dependence and may constitute revictimization of those already failed by other governments. It is much better to get people into work or school as soon as they feel able. Unskilled workers may want any job immediately, or want training to find a better job. Skilled workers typically need help obtaining certifications and possible retraining to fit their expertise to local requirements, but may prefer to train for a new career. Here Kardal has taken a one-month accelerated course in food handling and food service, allowing him to get a food job. He has also started on an Entrepreneurship Certificate that will take 2-3 semesters. Refugee Employment Partnership is one organization helping to connect refugees and "https://www.tent.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Tent_Guidebook_FINAL.pdf">employers who want to hire them.
Syria belongs to the family of Mediterranean countries. Syrian cuisine uses key ingredients that generally match the Mediterranean food pyramid. The Mediterranean diet is the best by multiple measures. Learn how to follow it. Enjoy some Syrian recipes and culinary resources.
(Some of these links are controversial. Others involving slaughter techniques are graphic.)
The Syrian Foods truck serves only halal items. Halal food standards describe what Muslims may eat or use, in simple or more complex terms. These vary across cultures, and even between individuals, as we saw in the debate over halal-tayyib. Halal certification offers various benefits for producers and vendors. This discussion of the knowledge base covers things such as animal feed and the difference between halal and certified-halal products. In particular, foodstuff which is halal by category may be made haram (forbidden) if it comes into contact with haram substances or practices; for example, if any pork products are used in a factory, they tend to contaminate everything. Here is a very detailed description and demonstration of halal slaughter techniques, with the basic concepts in earlier videos and actual slaughter in last of the three. The results are quite impressive, but be aware that it requires a level of faith-based magic and animal-handling skill that not many people achieve. Here is a whole book on religious slaughtering techniques, but it allows mechanical methods not as good as hand slaughtering. Note that commercial slaughterhouses, as opposed to small businesses or individuals, are primarily concerned with cutting as many corners as possible, as you can see from the things they have subsequently been told not to do. As with any product, if you want to be SURE what you're getting, do it yourself or buy from a producer you know and trust. Good ones exist, but they are not common here as the market works against them. T-America does somewhat better. It can be difficult and expensive to obtain halal food, but Muslims are obligated to do so, which makes food a major concern for those living in non-Muslim areas.
There are instructions on halal cooking for home cooks and professionals. In general, washing is sufficient to purify cookware contaminated by unclean things, but given a choice most Muslims would prefer new cookware. Here are more detailed directions on purifying tools that have been contaminated. This discussion explores some group and individual variations, in which the most important is to follow an imam you know and trust, because they sometimes make different rulings.
These are things that Kardal offers to make at Mandy's Diner.
Kebab (كباب)
Grilled meat.
Kebab Halabi (كباب حلبي meaning "Aleppine kebab") Kebab served with a spicy tomato sauce and Aleppo pepper. It has about 26 variants,[3] including:
• kebab hindi (كباب هندي), made from rolled lamb, with tomato paste, onion, capsicum and pomegranate molasses;
• kebab kamayeh (كباب كميه), made from soft meat with truffle pieces, onion and various nuts;
• kebab karaz (كباب كرز), made from lamb meatballs with cherries and cherry paste, pine nuts, sugar and pomegranate molasses;
• kebab khashkhash (كباب خشخاش), made from rolled lamb or beef with chili pepper paste, parsley, garlic and pine nuts;
• siniyyet kebab (صينيّة كباب), made from lean minced lamb served on a tray with chili pepper, onion and tomato.
Mahshi
A famous dish served in Syria is made from vegetables (usually zucchini—كوسا / kūsā—or eggplant—باذنجان / bādhinjān) which are stuffed (محشي / maḥshī) with ground beef or lamb or mutton, and nuts and rice.
Kousa Mahshi
Desserts that are popular in Syria
Basbousa (بسبوسة)
A sweet cake made of cooked semolina or farina soaked in simple syrup.
Rice pudding (رز بحليب) Made from rice mixed with water or milk and other ingredients such as cinnamon.
Ruz ib Haleeb (Syrian rice pudding)
Beverages (soft drinks, water)
Tea, coffee
Doogh (salty yogurt drink)
Polo (Syrian mint lemonade)
chanter1944, technoshaman, and Anonymous. It also fills the "futurology" square in my 5-1-21 card for the Leaky Pipeline Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with ng_moonmoth and fuzzyred. It belongs to the Rutledge thread of the Polychrome Heroics series. It is the second in a set, after "Escape a Thousand Memories" and before "Good Food Choices Are Good Investments," "Layering Flavors, Tastes, and Textures," "A Vibrant Symbol of the American Dream," and "The People Who Give You Their Food.""Who Can Create the Future"
[June 2014]
Kardal spent May
taking the class about
American food handling.
It was fussier than he was
used to, but they also had
a big clean teaching kitchen
and plenty of good fresh food,
so on the whole he liked it.
He had no trouble passing
the test at the end of class
to get his certificate.
After that, he could
start looking for work.
Kardal thought about
getting a food cart, but he
had no money to buy one.
So he checked the want ads
and found that Mandy's Diner
was looking for a Syrian cook.
Mandy was a plump grandmother
with a zesty personality who
grilled him mercilessly about
what foods he could make.
Kardal described all of
the different kinds of kebabs
he had made -- chicken, beef,
and lamb -- and their sauces.
He talked about baking mahshi
at home, and desserts such as
basbousa and ruz ib Haleeb.
"What about some beverages?"
Mandy said. "Can you do those?"
"Not fancy ones, but I can make
doogh, that's a salty yogurt drink,
and polo, mint lemonade," he said.
"How long would you work for me?"
Mandy said. "Do you want to start
your own business someday?"
"Someday, but classes for that --
maybe a year?" Kardal said.
"I don't know how long it would
take me to save up the money
to buy a food cart, or whatever."
He was currently working on
an Entrepreneurship Certificate
at the College of St. Joseph, which
was challenging and interesting,
but he wasn't sure about his future.
Mandy snorted. "Don't be a piker,"
she said. "Start with a food truck,
or a hole-in-the wall restaurant.
You already know more than
the people who do little carts."
That was probably true, since
since he had already done that.
"I will have to figure the numbers,"
said Kardal. "For now, I would like
to work for you and learn how
Americans do business."
"You'll do," Mandy declared.
"You can start on Monday."
"You really don't mind that I'm
a refugee?" Kardal whispered.
"A refugee is someone who survived
and who can create the future," she said
as she patted Kardal gently on the hand.
"My ancestors came over from Ireland.
You will find your place here, too."
Working at the diner, Kardal
learned that Mandy was
like that with everyone.
Some people didn't like
her nosiness, but he
didn't mind it at all.
It made him feel just
a little less disconnected.
* * *
Notes:
"A refugee is someone who survived and who can create the future."
– Amela Koluder
https://www.globalgiving.org/learn/12-shareable-world-refugee-day-quotes
Mandy's Diner has a central bar flanked by a left wing and a right wing. The kitchen lies behind them. Independent diners are small, agile businesses capable of quick response to changing circumstances. Thus Mandy's became the first restaurant to offer halal-certified foods, with intent to expand as they find more resources.
Successful refugee integration requires knowing what works and what doesn't. Effective programs support refugees in gaining employment, education, housing, and social networking. Refugees often need special services for diet, health care, mental care, disabilities, and so on. Their religious needs may differ from the local pattern and must also be met. Those who do not speak English require translators until they become fluent. The more funding available, the better these programs tend to work. Also, it's better to keep refugees in groups large enough that they can support each other through the difficult process of resettlement. Read a handbook on resettlement. Refugees face many challenges to integration. Learn how you can help them.
Refugee employment is a serious issue. They struggle to find good jobs and support their families. Unemployment causes many problems. Employment bans and other barriers are especially damaging, as they force traumatized people into dependence and may constitute revictimization of those already failed by other governments. It is much better to get people into work or school as soon as they feel able. Unskilled workers may want any job immediately, or want training to find a better job. Skilled workers typically need help obtaining certifications and possible retraining to fit their expertise to local requirements, but may prefer to train for a new career. Here Kardal has taken a one-month accelerated course in food handling and food service, allowing him to get a food job. He has also started on an Entrepreneurship Certificate that will take 2-3 semesters. Refugee Employment Partnership is one organization helping to connect refugees and "https://www.tent.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Tent_Guidebook_FINAL.pdf">employers who want to hire them.
Syria belongs to the family of Mediterranean countries. Syrian cuisine uses key ingredients that generally match the Mediterranean food pyramid. The Mediterranean diet is the best by multiple measures. Learn how to follow it. Enjoy some Syrian recipes and culinary resources.
(Some of these links are controversial. Others involving slaughter techniques are graphic.)
The Syrian Foods truck serves only halal items. Halal food standards describe what Muslims may eat or use, in simple or more complex terms. These vary across cultures, and even between individuals, as we saw in the debate over halal-tayyib. Halal certification offers various benefits for producers and vendors. This discussion of the knowledge base covers things such as animal feed and the difference between halal and certified-halal products. In particular, foodstuff which is halal by category may be made haram (forbidden) if it comes into contact with haram substances or practices; for example, if any pork products are used in a factory, they tend to contaminate everything. Here is a very detailed description and demonstration of halal slaughter techniques, with the basic concepts in earlier videos and actual slaughter in last of the three. The results are quite impressive, but be aware that it requires a level of faith-based magic and animal-handling skill that not many people achieve. Here is a whole book on religious slaughtering techniques, but it allows mechanical methods not as good as hand slaughtering. Note that commercial slaughterhouses, as opposed to small businesses or individuals, are primarily concerned with cutting as many corners as possible, as you can see from the things they have subsequently been told not to do. As with any product, if you want to be SURE what you're getting, do it yourself or buy from a producer you know and trust. Good ones exist, but they are not common here as the market works against them. T-America does somewhat better. It can be difficult and expensive to obtain halal food, but Muslims are obligated to do so, which makes food a major concern for those living in non-Muslim areas.
There are instructions on halal cooking for home cooks and professionals. In general, washing is sufficient to purify cookware contaminated by unclean things, but given a choice most Muslims would prefer new cookware. Here are more detailed directions on purifying tools that have been contaminated. This discussion explores some group and individual variations, in which the most important is to follow an imam you know and trust, because they sometimes make different rulings.
These are things that Kardal offers to make at Mandy's Diner.
Kebab (كباب)
Grilled meat.
Kebab Halabi (كباب حلبي meaning "Aleppine kebab") Kebab served with a spicy tomato sauce and Aleppo pepper. It has about 26 variants,[3] including:
• kebab hindi (كباب هندي), made from rolled lamb, with tomato paste, onion, capsicum and pomegranate molasses;
• kebab kamayeh (كباب كميه), made from soft meat with truffle pieces, onion and various nuts;
• kebab karaz (كباب كرز), made from lamb meatballs with cherries and cherry paste, pine nuts, sugar and pomegranate molasses;
• kebab khashkhash (كباب خشخاش), made from rolled lamb or beef with chili pepper paste, parsley, garlic and pine nuts;
• siniyyet kebab (صينيّة كباب), made from lean minced lamb served on a tray with chili pepper, onion and tomato.
Mahshi
A famous dish served in Syria is made from vegetables (usually zucchini—كوسا / kūsā—or eggplant—باذنجان / bādhinjān) which are stuffed (محشي / maḥshī) with ground beef or lamb or mutton, and nuts and rice.
Kousa Mahshi
Desserts that are popular in Syria
Basbousa (بسبوسة)
A sweet cake made of cooked semolina or farina soaked in simple syrup.
Rice pudding (رز بحليب) Made from rice mixed with water or milk and other ingredients such as cinnamon.
Ruz ib Haleeb (Syrian rice pudding)
Beverages (soft drinks, water)
Tea, coffee
Doogh (salty yogurt drink)
Polo (Syrian mint lemonade)