A reflection on interculturality for Quebec’s week of intercultural encounters

Be jealous of the dishes pictured above! Participants in the Jeunes en mouvement vers l’emploi program opened a discussion on interculturality with a sharing activity last week. All to mark Quebec Intercultural Encounter Week!

During the laughter-filled morning, each participant shared an element of her native culture. To the delight of our taste buds, many had chosen to bring typical dishes from home!

Lebanese-born Jana, for example, spoiled us with an entire meal. On the menu: zaatar, olive oil, labneh, tomatoes, cucumbers, green olives and bread, accompanied by a thermos of black tea to share. With the ingredients carefully arranged on a plate, she points out that the flavor of zaatar satisfies the taste buds all the more when paired with these other key elements of Lebanese cuisine.

Find out more about zaatar here!

Mariem and Nawel tell us that mtabga, a stuffed pancake, is prepared differently in every town in Tunisia. For Mariem, the delicacy includes chillies, onions and peppers.

Wake up your taste buds with this mtabga recipe video!

Last but not least, Kathy gave us a taste of bissap juice, a Guinean specialty she had prepared herself. We discovered that this hibiscus juice is in fact appreciated in other countries, and can be found in African as well as Asian markets. Did you know that bissap has many health benefits?

The tasty food was followed by sharing of songs and dances, a real pleasure for our legs numbed by the long week! It was also an opportunity for deeper reflection, as we answered the question: how do we live interculturality? The answer was tinged with nostalgia, and echoed the concern to preserve the integrity of each cultural identity. The joie de vivre that was palpable throughout the presentations was also a fine testimony to the importance and richness of these intercultural exchanges.

A big thank you to Sarah, Jana, Nawel, Kathy, Mariem, Marie-Roodeline, Marieme and Amna, participants in Jeunes en mouvement vers l’emploi, for sharing a precious part of your journey with us!

Article written by Isabelle Huang,

Intern at Petites-Mains & facilitator of this workshop on interculturality