February 14, 2019

Untold food stories: Rohingya and Uighur cuisine

26 minutes

The Rohingya people in Myanmar and the Uighur people in China are familiar to many of us through news reports. And usually their story is told by journalists in sombre voices reporting on the political situation or alleged human rights abuses.

But in this episode, Rohingas and Uighurs themselves will tell us another story - about their cuisine. Because when you are far from home, feel your culture is under threat and you can’t get hold of the people you love the most on the phone, food can be a lifeline.

Emily Thomas meets Mukaddes Yadikar and her husband Ablikim Rahman, who have opened a Uighur restaurant in London, and Rehana Zafa Ahmed and Abdul Jabbar-Amanula, a young Rohingya couple living in Chicago.

They explain why their food is so important to them, and how the unique cultures that make their political situations precarious have also led to rich culinary traditions.

(Picture: Mukaddes Yadikar pulling noodles. Credit: BBC)

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By BBC World Service