Community kitchen in Baghdad prepares for Ashura

BAGHDAD, July 26 — Barakat Um Al-Baneen, a community kitchen in eastern Baghdad, is keeping with tradition and preparing to cook and distribute 450 pots of rice and Qeema Al-Najafiya, a traditional dish served during Ashura.

The kitchen specializes in cooking for religious occasions and is supervised by chefs from Najaf.

Every year, the kitchen organizes an annual procession to cook and distribute food on the tenth day of Muharram and the twentieth of Safar, which are known as Ashura and Arbaeen, respectively.

Ali Hamza, the kitchen’s manager, spoke to 964, saying: “Our preparations for this season are no different from previous seasons. The number of pots this season will be 450.”

“We cook for religious occasions in all areas, but on Ashura, we cook for our special procession to distribute food to the people of the area and passersby, since so many people from different areas in Baghdad come to us,” he added.

“We will be cooking rice and Qeema as usual. Barakat Um Al-Baneen is the name of the kitchen, and through it, we seek blessings in cooking on the day of Ashura and Arbaeen,” he concluded.