سناء خالد .. وجه مشرق من بلادي

What is Kebabooz?

Let’s start from the beginning: the idea. When I first came to Japan, I didn’t find [kebabs] — especially here in Fukuoka. I loved kebabs back at home, and it wasn’t easy to find kebabs in Kyushu. And I was so surprised because I’ve lived in Sudan and a few countries in the Middle East, and it was like an “atarimae” thing to find kebabs. So it was a big surprise not to find kebabs in Japan. I was craving for them, and wanted to eat them all the time. The beginning of the idea came about catering, for parties and stuff, when I catered for my own home parties. People loved the food. Sudanese people may be shy by nature — I don’t know why, but we lack the confidence in our own food and our own culture. We always think that the world has better to offer, so we don’t go offer what we have. But because I lived abroad in my childhood and I know how my mother’s friends of different nationalities reacted to the food she made, I had more courage than most other Sudanese ladies who lived here or in other countries — I think I was more confident when I offered our own food and culture in our home parties, and it was a big pleasure to see people enjoy it and always ask for more! One of the things I love about Japanese people is that they are not shy with food. They are shy in other spots, but they are not shy with food. They love to try new things and if they want more, they ask for more. If there is “nokorimono,” they ask to take it home, which was a little bit of a culture shock for me – in Sudan, even if you want it, you don’t usually ask! But in Japan, people enjoy the food and they always want to introduce it to other family members who are not at the party. Whenever there was “nokorimono,” leftovers, they’d ask if it was okay to take it. And I’d be so happy because the guests enjoyed it so much they wanted to share it with family back home, and also it’s a good chance to get rid of the leftovers [laughs]