Alia Amer, founder of Karam by Alia, showcases her homemade Arabic dishes. JAN YUMUL / CHINA DAILY
In a little over five years, Hong Kong-based Jordanian-Palestinian Alia Amer has successfully introduced Arabic cuisine to over 100 curious individuals through her online platform for authentic Arabic sweets and “Cook with Alia” classes.
The founder of Karam by Alia — named after Amer’s late mother and meaning “generosity” in Arabic — has come a long way for someone who had non-existent cooking skills when she arrived in the city with her husband more than two decades ago.
It took her preparation of shish barak — a Levantine dish of mini meat-filled dumplings cooked in a savory yogurt sauce — during her mother’s visit, and praise for perfecting the laborious dish, to set Amer on a new path.
“I’ve been living in Hong Kong for 26 years, and during that time I noticed that Chinese people rarely explored Middle Eastern cuisine,” Amer said.
