A little bit of Central Asia in Prague

A Czech company is simultaneously building a business and helping migrants by hiring Central Asian migrants to cook their homelands' dishes.

• A local, slice-of-life story from a Monitor correspondent. 

Ethnocatering, a Prague catering company founded by migrant women in 2006, is preparing Afghan, Georgian, and Armenian meals for conferences and events for banks, accounting firms, government ministries, and others. The four main chefs met through a program at the InBáze community center, which offers education, counseling services, and other programs for migrant families in the Czech Republic. 

“One of the goals in establishing Ethnocatering was to create new jobs for migrants and offer them a proper job with social benefits and professional development,” says Sandra Najmanova, the firm’s manager. She says all their meals are popular, but oft-requested ones include adyapsandal, a Georgian dish with eggplant and fried sweet peppers, and mantu, Afghan fried cakes filled with ground beef or lamb and served with yogurt and fresh mint.

“Ethnocatering uses [our chefs’] natural home country know-how to cook specialty dishes, and the clients enjoy them because our chefs cook with love,” says Ms. Najmanova.