You Can Sit With Us: Feast for Freedom returns!

The world’s a turbulent place, and it can sometimes feel like a hopeless task to keep trying to move the needle for good. But sometimes, a simple way to foster understanding and change starts in the kitchen: all you need to do is add another chair to the table.

That’s the heart of Feast for Freedom, which returns this year with a simple invitation: gather your people, cook something delicious, and help support refugees and people seeking asylum while you’re digging in.

Hosted throughout March and April, the annual campaign encourages Australians to open their homes, workplaces and community spaces for a shared meal while raising funds for the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre. Donations help the ASRC continue providing vital support, from food and healthcare to legal assistance and community services for thousands of people seeking asylum.

Since launching in 2019, more than 5,000 hosts across the country have joined in, raising over $2.3 million. Not bad for a project dreamed up over dinner! And it’s easy to Feast: simply register, receive your host kit, pick a date, and start planning!

Feast for Freedom is also about celebrating what refugees and people seeking asylum bring with them: traditions, stories, skills, and – of course! – delectable food. Each year, the Feast for Freedom host kit includes recipes generously shared by people with lived experience of seeking asylum. These are dishes that have travelled across borders and oceans, carried in memory long before they were written down.

In 2026, the recipes come from two remarkable cooks: Noha Elramlowi, who brought the flavours of Palestine with her when she arrived in Australia with her daughters in 2023, and Nigethan ‘Nige” Sithirasegaram, a Sri Lankan Tamil cook whose relationship with food deepened during his six years in Australian immigration detention.

Their dishes offer hosts a chance to explore the flavours of Palestine and Sri Lanka while learning about the people and traditions behind them.

Noha’s Palestinian Table

When Noha Elramlowi arrived in Australia in 2023, just ten days before the conflict began, she carried vivid memories of home in Gaza: the family olive farm, busy kitchens where everyone had a role, and the unmistakable aromas of Palestinian cooking. For Noha, food has become one of the most important ways to keep her culture alive for her daughters as they build a new life in Melbourne. Her family remains in Gaza, and her heart is there too, but here in Melbourne she is building safety and a future for her girls. One is studying biomedical engineering, the other has just finished Year 12.

Certain ingredients instantly transport her back. Za’atar: a beloved blend of herbs and spices. Sumac, bright and tangy. And above all, olive oil. “What reminds me most of home is olive oil,” Noha says. “Every year at harvest time, we would collect all the olives, take them to be pressed and make the oil to last us the whole year. It was like a celebration for us.”

Through Feast for Freedom, Noha hopes people will discover another side of Palestine. “Palestine is more than its struggles,” she says. “Our food tells that story. Palestine is a recipe of love, tradition and resilience. We make the best of every ingredient life gives us.”

Noha shared her recipe for Musakhan Rolls with Peppermint – feast below!

Nige’s Sri Lankan Feast

Nigethan “Nige” Sithirasegaram grew up in Trincomalee, on Sri Lanka’s east coast, where fishing and cooking were woven into daily life. His childhood was filled with ocean swims, fresh seafood and family meals.

When he fled Sri Lanka in 2009 seeking safety, he never imagined he would spend six years in Australia’s immigration detention system.

Inside detention, cooking became something unexpected: a way to reconnect with home. Nige called his wife and mother for guidance, and began recreating the dishes he missed most, learning techniques and flavour combos over the phone. Slowly, he built confidence in the kitchen.

After his release in 2015, Nige continued sharing Sri Lankan Tamil cuisine through community cooking events, classes and collaborations.

Today, cooking remains central to his life.

“When people eat my food, sometimes they say, ‘My belly is laughing,’” he says. “That makes me so proud.”

Noha’s Musakhan Rolls

Musakhan is a traditional Palestinian dish with traditional ingredients like olive oil and sumac. It is often considered the national dish of Palestine. Musakhan rolls are a modern variation that makes the dish easier to eat.

• 25 minutes preparation, 35 minutes cooking
• Difficulty level: ⅘
• Serves 4 people (makes 8 rolls)
• Vegetarian option, GF option, vegan option, nut-free option

Ingredients

• 400 g chicken breast
• 3 cloves
• 3 bay leaves
• 15 g black peppercorns
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 cardamom pods
• 400 g onions, thinly sliced
• ½ cup olive oil
• 5 tbsp sumac
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp plain flour (substitute with gluten-free flour if needed)
• 2 tbsp water to make sealing paste
• 1 packet (8 sheets) mountain bread – flatbread or lavash (use gluten-free version if needed)

For the topping:

• ⅛ cup pomegranate molasses
• ½ bunch parsley, chopped
• Roasted slivered almonds (optional)

Method

In one pot:

1. Add chicken breasts, cloves, bay leaves, peppercorns, cinnamon stick, cardamom and a pinch of salt.
2. Add enough water to cover and boil until cooked (20–25 minutes).
3. Remove from heat, cool and shred the chicken, discard the water (broth not needed).

In another pan:

1. In a large pan, heat 1/2 cup of olive oil over medium heat.
2. Add onions and cook until golden and soft.
3. Add sumac, lemon juice and salt, mix well.
4. Add the shredded chicken and stir for 3–5 minutes to combine.
5. Let the filling cool slightly.

Prepare flour paste (for sealing):

1. Mix 1 tbsp flour with 2 tbsp water in a small bowl until smooth.

Assemble the rolls:

1. Place a mountain bread sheet on a flat surface.
2. Spoon some chicken mixture along one edge.
3. Roll tightly and seal the edge with a little flour paste.
4. Place in a baking tray.
5. Repeat with all rolls.

Bake the rolls:

1. Brush each roll lightly with 1 tbsp olive oil total.
2. Bake at 180°C for 10–12 minutes until golden and slightly crispy (or toast on a dry pan for 2–3 minutes per side).

Garnish & Serve:

1. Place the rolls on a serving platter.
2. Drizzle pomegranate molasses on top.
3. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and roasted slivered almonds if using.
4. Serve with yogurt dip.

♡ This is a Better Together Peppermint Partnership, where we team up with brands we love. This story was created with support from our friends at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, Australia’s largest human rights organisation providing support to people seeking asylum. The ASRC is an independent not-for-profit organisation whose programs support and empower people seeking asylum to maximise their own physical, mental and social wellbeing.