Couple serving up Syrian dishes in Saskatoon

A young Syrian couple living in Saskatoon hope not only to become Canadian citizens, they want to run a successful restaurant.

"A good business," Ahmed Mursid said. He and Maryam Hac Mustafa have started a pop-up catering service, offering homemade Syrian dishes to others in Saskatoon's Arab

 community.

"We love [to] cook. We love Syrian food," Mustafa said.

"When people try it they love it, and tell me, 'can you do that for me?' And I tell them, 'yeah.'"

The couple was in Turkey before coming to Canada, but Mursid learned to cook when he was still in Syria working with a chef in a restaurant.

They have started catering for other Arab families in the city, who have heard of the service through the couple's friends.

Some of the their dishes include shawarma, falafel and fatteh. While Mustafa said ingredients are easy to find in Canada, she misses some of the spices they had in Syria.

The couple has two children, a two-year-old son and a baby. Mursid is also currently learning English at Saskatchewan Polytechnic.