Afghan chef uses traditional meals to welcome hundreds of refugees to the U.S.

Laila Mir.
(Image credit: Courtesy photo)

Afghan refugees settling into the San Francisco Bay Area are getting a taste of home, courtesy of chef Laila Mir.

Mir grew up in Afghanistan and says she cherishes the memories she has of learning to cook traditional dishes with her mom and grandmother. She moved to the United States at age 9, and with the support of her family, became a chef. Mir is on Shef, an online platform where many immigrants and refugees sell meals to customers in their neighborhoods. She specializes in Afghan food, making authentic items like kofta and firni.

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Shef is also helping Afghan refugees by waiving the fees to join the platform and giving each one $3,500 to pay for cooking supplies and food safety training. Co-founder Alvin Salehi, the son of Iranian immigrants, told CBS San Francisco that many of the Afghan refugees "have come to the U.S. under incredibly difficult and devastating circumstances. My hope is that we treat them with kindness. My hope is that we actually try hard to show them the America that they've always dreamt about."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.