In“Comfort Food Stories”, personal stories meet dishes to ease homesickness. Here, people share how they came to Germany - from culture shocks and opportunities to food that tastes like home.

 

Oseng Tempeh – Ochi from Indonesia

In the first episode, Rahel meets Ochi from Indonesia. Together they cook the stir-fry dish “Oseng Tempeh”. Ochi is studying in Kaiserslautern and in the video she talks about how she settled in Germany, why kebab helped her through the first few weeks - and why her driving licence became a dialect challenge.

 

Poulet DG - Auelien aus Kamerun

In the second episode, Rahel meets Aurelien from Cameroon. Together they cook ‘Poulet DG’, a Cameroonian dish that was once only prepared for the wealthy - but has now found its way into many households. Aurelien works as a care manager in Mannheim. His journey to Germany began at the Goethe-Institut in Cameroon, where he learnt German. In the video, he talks about moments of arrival, experiences of racism in everyday care work - and what particularly impresses him about Germany: the healthcare system and the treatment of people with disabilities.

Bolo de Cenoura – Tadeu from Brazil

In the third episode, Rahel meets Tadeu from Brazil. Together, they bake ‘Bolo de Cenoura’, a moist Brazilian carrot cake with chocolate icing. Tadeu lives with his husband in Berlin and works as a commercial and contract manager on a project to expand the charging infrastructure for electric cars. Even though moving to Germany was his dream, he found it difficult to get started – especially because of the language at work and the dreaded German bureaucracy.