Palestinian chef from San Antonio volunteering in Gaza

Catch up quick: Kaki launched Saha, a Palestinian food pop-up in San Antonio, in February 2023, starting with a residency at Little Death wine bar off the St. Mary's Strip.

• But after Hamas' Oct. 7 terrorist attack against Israel last year, Kaki, who is Palestinian, hit pause on the operation.

What they're saying: People rushed to support local Palestinian businesses, but "it didn't quite feel right to profit off of that" without supporting people in Gaza, Kaki tells Axios.

Zoom in: Now she's on her second volunteer trip to Gaza this year, and has been there since early June. Her primary mission is working with Glia, where she's a logistics coordinator, to bring volunteer doctors from abroad to Gaza.

• She's also cooking with Shabab Gaza in Deir Al Balah, a city in the central Gaza Strip.
• They serve about 2,000 meals a day to Palestinians, many of whom have been displaced during the war.

Kaki says any work she did in San Antonio to support Palestinians felt fruitless.

• "It just felt like all the efforts we put in were toward deaf ears. So this is the way I felt most useful and most impactful."

Her dishes now often involve staples like chickpeas, rice and lentils. Supplies are restricted, but they are more available where she is than in northern Gaza, she says.

• "We have to get creative with certain dishes, because people are tired of eating the same thing — rightfully so," Kaki says. "We're extremely limited with what we can offer."
• But people have a different relationship with food when there is little sustenance to go around. Other staples like chicken and fish are often "completely unavailable," she says.

One of her first days in Gaza, an Israeli operation rescued four hostages held by Hamas, killing at least 274 Palestinians in the process, per Gaza's Ministry of Health.

• "There's no such thing as safety in Gaza," Kaki says.
• She says she hears bombings every night and sounds of gunfire and tanks.

At Saha, Kaki created Texas takes on classic Palestinian cuisine. She added smoked instead of roasted chicken to Musakhan, an open-faced flatbread topped with chicken, onions, sumac, allspice, saffron and pine nuts.

• She started Saha to help San Antonians engage with Palestinian culture in a nonpoliticized way.
• But that's proved challenging since Oct. 7, creating inner tension.

The bottom line: "There's this cultural erasure that's happening," Kaki says of people not recognizing Palestinian food as Palestinian. "Launching Saha was a way to try to reclaim that publicly and make it clear this food belongs to a people."

What's next: Kaki plans to remain in Gaza as long as she can, and isn't sure what Saha's future holds. But she wants to honor her own relationship with Palestinian food while helping feed people in Gaza.

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