The two main exports of the Middle East, Twitter satirist Karl ReMarks once noted, are oil and breaking news.

The fact that the vast region between Europe and Asia, which is inhabited by more than 400 million people, is more than just a conflict zone is often neglected in Western consciousness, say Sahar and Forrough Sodoudi.

That's exactly what the twin sisters aim to change with the Dr & Dr Middle Eastern Culture and Food Lab by showcasing the region's culinary and cultural assets.

The two native Berliners spent their childhood in Tehran.

They only returned to their home town to study and were confronted with the prejudices in Germany towards the Middle East.

“No matter how educated and successful people come from a Middle Eastern background.

Nevertheless, they are often prejudiced because of their origin, they are questioned and have to explain themselves, even more so as a woman and when it turns out that German is not their mother tongue.

That's not fair and that moved us," says Forough Sodoudi.

Forough Sodoudi, who has a doctorate in seismology, worked in the German scientific community, Sahar Sodoudi was most recently a junior professor for climate research at Freie Universität.

Both have traveled to more than twenty countries in the Middle East and North Africa for years in academic exchange and coordinated projects between Germany and the region, but the prejudices about the region have always gnawed at the sisters.

Emotional encounters instead of hard facts

“The image of the Middle East is shaped by politics and religion, apart from that little is noticed.

We want to cross political borders, show a culinary unity and make access to the region through culture sensual and tangible - make food, not war," says Sahar Sodoudi.

That's why they decided to work with emotional encounters instead of hard facts and founded their food lab in 2020, just before the outbreak of the pandemic.

Despite the restrictions of the pandemic, the sisters are confident, having won the German Gastro Founders' Prize in the first year.

The sisters started out with catering services and cooking classes, where they serve up dishes from Arabic, Israeli and Persian food cultures and talk about them.

There are colorful mezze platters with various dips, pickles, fresh vegetables and lots of herbs to share, dishes like tahdig, Persian rice or sabzi stews.

Persian recipes from home are characteristic, but also influences from Israeli and Arabic cuisine, from Egypt, Iraq or Lebanon, which draw on similar spices such as saffron and rose petals.

As scientists and former climate researchers, the sisters always have climate-friendly preparation methods and waste avoidance in mind.

Tradition is important, but contemporary reality is just as important;

Recipes are modified and simplified in such a way that they can be learned in just a few hours and can also be prepared with local Central European ingredients.

"We fall back on the traditions of the countries, mix and create completely new recipes, always with fresh ingredients, with lots of color and made with love.

But it's also about the food culture, the culture of sharing and a sense of belonging,” says Forough Sodoudi.

But even more important than the culinary pleasure is the exchange: through the food, the sisters want to create a different approach to the cultural advantages of the Middle East.

For example, the small Lab in Kreuzberg is decorated with hand-painted Iranian tiles reminiscent of Tehran's Golestan Palace;

a gallery with pictures of historical women from all over the Middle East hangs on the wall - all of these are just starting points for new discoveries that are intended to go beyond the political discourse of a region that is primarily seen for its conflicts.

"The dining table plays a major role, that's where the most important decisions are made and even revolutions are planned," say the sisters - perhaps this is also where a new perception of a vast region with culinary and cultural wealth arises.