Displaced people call it “microwave”.. “Babouriyeh” is the first way of cooking in the camps in Idlib (photos)

“We make the biggest dish in fast food with a bunch of chopsticks.” With these words, Umm Ali, a displaced woman from the village of Maarat al-Numan, who lives in the “Al-Ahed” camp, west of the city of Sarmad in the northern village of Idlib, expressed her satisfaction with the “Baburiya”, in which she placed several dried sticks. olive and a teapot on top of them.

A revolution in the world of cooking

Umm Ali told Orient Net: “The world is a wheel, and the types of cooks change just as the faces of people change. Our beginnings were with (teffiyeh) or wood-fired ovens, with what suffers from blowing and smoke and difficulties s to light it in the winter, next to the moisture that reaches the firewood.”

She added: “We lived long and bitter years with (Teffiyeh) before Babur appeared on kerosene, which gave housewives a kind of comfort and luxury compared to the wood stove. However, Babur Al-Kaz is considered a technological revolution in the world of cooking at that time.

Umm Ali continued: “Then came the gas stoves, which provided more comfort to the women, and kept the pots clean, away from the blackness (charred) and without disturbing sounds, but after many years of displacement, we went back to the beginning and wood stoves , but by introducing an important change, which is the introduction of a Fan that doubles the power of the fire so that the ignition becomes complete without wasting wood.

“camping microwave”

In light of the exclusion of gas from northern Syria and its doubled price on the free market, along with a huge increase in the prices of various types of energy, the exiles, it is said, returned to searching in their old notebooks and did not find anything closer to them than firewood, through a new invention that the displaced call “microwave”. Camps” which is (Al-Babouriya), which consists of a simple wood stove with the addition of a small fan that works on a battery and increases the ignition and power of the fire, so that (Al-Babouriya) is now at the forefront of the means of cooking in the world of camps .

In the “Kafrjalis” camps, west of Idlib, recently bombed by Russian warplanes, sixty-year-old Abu Riyad (retired policeman) sits on a mat in the space he has designated as a (rest) behind his tent, to ask his wife to prepare a pitcher of flowers . Drawn on the features of her face as a bowl filled with hot water is brought down from (Babouriyeh) to replace the jug after she has filled it with water from the bowl.

Regarding her dealings with al-Babouriyeh, Umm Riyad told Orient Net: “The gas has been cut off, and if there is any, we cannot buy it after support for the camp stopped three months ago. We are living in a tent and the family of our martyr’s son is in a nearby tent. There are small children and they need a bathroom and washing.” Cooking, especially on Fridays.

As she spoke, Umm Riyad hurried to put down the pitcher of flowers with a folded piece of cardboard, after the water in the pitcher had reached boiling point.

After putting the flowers in the pitcher, Umm Riyad continued her speech, saying, “That’s why we relied on this burrito, which saved us a lot of firewood. We can use cardboard, thin sticks, paper and pieces of cloth, and its fan strengthens the fire, and we use all the wood.”

Iqbal Ali (Babouriyya)

In northern Idlib, on the Deir Hassan-Qah road crowded with cars and motorcycles, Hamed (42 years old) opened a blacksmith workshop, specializing in manufacturing (baboriyat), which he displays in front of the shop, except for a wood stove, which he said replaces an oven.

Hamed explained people’s interest in owning (Babbouriya), explaining to Orient Net: “We have introduced information technology in Bbouriya, the computer fan has a big role, such as the price of Bbouriya is cheap, not exceeding 200 Turkish Lira, and its strong fire and supply firewood and gas undercut expensive diesel, all of which made people buy it.”

Babbouriyeh is easy to install and consists of a metal structure that can be a container for cooling gas or an old heater, along with a computer cooling fan or a hair fan, which only needs a weak electric current because it is connected to a battery, and the air generated from of this fan and directs it towards the fire increases its ignition so that all the firewood is fully used”, explained Hamed.

Regarding breakdowns and maintenance methods, Hamed said: “Balbouria breakdowns are rare and the oven can wear out or the fan stop and these parts are available and cheap, just like this tiger can run for many years without a word (Oh my head )!”

“Babur kerosene from Arsi device”

Next to Hamed’s workshop, Abu Dawud was sitting on a square iron chair, and in front of him were some kerosene pipes, which appeared, as he told Orient Net, “in parallel with (baburiyya) in some tents.”

Abu Dawud mentioned that Babur kerosene returned after a long absence, and it became possible to see it in some shops and tents, but complained about the lack of kerosene and that people had to use diesel oil with a little gasoline added. , caused many fires in tents.

And he told an unforgettable incident, saying: “An old woman came to me one morning carrying a baby carriage as if she were carrying her child, and when I asked her what was the secret of her interest in him, I felt as if I had reminded her of the past, and she she advised me to take care of it and choose original pieces, and she said that it is close to her heart and is one of the memories of a beautiful past.” And it’s from her wedding set.”

Means for cooking in camps and fires

Regarding the cooking methods used by the residents of the camp in Idlib, Abu Mahmoud, director of the “Al-Nasser” camp near the city of Dana, explained to Orient Net that kerosene pipes, kerosene lamps, clay ovens and fireplaces that run on animal excrement are among the most prominent of these methods, after the cost of a household gas cylinder is $13.13, if available.

It is worth noting that since the beginning of this year, the “Syrian Civil Defense” fire crews have extinguished many fires that broke out in more than one camp, as a result of the use of alternative wood-burning stoves in or near the tents, and many victims were killed in these fires, including and children. to various burns.

According to the latest statistics released by the Civil Defence, more than 450 fires have broken out in northwestern Syria, including 237 fires in civilian homes and 78 fires in camps for displaced people, most of them as a result of the use of unsafe cooking and heating stoves, which displacement conditions forced after the inability to use, stop buying gas, look for alternative stoves that depend on wood, nylon and cardboard collected by their children, even if they risk their lives. .