“A home-cooked meal is an act of love, a daily reminder that you are cared for”.Christos, Cook at The HOME Project
“Cooking is about so much more than filling a plate. A home-cooked meal is an act of love, a daily reminder that you are cared for”, emphasizes Christos, who has been in charge of the kitchen in one of our shelters for teenage boys for the past five years.
The chef’s uniform always impressed him, and as a child he would sneak into the kitchen to experiment with different ingredients. “I’ve been doing this for 22 years now. I started very young”, he says.
Having previously worked in restaurants, he knows how easy it is for a structured culinary environment to become repetitive and mechanical. “In catering, the hours are long, the menus are fixed, and it can feel like you’re doing the same thing day after day”, he recalls. At The HOME Project, however, he found a very different rhythm.
Christos made the conscious decision to get to know the children in the shelter: what foods they missed from home, what flavors brought them comfort, and what they liked to eat. “I asked them about what they used to eat back home. I also started inviting them to take part in the process, just like my mother did when I was little”, he explains. This approach transformed the kitchen into a space for connection, creativity, and learning, for him and for the children alike.
By involving the boys in preparing their meals, he helps them try new foods and develop a sense of ownership over what they eat. “When they help cook, especially vegetables or dishes they’re not used to, they’re much more willing to taste them. It becomes fun, not a requirement. What’s also important is that we all eat together, we share the same food”, he says. Over time, even the most hesitant eaters discover new flavors, and sometimes, months later, they come back and say, “You were right”.
Of course, his work isn’t easy. “We provide three meals per child every day, plus two snacks. With food prices rising, it is a constant challenge to stay within budget while offering variety and maintaining quality”, he admits. Christos must create nutritious, satisfying meals on a tight budget, while adapting dishes for individual dietary needs. “If we make souvlaki, for example, and a child cannot eat meat, we make a slight variation so they’re enjoying the same meal as everyone else. We don’t want any child to feel singled out, so it’s our responsibility to adapt accordingly”, he explains.
One moment he recalls vividly involves a boy from Afghanistan, who hadn’t eaten his favorite dish, qabuli palaw (spiced rice with lamb, carrots, and raisins), in over a year. Christos looked up the recipe, tasted it himself, and recreated it in the kitchen. When the boy tried it, he hugged him and said, “Thank you so much. I felt like I was back home”. “This really stayed with me, it was incredibly rewarding”, Christos reflects. “It also opened my culinary horizons. Through my interaction with the children, I have discovered cuisines and dishes I might never have come across otherwise”.