For two months, in Cosenza, ten young migrants from the SAI centers of Casali del Manco, Celico, Mendicino and Domanico, all managed by the Il Delfino Solidarity Centre, lived an experience that has the flavor of first times, of dreams taking shape, of hands learning to describe the world through food.
The “Cooks of Other Worlds” project, now nearing completion, was not just a culinary training course: it was a community laboratory, a bridge between cultures, a place where diversity does not divide but enriches.
For weeks, in the kitchen of the Maccaroni Chef Academy, led by chef Roberto Spizzirri, these guys kneaded, cut, tasted, made mistakes, tried again. They laughed, they got excited, they shared recipes and memories. They discovered that cooking is not just technique, but a universal language capable of uniting distant stories.
Their stories: ten worlds that meet around a stove
Amara Camara – Mali, 22 years old – SAI Ordinari Mendicino
In Italy for two years, Amara says that the kitchen has always been a refuge. «When I cook, I think of my family. The scent of rice and spices makes me feel less distant.” During the course he discovered fresh pasta: «I didn’t think it would be so difficult… but now I like it. It’s like building something from scratch.”
Fahima Faqiri – Afghanistan, 03/21/1994 – SAI “Middle Earth” Domanico
Arriving in Italy on 4 April 2024, Fahima brings with her the delicacy of Afghan cuisine. «I learned to cook as a child, watching my mother. Here I found the courage to start again.” Your favorite dish to prepare? «Italian baked vegetables: simple, but full of color».
Farag Mohamed Ragab Ahmed Shaaban Mohamed – Egypt, 17 years old – SAI MSNA “Gran Burrone”, Casali del Manco
In Italy from September 2024, Farag is the most curious of the group. «I like to understand how things work. Italian cuisine is different from ours, but some techniques are similar. I feel at home when I make bread.”
Ahmed Yahia Seoudy Saad Said – Egypt, 17 years old – SAI MSNA “Gran Burrone”, Casali del Manco
Arriving in May 2025, Ahmed dreams of becoming a pizza chef. «Pizza is like a smile: everyone likes it. I want to learn to do it well, to work and to make people happy.”
The other protagonists: ten young people, ten journeys, one direction
From the SAI of Celico
• Keita Mohamed, 16 years old, Guinea – in Italy since 08/29/2024
• Sangaj Ebrima, 17 years old, Gambia – in Italy since 01/24/2025
• Eid Mohamed Eid Mohamed, 17 years old, Egypt – in Italy since 03/11/2022
From the SAI MSNA of Mendicino
Arrived in Italy by disembarking in Porto Empedocle on 11 February 2025, initially included in a FAMI project and then transferred to the SAI MSNA of Mendicino:
• Hossen Rased, 17 years old, Bangladesh – in the facility since 04/28/2025
• Shik Saiful, 17 years old, Bangladesh – in the facility since 03/17/2025
• Hossian Ujjol, 18 years old, Bangladesh – in the facility since 03/17/2025
Very young kids, with difficult stories behind them, who in this journey have found adults capable of listening, guiding, protecting. Their “guardian angels” in the SAI – Pietro Spadafora, Cettina Santangelo and Lidia Pantusa – accompanied them step by step, supporting them in their daily challenges and small, great achievements.
A project that becomes a regional model
On 15 December, at the final press conference, the Councilor for Welfare of the Calabria Region, Pasqualina Straface, will also be present, who supported the project as part of her delegation to immigration.
The councilor recognizes “Cooks of Other Worlds” as a virtuous model of socio-work integration:
professional training, cultural inclusion and job placement are the three pillars in which the Region intends to continue investing to transform hospitality into a real opportunity.
«These young people – underlines Straface – can become a resource for Calabria. We must support them so that they build paths of legal integration and are protected from all forms of exploitation.”
Beyond the course: the future that starts now
At the end of the training, the kids will spend a series of days in the company, to get to know the realities of the area up close and get closer to the world of work.
For many of them it will be the first time in a professional kitchen, the first time in a uniform, the first time in a place where the future is not scary. “Cooks of Other Worlds” is not just a project: it is a seed.
A seed planted in the Calabrian land, which speaks of welcome, dignity, possibility.
A seed which, thanks to the work of the Il Delfino Center and the municipalities involved, is already sprouting in the hands and smiles of these ten young people. And perhaps, one day, we will find them behind a counter, in a restaurant, in a village kitchen or in a large brigade.
And we can say that it all started here: in a cooking school in Cosenza, where ten kids discovered that the future can have the scent of freshly baked bread.