Our Story
A family, a table,
and a place we now call home
We are an Armenian family. We came from Syria, we came to Canada, and here, in the Fraser Valley, we found home.
Our roots are Armenian and our story runs through Syria, where feeding people was never a chore. It was who we were. When we came to Canada, we arrived with very little that would fit in a suitcase, but we brought the thing that mattered most: the belief that a full table is how you show love.
Canada welcomed us, and we found a home here. Now we want to give something back to the community that took us in. For our family, hosting people isn't a nicety. It's part of our culture, woven into everything.
Every Sunday, after church
Growing up, Sunday had one shape. After church, we'd gather, and we didn't just gather, we hosted. We would invite all of our relatives to our place, and lay out a lunch big enough for everyone who walked through the door. The table filled, the chairs multiplied, and the afternoon disappeared into food and family.
Generosity and prosperity are what make our culture unique. Feeding people is simply what makes us happy. And somewhere along the way, we realized we wanted to turn that joy into something more, a way of life we could share beyond our own dining room. That's why we created Salma's Kitchen.
Named after Salma
Salma is the mother of our family, and the kitchen carries her name for a reason. When we first arrived, she ran headfirst into a very Canadian idea she had never quite met before: that when a guest says "I'm full," they actually mean it.
In our Middle Eastern Armenian culture, "I'm full" is where the feeding begins. You keep offering, you keep filling the plate, because stopping would feel like you cared less. Salma struggled to learn the other way, and honestly, she still does. Sit at her table and you'll find your plate refilled long after you've surrendered.
That, more than any single recipe, is what Salma's Kitchen is about: loving people, feeding them well, and never quite letting them leave hungry.
Rooted in the Fraser Valley
Back home, our food was simply real. It was organic before that was a word on a label: no pesticides, animals free to roam, vegetables from soil you could point to. When we settled in British Columbia, the farmland felt instantly familiar.
So we buy local. Everything we can, we source from the farms of Abbotsford and the Fraser Valley, because it's better food, and because it keeps us connected to the growers in our own community. We came here to enjoy this land and to give back to it. Every dish we serve is a small way of doing both.
From our family to yours, pull up a chair.
Come hungry, leave family
Order ahead for pickup: sandwiches, meals, salads and half-kilo dips.
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