Razan Al-Sous… From pharmacy to cheese making

One of the readings that attracts me the most are the success stories, especially the Arabic ones. They turn into a rich material that the local and international media flock to.

One of the wonderful stories studded with creativity is the story of Razan Al-Sous, the Syrian refugee who fled with her husband and three children from the civil war in her homeland to settle in Yorkshire, in the north of England. However, the story of the young Syrian refugee Razan is among the most beautiful success stories because it is based on determination, will, creativity and the challenge of despair. Every refugee has lost everything and found himself making his life anew and starting it in a strange country and in a compelling circumstance that only those who lived it understand.

Razan Al-Sous made many headlines after the cheese she makes won the bronze award, defying Cyprus, the manufacturer of halloumi cheese, and it is remarkable that she was specialized in the field of pharmacy and had no experience in the field of cheese manufacturing, fate decided that she settles with her family in Yorkshire to be close to anyone Family member who moved there a long time ago.

A group of dama cheese varieties for razan sauce

In an interview conducted by Asharq Al-Awsat with Razan Al-Sous over the phone, to get to know more about this successful woman and mother, who was pushed by the suffering experienced by every refugee to create a new opportunity through which to support her small family.

Razan studied pharmacy, but she was unable to work in this field after her arrival in England due to the complications that accompany scientific certificates and the difficulty of modifying them and allowing them to work.

Razan began her speech by saying that her financial circumstances prevented her from continuing her studies in England because the university fees were expensive and she was in dire need of work and help for her husband. Which she must take to change the course of her life. She told her, during one of her visits to the supermarket, that there is a shortage of types of white cheese that is similar to the kind you find on the table of the Middle East, specifically in the Levant countries, who are known for their love of cheese and the mastery of its manufacture.

Razan missed halloumi cheese, which is attributed to its manufacture in Britain and Europe only to Cyprus, so she decided to do some home tests to make cheese in her own way. She was faced with the problem of the law of manufacturing products in which dairy is used in a home kitchen, so she had to find a solution to the complexities of laws related to food manufacturing in Britain, so Razan used the kitchen of a relative who owns a restaurant that sells chicken, but he had to close it due to lack of work. He agreed to lend his kitchen to be a small factory for the manufacture of halloumi cheese.

In response to Asharq Al-Awsat’s question about why Razan went to manufacture cheese at a time when she does not have any experience in this field, and where did this idea come from? Al-Sous replied: “I live in a city where milk is available in high quality and in great abundance, and I have experience working in laboratories, so I decided to use my experience and scientific knowledge in a field that may seem different, but is in fact very similar.”

Thus, it happened, and after hard work with the help of her husband, Razan was able to launch the “Dama” brand for cheese, and in order to avoid calling cheese halloumi due to prosecution from Cyprus, which has the exclusive right to manufacture halloumi, Razan thought of another name in which she describes the cheese without mentioning the name halloumi, so she called it halloumi. The name “Dama the Squeaky Cheese”, and this expression is recognized in Britain, and it is called the cheese that makes a sound when eaten, it is known colloquially as “the zigga”, and after four months of selling the cheese on local farms and stores that sell high-end foodstuffs known as “deli” she wanted Razan competed in a competition to choose the best types of cheese and won the bronze award in a competition in which more than 2,000 types of cheese participated in Olympia Hall in London, and today her brand has won 33 awards and is currently selling her cheese in a well-known food chain in Britain.

Razan the sauce created many flavors in its cheese by incorporating nigella and herbs into it

After talking to Razan, I realized that the reason for her success is due to her scientific way of thinking that is supported by her studies in this field. When I asked her about the secret of the success of the cheese she makes, her response was scientifically one hundred percent. On fresh milk and the method of dealing with bacteria and maintaining quality and quality every time.

Razan was able to get her name to the British Parliament so that her case was discussed after she received a letter from a senior lawyer in London on behalf of official bodies in Cyprus preventing her from naming her cheese as halloumi. Rather, the origin of cheese is Arabic, and the word “alum” at the end of the word was used by the pharaohs to name cheese, and she added that she did not have the money to hire a lawyer to defend her, which forced her to research and defend her work on her own.

Among the varieties that Razan created in her factory, which currently employs ten people, is halloumi cheese with rosemary, and another smoked variety, in addition to a variety she called “Arabica” based on Arab flavors such as thyme and nigella, and she created these items according to the desire of Princess Anne, daughter of Queen Elizabeth II during her visit to Yorkshire, where she asked the organizers of her visit to get to know Razan and taste its famous cheeses.

The story of Razan Al-Sous carries in its heart a meaning beyond the success of its cheese varieties and flavors that imbued its memories in Syria before the displacement, but it is a literal translation of patience, effort and lack of despair. Expansion, success and continuity, and with its remarkable intelligence, it transformed the cooling machine that is used in the manufacture of ice cream into a machine for heating milk. It was also able to reduce the cost of the machines needed in its factory by developing a machine for the blacksmith to press cheese instead of buying an expensive one for that and also transformed food heating equipment in a way Buffet for molding cheese.

In response to our question about the treatment she received in northern England as a veiled Arab Muslim, she said that she received all the support from the residents of her area and from the political cadres in her that encouraged her to develop and work.