Dalal Kadé-Badra grew up in Aleppo. Drawn to the kitchen in her childhood home to help with the preparations for family feasts, she learned the recipes as well as the culinary traditions of Aleppo. In 1971, she moved to Montreal with her family. Faced with a new home—and the cold winters of a new climate—she learned to cook her family's favourite dishes while being limited to the ingredients she could find in the grocery stores of her new culture.