Saturday Farmers’ Market Vendor Feature: Tayybeh Syrian

Tayybeh Syrian is a food company and social enterprise that supports Syrian women chefs in Vancouver by offering award-winning home-style food through catering, a food truck, regular community pop-up dinners and packaged products. Tayybeh is not only a celebration of the brilliance of Syrian cuisine, it is a way for spectacular female Syrian chefs to support their families and become financially independent while doing what they love.

We were able to chat with one of the lovely Tayybeh employees, Miriam, as the first summer market. She has been working with this social enterprise for over a year, while her mom has been working with Tayybeh since their first month in Canada, back in 2016. Miriam works as a sales representative at farmers’ markets, the food truck, and supports various services and events. Below, you will find all the questions she was able to answer for me while at market:

Tayybeh (tie-bey), what does that mean?

It means “kind” in Arabic and “delicious” in Syrian dialect.

What can be purchased at market?

Our packaged dips are one thing that can always be found with us at market. We also have some hot meals, ready for customers to enjoy for lunch. Today, we have a rice and lentil meal, covered with caramelized onions, with a side of humus and salad. Another option today is the vegan pockets. One with olives and sweet red pepper, the other has spinach with pomegranate molasses, also with sides of salad and hummus. Similar meals can be purchased at our Robson food truck.

What types of dips do you have?

Mhammara (sweet red pepper dip): it comes with crushed walnuts, pomegranate molasses, little bit of cumin, olive oil, with some of my Mom’s secret ingredients. Mutabbal (smoked eggplant dip): a great mix of smoky and creamy, with lemon juice, garlic and tahini.

What would you like customers to know about Tayybeh?

I would love them to know that all of Tayybeh’s staff are working from their heart, the chefs are cooking with love, and we do this job to let them know Syria through the food. This is an opportunity to share Syrian culture within the Canadian culture. We are always aiming to do better through supporting our customers, who are so supportive and friendly and we love having the opportunity to share our food with you.

Where can customers find you other than the UBC Farmers’ Market?

We have our food truck on Robson square, every Tuesday and Wednesday. Customers are also able to find us in some stores, such as Nada Grocery and if you check our website you are able to find all the retail locations that we sell in.

Tayybeh can be found at the UBC Farm Saturday Farmers’ Market every second week on all of the following dates: June 08, Jun 22, July 06, July 20, Aug 03, Aug 17, Aug 31, Sept 14, and Sept 28. For more information on Tayybeh, and photos of their delicious food see the following links: Website | Facebook | Instagram.