Retiree starts a business using her culinary talents

AMMAN — Mamoul is one of several kinds of sweets that Um Mutasem Malkawi makes at the small culinary business she started after retirement.   

“I receive cooking orders for feasts, receptions and wedding parties,” she told The Jordan Times on Sunday while preparing mamoul, adding that she prepares several kinds of hot meals and pastries and a long list of sweets at her “productive kitchen”.

“For the Eid season, I always have around 13 kilogrammes ready for sale, in addition to the mamoul orders that I get,” Um Mutasem said. She sells one kilogramme of mamoul for JD7.

Mamoul, the sweet cake stuffed with date paste, walnut or pistachio, is the traditional homemade sweet served during Eid along with the black cardamom-flavoured Arabic coffee.

Four years ago, Malkawi rented the kitchen and a hall, where she holds gatherings and henna parties, from a women’s association in the Abu Nseir area and started her project, which has helped her deal with the death of one of her sons.

“Starting the business was very important for me to escape emptiness and grief,” the holder of a degree in English literature said, adding that she has worked fulltime managing medical records at the University of Jordan Hospital for over 20 years.

“It was impossible for me to stay locked between four walls,” said Malkawi, who is in her fifties. 

Sleeping late and spending long hours watching TV is a common retirement habit she wanted to avoid.

The business started small, according to Malkawi, who initially faced obstacles in funding her project and finding customers, in addition to equipping the kitchen, which made her use whatever extra tools she had in her home kitchen. 

“Little by little my customers increased, as one customer told another, and now I have daily orders,” she said, noting that she contacts women in need who are good at cooking to help her when she has a lot of orders.

Um Alaa, a regular customer, said she admires Malkawi’s talent for making all kinds of dishes and submitting the orders on time.

“My husband is invited to a lot of banquets and he in turn invites people over for banquets, so I always depend on Um Mutasem,” she told The Jordan Times, adding that Malkawi’s cooking is clean and tasty.

For this Eid, Um Alaa received her order of 18 kilogrammes of mamoul, 12 of which she sent to her son and daughter who are staying abroad.

“The mamoul is very delicious and all who have tasted it liked it and asked for Um Mutasem’s number,” she said.

Malkawi said her business provides her with a good income.

“It covers the needs of my house, and the school and university education of my son and two daughters,” she added, urging women to be productive at all times and not to wait for men to bring them anything they need. 

“My husband is very supportive and understanding of my passion for my business,” Malkawi said. Her children are also always ready to give her a hand in cooking and packing.

Um Mutasem’s daughter Layal said helping her mother cooking and making sweets has improved her culinary skills.

“I would love to study journalism, but I will always work in the cooking field,” the 14-year-old told The Jordan Times.

Cleanliness, integrity and commitment to deadlines are Um Mutasem’s keys for success, in addition to the importance of balancing her house chores and her business.

She gives back to the community by cooking for charitable events and distributing donations that she collects from families in the surrounding area to the underprivileged.

“I also give free cooking lessons for any amateur who wishes to learn how to cook,” she added.

Malkawi wishes to expand her project to include further philanthropic work in underprivileged areas.

“I dream of establishing a society in the Jordan Valley because I see so many poor people there when I visit the area… I want to do good to these people by cooking and collecting donations for them,” she said.