Iasi city chefs are these days using their experience acquired during the thousands of hours spent cooking in various restaurants in Iasi and around the world to fix a hot meal for the refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine. For a start, the canteen of the 'Gaudeamus' student dormitory which belongs to the 'Alexandru Ioan Cuza' University of Iasi has prepared 350 servings, but with the help of volunteers this amount will increase to 500 as of tomorrow.

"Today we made chicken soup. We usually provide lunch. We'll try to also provide breakfast and dinner for the refugees housed at the 'Cuza' University dorm," explains one of the chefs.

"We are people, and people help each other. We have 350 servings of food ready to be delivered to refugee camps. We don't know exactly where they are, but we are glad that we can offer them a hot meal, with the help of certain associations. One of them is the 'Adi Hadean' Association, which I represent here in Iasi, and which helps us feed at least 500 people a day from the specially set up refugee centers. We do this with all our heart. We also have volunteers from several Iasi restaurants, students. The management of the 'Cuza' University provided us with the kitchen of the 'Gaudeamus' dormitory, and personnel of the Emergency Inspectorate help us with the transportation to each center. The number of servings will probably increase. From the information I have so far, tomorrow we'll probably have to fix 500 servings," says chef Marian Zanceanu, who works at a famous restaurant in Iasi and also acts as the representative of the 'Adi Hadean' Association in Iasi.

"These people are relying on us to provide them a hot meal. Today we made 120 liters of chicken soup, for which we needed 20 kilos of onions and 20 kilos of peppers. We talked to suppliers to donate ingredients to us. We are glad that the refugees are happy with our help. The food prepared in large quantities is always better than the one made at home in small amounts. The secret ingredient is the chef's taste, the love he puts in," says Mircea Mihaescu, the cook of the 'Gaudeamus'' canteen.

Diana Niculaes is one of the volunteers. Although she has no experience in cooking, but rather in marketing, she offered to help with whatever is needed.

The canteen staff are also lending a helping hand. One of them is Crenguta Baltaru, a cook who has been working at the University canteen for more than 20 years.

22-year-old Romeo Marc also joined in as a volunteer. When the cook assistant learned that volunteers were needed to cook for the refugees, he didn't back down.

The canteen of the 'Gaudeamus' student dormitory is just one of the Iasi locations where cooks and chefs joined their efforts to prepare hot food for Ukrainian refugees. AGERPRES (RO - author: Daniela Malache, editor: Georgiana Tanasescu; EN - author: Simona Klodnischi, editor: Simona Iacob)