GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — A Palestinian-Italian exchange program brought Italian cuisine to the refugee camps in the Gaza Strip, as professional Italian chefs cooked together with Palestinian women — and both sides learned a trick or two from each other.

The Palestinian and Italian chefs came together Sept. 11 at the Center to Empower Women in Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip. They gathered around a single table to share their experiences, each assembling the ingredients needed to prepare the Italian and Palestinian dishes, including pasta, chicken, rice and spices. Then they set to work, showing each other their recipes and sharing cooking tips.

First, Palestinian women learned Italian recipes that they described as “brilliant.” Then it was their turn to cook. Inshirah began peeling the onions, while Kholoud peeled the potatoes, eggplant and the other vegetables they needed to prepare their dish. Another woman focused on cooking the rice and putting oil into a large pan to start making maqlouba, a popular Palestinian dish. The Italians sat with the Palestinians at the same table to taste the Palestinian meal, which they liked very much.

Italian chef Domenico Maurizio Loi said that he had wanted to learn about Palestinian and Middle Eastern food for a long time, because he had heard so much about it from the customers who visit his restaurant in Sardinia, Italy.