My mum is Irish and my dad is Libyan, so we have mixed heritage in our house. My father came here to study in the 1970s and met my mum. My Libyan grandmother taught my mum all the traditional Libyan food when she lived there for 11 years after marrying my dad. My mum then passed everything she knew on to us.
I was born and raised here, hence the strong Dublin accent, but every year we have gone back to Libya. We are in touch with the Arabic side of our heritage.
My two sisters and I used to watch Cake Boss on TLC and we loved the way he made cakes. We are all creative and artistic, baking came naturally to us.
One of our friends was getting married, and that was the first cake we made for someone. Everyone said we should do this for other people. We were young, but soon we became recognised for our work. We did the wedding shows and started to expand.
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My sisters and I set up Munch at the Balally Luas stop before I started my Masters in Archaeology at UCD. We went to view a unit advertised as a kitchen and saw it was big enough for a cafe too.
We wanted an Arabic influence so we brought in Turkish and Arabic coffee and did the wedding cakes in the back. We started to introduce different middle eastern sweets, and it took off.
For wedding cakes, we do the classics such as vanilla, chocolate, red velvet or lemon, but we also do cakes with rasmalai, which is an Indian spice, saffron, or a pistachio baklava cake.
Most of our regulars are Irish. The Luas workers are our number one fans because we are on the line. The inspectors, the security people, they are all so supportive.
During Covid many members of the Muslim community in Ireland were not able to go home for Ramadan or Eid, so we started making more traditional Arabic sweets
We also have the Arabic set. There is an influx of people to Ireland working in Microsoft, Google and Facebook and a lot of them come for their traditional food for Ramadan and Eid.
Ramadan is a month long; we are fasting from sunrise to sunset. It is not only about food; you are supposed to fast from anything that you overindulge in. I work a night shift for TikTok as well, so it is a long day. It can be tempting when you are making something to taste it. It takes two or three days before your brain finally clocks, okay, I’m not meant to be eating unless it is sundown. For me the hardest thing is coffee because I am a big coffee drinker, so working at the coffee machine is worse than baking. At sunset we have our meal and something sweet.
During Covid many members of the Muslim community in Ireland were not able to go home for Ramadan or Eid, so we started making more traditional Arabic sweets. Word got out. Google contacted us and said we have 150 employees celebrating Ramadan, they are not able to fly home for Eid and we want to order 150 Ramadan boxes for them, can you deliver?
We did Accenture as well, and Arthur Cox. There was a huge emphasis on inclusivity during Covid, everyone knew how difficult it was for people to be away from their families.
We have bakers now from different middle eastern, Arab and Indian backgrounds, bringing their traditional desserts to the shop. We sell Ramadan-themed boxes where people pick from every kind of traditional Arabic sweet. There is pistachio baklava, walnut baklava, cashew baklava – all the nuts. There are biscuits infused with orange, chocolate or ones with a compote filling. There is kanafeh which is like a stringy filo pastry with cheese and honey syrup on top.
Through the cafe we have become good friends with people from all walks of life
We do Balah el Sham – a fried choux pastry soaked in syrup. The Balah el Sham region is Syria, Palestine and Lebanon – Balah el Sham means it is belonging to them. The Syrians will come in and take all of the Balah el Shams. The Indians will come for the Zalabiya.
When we break our fast in the evening we have Iftar, our traditional meal together. We hold a charity Iftar in Munch every year. We set up marquees, bunting and lanterns and the atmosphere at Balally is amazing. I am a first-generation Muslim, our culture is new in Ireland, whereas if you go over to London, Piccadilly Circus is lit up with Ramadan lights and there are festivities the same as you would have in the Arab world. In Ireland we are slowly getting there. Doing little things like communal Iftars, help us recreate that atmosphere too.
Through the cafe we have become good friends with people from all walks of life. Many people tell us, before Munch, they would not have interacted with a Muslim, a girl in a headscarf. There would never have been a situation where they met or became friends with one. The cafe helped bridge that gap. If they were inquisitive, they felt comfortable asking when they got to know us.
I think it gave us the space to identify ourselves as Irish Muslims. I used to get asked that question a lot when we opened, “Where are you actually from?” I don’t know how to answer that because I have never lived in Libya and my mum is Irish, so I should be identifying more as an Irish girl, but I look Arab. I would have to explain that and get into it but people are very good.
I’m grateful we do not live in a racist society. In Ireland we pride ourselves on being an accepting community. Munch has done that for us in Dundrum anyway, considering most of our customers are Irish.
I’m extremely extroverted, so when I’m in the shop, everyone knows. I’ll talk to everyone, I’m that girl. I love making those connections with people. That’s my favourite thing about what I do. – In conversation with Joanne Hunt
