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ORAL HISTORY
Adele Boohaker
St. Elias Maronite Catholic Church
Adele Boohaker was born in Lebanon in 1943. She immigrated to the United States with her family in 1956. Her father and brother owned and operated barbecue restaurants in the Avondale community of Birmingham, Alabama. Boohaker learned to cook Lebanese food from her mother.
Boohaker’s family joined St. Elias Maronite Catholic Church when they settled in Birmingham. She and her mother often prepared dishes and worked as servers for the Thursday night Ladies Altar Society meals that raised funds to pay for the church building. Boohaker continues to work at the annual Lebanese Food Festival put on by St. Elias. Her specialty is the Lebanese thin bread.