about shorkk
meet the shorkk team
Shorkk is a small, socially-minded business based in Bristol, with roots in Scotland and Lebanon, run by Miranda and Philippe el Khazen.
small business
Our aim is to raise the profile of Lebanese ingredients in the UK. So we started our own business, importing ethically-traded Lebanese ingredients into UK kitchen cupboards.
lebanese ingredients
From the north of Lebanon, we buy extra virgin olive oil, “souri” olives and olive leaf infusion from the producer. He supplies us with tangy pomegranate molasses from Chekka and jewel-like saffron from the Bekaa Valley. As we grow, with your help, so will our list of ingredients.
why?
Shorkk came about as a personal response to the economic crisis which has hit Lebanon since October 2019. Many of those who have been hit hardest are farmers and food producers. Lebanese ingredients are hard to come by in the UK, so we wanted to correct this.
for the love of lebanese food
With our strong ties to Lebanon, we decided to do something positive. We know how popular Lebanese food is in the UK, and we think it is only right that more people know how good Lebanese ingredients are!
shorkk: bringing you the best from Lebanon
the logo
Coming up with a name for our company we drew on our dual heritage. Thistles grow in Lebanon and in Scotland, looking reassuringly familiar in both countries. Pushing defiantly through stony ground, these splendid plants symbolise the Lebanese food producing community. Left to their own devices, they produce amazing ingredients which tap into a culinary tradition with a noble history. So we started with the image of a thistle.
what does shorkk mean?
The Arabic word for thistle, شوك, is not easy to transcribe into English phonetics. We tried lots of combinations of vowels and consonants – shawk – shauk – shauwk – shouwk.
So, we decided to fuse the first consonant sound sh with an English word, fork, and got shorkk.
It was a perfect fit – particularly as the Arabic word for fork, شوكي (showkey) comes from the Arabic word for thistle, شوك showk!
This image illustrates the origins of our name way better than any wordy explanation.
It was drawn by Zelfa el Khazen.