I like people to come together over food
the Arab cuisine is about hospitality
about their generosity food is our soul
our culture our tradition our memories
comes from food its history
I wanted to begin by asking you a
question about the background of the
book because the the Arab table is
really a celebration of food from many
different Arab countries and cultures
and I thought it would be nice to start
off with you telling us about your own
background and how your fascination with
food got started I was born in Amman
Jordan to a Palestinian father in the
Lebanese mother I was the oldest of
three children a brother and sister we
lived our school years in Lebanon then
after graduating from high school I
attended Beirut University College
stayed there for one year and then I met
my husband
well I had met everybody that school
year the school was not fun as much as
he was education so we Stadium Beirut
for a year
sadly then the Lebanese civil war
started so we had to leave we lived for
13 years around between Kuwait Iraq and
London England where our three boys were
born there
did my fascination really with food
started with my father he he loved food
he appreciated it and he would always
take us from one place to the other the
south of Lebanon to pick the best
oranges and he would hold it and talk to
the poor man and smell it he always hold
it and smell it that’s the tube he never
tasted food at all it’s just by smelling
that he really appreciated the quality
of things or we can go to store and the
mountains to get the best cheese or
so this is where my first I noticed that
there was more to food than just what’s
on the plate then after that we moved in
Kuwait I learned how to cook properly
and although I didn’t take a proper
training but from my travel my palate
was educated very well with tasting and
after that we thought I did take some
professional training in Arabic cuisine
as well as fresh cookery and other
things and what was the inspiration for
you to do the wonderful book that you
produced the inspiration came really
after we moved to the United States you
know having three boys I wanted to leave
some tradition and culture for them
anybody who has boys knows that when
boys get married we can maybe Americans
or whatever the girls if I had a girl I
might not have done the book but with
boys you know they I wanted to give some
traditional culture for the younger
generation for my grandkids so that was
my aim number one to make the book and
that’s why there is a lot of stories in
the book and about traditions at what we
do that’s and the book covers such a
wide territory it’s a very ambitious
book so I thought it would be helpful to
show a map of the the region that you’re
covering and can you talk just a little
bit about the the Arab table encompasses
a very wide the Arab world covers its 22
countries and it covers a great area of
different Geographic and climate but it
is but the culture and tradition varies
from one place to the other because of
this part of the the spices they use in
the food and the culture it’s it is
widely spread you know some of the first
civilization started there and Damascus
and Iraq are the oldest cities in the
world and that’s where you know the
essence of food is I’ll tell you sort of
the first time I I saw my mother and
aunts cooking lamb a whole lamb it was a
memory that I would never forget I was
around eleven years old maybe and I saw
this huge
lamb and the kitchen and so they rubbed
it cleaned it and the dry rub and then
they had to put it in the fridge that
they had to empty everything and put it
it’s it was a huge no so then they had
to fry it because the the Arabic lamb
the fire stays in the tail it’s not in
the skin inside so they take the tail
and the fry the lamb would detail so
that they can get the juices and I
remember them when they started when
they suffered along with rice and ground
beef and I saw them doing it with the
needle that was amazing that was the
first time I see anything like that so
this memory always stays with me for a
long time yeah that’s that’s my
grandmother as you see I married younger
and I will not know how to cook at all I
had no idea how to cook and my husband
didn’t know that I didn’t cook so we had
the plot with my grandmother that she
will send food for me every day really
and we did that for you know maybe a
month month sometime Wow
until one day I got busted driver came
was bringing the food and my husband was
coming up in the elevator and he asked
her I said what does this he said your
food said why are you bringing food we
don’t have anything today I said no but
I bring it every day and that was from
that they are I started cooking yeah
my grandmother would tutored me over the
phone all the time and give me pointers
and that’s I started but now I really
after I did that I started cooking it’s
it’s I began to realize how satisfying
it is when you cook food that other
people appreciate and like so I became
really interested in it and did a lot of
cooking after that this is my family we
always gather around the table all the
book is based it’s like my story of my
family the story of how we entertain
it’s as food the food is I think if our
soul our culture our tradition our
memories comes from food events were
when people gather around the table and
a lot of problems are solved a lot of
stories are said a lot of you know
contracts are sealed over in a food
tables people so food and cooking is
really
the essence of life I think and I love
that about your book and this photo sort
of embodies that for me that food is a
celebration it’s a shared familial event
it’s not just eating together it’s not
it’s about what’s behind it that even
the story of repairing it when people
prepare it it is also a story so yeah
our lunches our music a very long time
we sit a lot around the table because
stories get told so what is the get told
memories our main it’s you know in the
summer when it was I remember when it
was pomegranate season my mother used to
peel the pomegranate and it takes a long
time to do so she would sit around the
on the table and everybody would sit
around her and start telling stories and
we’re eating fresh pomegranate so that’s
how you know we get together and they
hope you know if anything tonight that
people will get around the table and
cook more and eat more that’s a family
and your mother is yeah that’s my mother
here serving everybody usually Lena she
likes to do that she likes to put things
in people’s plates and you have to eat
this eat but this is this is part of the
culture my husband didn’t grow up in the
Middle East he was abroad a lot so when
we first married the first time we went
to Jordan visit my uncle and they will
take a piece of me and just put it in
his plate and say this is for you this
is the best he used to get chopped for a
person who told you I want meat I don’t
eat meat I don’t want this piece but on
the country they were honoring him they
making him feel special that if people
so if you visit an Arab and he put
something in your plate that means you
are an important guest history thing is
fashion and cooking Arabic food is not
really that difficult it’s it is very
easy cuisine to follow it is like a
building blocks the flavors come you
know at stages you make it it’s true
that some of the recipes are a little
bit long but I give very good
instructions in the book bed you know
what to do be first and second and
prepare ahead and so it is it’s not
difficult to zine at all it’s very tasty
and when we cook Arabic you always have
people around because you can do little
Hamas you have to do a big harmonica
there is a lot of people to eat so
that’s why you always have people around
your table dates this is one of these
table food in the Arab world it’s I
think it’s one of the first foods in the
world and they’ve had so many benefits
and uses and it’s part of the culture
but it says it’s a welcoming thing when
we visit somebody especially in the Gulf
States you give you a date and a cup of
coffee that’s a welcome but mainly we
use it in Ramadan it’s the fasting
season because you fast all day and then
you break your fast at sunset so the way
to break your fast is with a date
because it has a lot of natural sugars
that will help you but the
we able to that just the other food that
is coming yeah I always feel like I’m
eating history when I eat defends our
venerable quality what would you like
people who read your book and enjoy your
book and people who are going to enjoy
the feast we’re having tonight what
would you like them to take away from
this evening I’d like them to take away
that food is love food is appreciation
food is cultures geography its history
I’d like them when they are to
experiment and try and think when you’re
cooking from Morocco try to imagine
these people what kind of life they have
or if you’re cooking you know a fish
from Iraq remember they have the best
fish over there to sweet water fish it’s
and they have to reverse them there I
like people to come together over food
and and discover things when you learn
the culture when you taste the food then
there I don’t know everybody loves
everybody and everybody became friends
with everybody so it makes life easier
it makes it more meaningful and enjoy
each other’s company and I hope that
they will use the book and gather more
around their tables no I have to say
that it’s someone who is not that
familiar with Arab culture or cuisine
reading your book really humanized the
whole region for me and it’s a you know
it’s a vastly misunderstood region in
the United States and I think that your
book is incredibly important in that
sense as well and it’s hugely important
thank you yeah it’s unfortunately that’s
that’s a fact
but then the Arab cuisine is about
hospitality about their generous
generosity
it’s it’s about gathering and honoring
your guests and respecting your guests
that’s that’s what’s the Arab world is
about to me the way I see it I think of
you now after meeting you and reading
your book really is like a food
ambassador thank you so much just I want
to say what an incredible pleasure it is
to meet you and talk with you and thank
you very much for sharing coming it’s
thank you
you
the Arab cuisine is about hospitality
about their generosity food is our soul
our culture our tradition our memories
comes from food its history
I wanted to begin by asking you a
question about the background of the
book because the the Arab table is
really a celebration of food from many
different Arab countries and cultures
and I thought it would be nice to start
off with you telling us about your own
background and how your fascination with
food got started I was born in Amman
Jordan to a Palestinian father in the
Lebanese mother I was the oldest of
three children a brother and sister we
lived our school years in Lebanon then
after graduating from high school I
attended Beirut University College
stayed there for one year and then I met
my husband
well I had met everybody that school
year the school was not fun as much as
he was education so we Stadium Beirut
for a year
sadly then the Lebanese civil war
started so we had to leave we lived for
13 years around between Kuwait Iraq and
London England where our three boys were
born there
did my fascination really with food
started with my father he he loved food
he appreciated it and he would always
take us from one place to the other the
south of Lebanon to pick the best
oranges and he would hold it and talk to
the poor man and smell it he always hold
it and smell it that’s the tube he never
tasted food at all it’s just by smelling
that he really appreciated the quality
of things or we can go to store and the
mountains to get the best cheese or
so this is where my first I noticed that
there was more to food than just what’s
on the plate then after that we moved in
Kuwait I learned how to cook properly
and although I didn’t take a proper
training but from my travel my palate
was educated very well with tasting and
after that we thought I did take some
professional training in Arabic cuisine
as well as fresh cookery and other
things and what was the inspiration for
you to do the wonderful book that you
produced the inspiration came really
after we moved to the United States you
know having three boys I wanted to leave
some tradition and culture for them
anybody who has boys knows that when
boys get married we can maybe Americans
or whatever the girls if I had a girl I
might not have done the book but with
boys you know they I wanted to give some
traditional culture for the younger
generation for my grandkids so that was
my aim number one to make the book and
that’s why there is a lot of stories in
the book and about traditions at what we
do that’s and the book covers such a
wide territory it’s a very ambitious
book so I thought it would be helpful to
show a map of the the region that you’re
covering and can you talk just a little
bit about the the Arab table encompasses
a very wide the Arab world covers its 22
countries and it covers a great area of
different Geographic and climate but it
is but the culture and tradition varies
from one place to the other because of
this part of the the spices they use in
the food and the culture it’s it is
widely spread you know some of the first
civilization started there and Damascus
and Iraq are the oldest cities in the
world and that’s where you know the
essence of food is I’ll tell you sort of
the first time I I saw my mother and
aunts cooking lamb a whole lamb it was a
memory that I would never forget I was
around eleven years old maybe and I saw
this huge
lamb and the kitchen and so they rubbed
it cleaned it and the dry rub and then
they had to put it in the fridge that
they had to empty everything and put it
it’s it was a huge no so then they had
to fry it because the the Arabic lamb
the fire stays in the tail it’s not in
the skin inside so they take the tail
and the fry the lamb would detail so
that they can get the juices and I
remember them when they started when
they suffered along with rice and ground
beef and I saw them doing it with the
needle that was amazing that was the
first time I see anything like that so
this memory always stays with me for a
long time yeah that’s that’s my
grandmother as you see I married younger
and I will not know how to cook at all I
had no idea how to cook and my husband
didn’t know that I didn’t cook so we had
the plot with my grandmother that she
will send food for me every day really
and we did that for you know maybe a
month month sometime Wow
until one day I got busted driver came
was bringing the food and my husband was
coming up in the elevator and he asked
her I said what does this he said your
food said why are you bringing food we
don’t have anything today I said no but
I bring it every day and that was from
that they are I started cooking yeah
my grandmother would tutored me over the
phone all the time and give me pointers
and that’s I started but now I really
after I did that I started cooking it’s
it’s I began to realize how satisfying
it is when you cook food that other
people appreciate and like so I became
really interested in it and did a lot of
cooking after that this is my family we
always gather around the table all the
book is based it’s like my story of my
family the story of how we entertain
it’s as food the food is I think if our
soul our culture our tradition our
memories comes from food events were
when people gather around the table and
a lot of problems are solved a lot of
stories are said a lot of you know
contracts are sealed over in a food
tables people so food and cooking is
really
the essence of life I think and I love
that about your book and this photo sort
of embodies that for me that food is a
celebration it’s a shared familial event
it’s not just eating together it’s not
it’s about what’s behind it that even
the story of repairing it when people
prepare it it is also a story so yeah
our lunches our music a very long time
we sit a lot around the table because
stories get told so what is the get told
memories our main it’s you know in the
summer when it was I remember when it
was pomegranate season my mother used to
peel the pomegranate and it takes a long
time to do so she would sit around the
on the table and everybody would sit
around her and start telling stories and
we’re eating fresh pomegranate so that’s
how you know we get together and they
hope you know if anything tonight that
people will get around the table and
cook more and eat more that’s a family
and your mother is yeah that’s my mother
here serving everybody usually Lena she
likes to do that she likes to put things
in people’s plates and you have to eat
this eat but this is this is part of the
culture my husband didn’t grow up in the
Middle East he was abroad a lot so when
we first married the first time we went
to Jordan visit my uncle and they will
take a piece of me and just put it in
his plate and say this is for you this
is the best he used to get chopped for a
person who told you I want meat I don’t
eat meat I don’t want this piece but on
the country they were honoring him they
making him feel special that if people
so if you visit an Arab and he put
something in your plate that means you
are an important guest history thing is
fashion and cooking Arabic food is not
really that difficult it’s it is very
easy cuisine to follow it is like a
building blocks the flavors come you
know at stages you make it it’s true
that some of the recipes are a little
bit long but I give very good
instructions in the book bed you know
what to do be first and second and
prepare ahead and so it is it’s not
difficult to zine at all it’s very tasty
and when we cook Arabic you always have
people around because you can do little
Hamas you have to do a big harmonica
there is a lot of people to eat so
that’s why you always have people around
your table dates this is one of these
table food in the Arab world it’s I
think it’s one of the first foods in the
world and they’ve had so many benefits
and uses and it’s part of the culture
but it says it’s a welcoming thing when
we visit somebody especially in the Gulf
States you give you a date and a cup of
coffee that’s a welcome but mainly we
use it in Ramadan it’s the fasting
season because you fast all day and then
you break your fast at sunset so the way
to break your fast is with a date
because it has a lot of natural sugars
that will help you but the
we able to that just the other food that
is coming yeah I always feel like I’m
eating history when I eat defends our
venerable quality what would you like
people who read your book and enjoy your
book and people who are going to enjoy
the feast we’re having tonight what
would you like them to take away from
this evening I’d like them to take away
that food is love food is appreciation
food is cultures geography its history
I’d like them when they are to
experiment and try and think when you’re
cooking from Morocco try to imagine
these people what kind of life they have
or if you’re cooking you know a fish
from Iraq remember they have the best
fish over there to sweet water fish it’s
and they have to reverse them there I
like people to come together over food
and and discover things when you learn
the culture when you taste the food then
there I don’t know everybody loves
everybody and everybody became friends
with everybody so it makes life easier
it makes it more meaningful and enjoy
each other’s company and I hope that
they will use the book and gather more
around their tables no I have to say
that it’s someone who is not that
familiar with Arab culture or cuisine
reading your book really humanized the
whole region for me and it’s a you know
it’s a vastly misunderstood region in
the United States and I think that your
book is incredibly important in that
sense as well and it’s hugely important
thank you yeah it’s unfortunately that’s
that’s a fact
but then the Arab cuisine is about
hospitality about their generous
generosity
it’s it’s about gathering and honoring
your guests and respecting your guests
that’s that’s what’s the Arab world is
about to me the way I see it I think of
you now after meeting you and reading
your book really is like a food
ambassador thank you so much just I want
to say what an incredible pleasure it is
to meet you and talk with you and thank
you very much for sharing coming it’s
thank you
you
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