The taste of Palestine - a roundup of our favourite Palestinian Cookbooks
Whether it’s falafel in between spots, coffee and pastries at the skatepark or home-cooked Maqlubah after a long day - food plays a key part in the Palestinian skate community as it does within the Palestinian culture. SAHTEN - The SkatePal Cookbook, pays homage to this, whilst painting a picture of the current skate scene in the West Bank through recipes sourced from the community and beyond.
We wanted to take the opportunity to highlight some of the fantastic Palestinian cookbooks through which you can experience the Palestinian cuisine beyond the skate family as well as find more traditional (THE GAZA KITCHEN, PALESTINE ON A PLATE), vegan-friendly (MISHMISH, ZAITOUN) and other renowned publications:
SAHTEIN MIDDLE EASTERN COOKBOOK by Arab Women’s Union
Image: Cookbook Village
This easy to use cookbook was published by the Arab Women’s Union of Detroit in 1976 and features recipes predominantly from Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria spanning across main dishes, appetizers, desserts and more. Alongside the recipes you can find a dictionary of local herbs, spices and nuts to familiarise yourself with Middle-Eastern cuisine.
FALASTIN by Sami Tamimi and Tara Wigley
FALASTIN is a love letter to Palestine and Palestinians. Written by Ottolenghi co-founder Sami Tamimi and co-collaborator Tara Wigley, the cookbook features 110 recipes for the busy home cook, enriched with various stories spanning across Bethlehem, East Jerusalem, Nablus, Haifa, Akka, Nazareth, Galilee and the West Bank. The food itself mixes the traditional with the contemporary showcasing the Palestinian pantry: olive oil, za’atar, pulses and flatbreads, tahini, yoghurt, feta, date syrup, allspice, sumac, ground cumin, green chillies, dill, garlic, fresh coriander and lemon.
Sami has also donated a recipe to SAHTEN, with his Fattet Makdous (Roasted aubergine fatteh).
You can buy FALASTIN via Bookshop.org (UK)
MISHMISH by Michelle Nazzal
MISHMISH is a cookbook project aiming to preserve and build upon Michelle Nazzal’s family history through food. Michelle is a first generation Palestinian-American whose family immigrated from Ramallah to San Francisco in 1960.
The project includes two volumes: 01 BREAKFAST and 02 LUNCH, strongly inspired by her Tete (grandma) and Sido (grandpa), inviting readers to slow down, cook with feeling and create one’s own traditions around Arabic cuisine.
Volume 02 is an expression of love for Arab markets and delis and includes recipes for basics such as tahini sauce or shatta, various Palestinian salads and light meals such as kiftah kebab or spinach fatayer. All recipes are vegan and a pleasure to make + a percentage of the proceeds from Volume 02 is donated to SkatePal.
You can purchase a copy here.
ZAITOUN - Recipes and Stories from the Palestinian Kitchen by Yasmin Khan
ZAITOUN celebrates Palestinian cuisine featuring more than 80 modern and accessible recipies. Featured dishes are accompanied by captivating stories and photography from Yasmin’s travels from the pomegranate juice stalls of Akka to the home kitchens of refugees in Bethlehem, and via the knafeh sweet shops of the bustling souqs in Nablus. ZAITOUN focuses especially on vegetarian versions of Palestinian classics, from herb-filled salads, quick pickles, soups, as well as tender roasted meat dishes and rich desserts.
Find out more on stockists here.
THE GAZA KITCHEN: A Palestinian Culinary Journey by Laila El-Haddad and Maggie Schmitt
THE GAZA KITCHEN brings closer the distinctive cuisine of the Gaza region of Palestine. The 130 featured recipes span across spicy stews, piquant dips, fragrant fish dishes, and honey-drenched desserts, accompanied by beautiful photos of Gazan cooks, farmers, and produce merchants at work and by sidebars in which they talk about their food, heritage, and families.
The third edition, including new stories, recipes and photos gathered during a late-2019 visit to Gaza by Laila El-Haddad will be available in print in spring 2021.
The second edition is currently available as an eBook.
PALESTINE ON A PLATE: Memories from my mother's kitchen by Joudie Kalla
‘Palestinian cooking is not fussy, but delicate and beautiful. Delicious and captivating’ PALESTINE ON A PLATE is a tribute to family, cooking and home showing traditional Palestinian methods and cooking before Joudie Kalla’s grandmothers left Palestine at the time of the Nakba in 1948. The cookbook includes various old recipes with a mix of vegan, vegetarian, as well as fish and meat dishes from zingy fattet hummus, spiced makloubeh, to awameh (honey dumplings).
Find stockists here.
BALADI by Joudie Kalla
‘Baladi’ means ‘my home, my land, my country’. BALADI features recipes broadly categorized according to the differing environments they primarily hail from (the land, the sea, the forest, the orchard) all designed to complement one another. It includes such recipes as daoud basha (lamb meatballs cooked in a tamarind and tomato sauce served with caramelized onions and vermicelli rice), fatayer sabanekh (spinach, sumac and onion patties), samak makli (fried fish selection with courgette, mint and yoghurt dip), atayef (soft pancakes filled with cream, cheese or nuts in an orange blossom sugar syrup), and many more.
Find stockists here.
THE PALESTINIAN TABLE by Reem Kassis
THE PALESTINIAN TABLE is inspired by three generations of family tradition, blending personal anecdotes, local customs, historical context and nearly 150 recipes showcasing Palestine’s rich culinary history and the heart of the Palestinian family kitchen. The dishes range from simple breakfasts and speedy salads to meals fit for a feast.
Find stockists here.
You can also purchase some of the cookbooks and fill up your pantry with Palestinian products via Zaytoun.