Imad’s Syrian Kitchen: The Sunday Times bestseller full of the delicious flavours of Syria, with authentic recipes and true stories of life as a refugee

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At Saha, world-renowned chef Greg Malouf explored its influential culinary scene. The traditional and inspirational dishes in Saha will make people be captivated by its unique taste.

You will find hearty peasant dishes or delicately spiced specialties from ancient palaces, all of which are intricate and delicate in flavor but not too complicated to make at home. Touching stories and rich and interesting recipes from Lebanon and Syria that embody the spirit of modernity and antiquity, taste, and color are beautifully depicted in the cookbook. This illustrative and lavish design is full. Or to put it in terms relevant to a restaurant column, we do not have a more diverse restaurant sector than any other country in Europe by accident. It’s the product of waves of immigration. And yes, of course, some of that is also the product of rampant imperialism; the two things are often fellow travellers. Still, the fact is that if you enjoy eating the food of the Indian subcontinent, or of China and the Middle East, or of West and East Africa, of Thailand and Japan and Poland and all other points of the compass, cooked by people schooled from birth in its intricacies, you should give thanks for immigration. You should give thanks to people like Imad Alarnab, some of whom have risked their lives to be here. I know this is all bloody obvious, but sometimes the obvious needs to be said. Imad’s Syrian Kitchen is part recipe book, part human story about how a successful businessman found himself fleeing for his life, crossing 10 countries, and turned by necessity into an illegal immigrant in the UK. By some turns of good fortune and enormous resilience, he rebuilt his life and that of his family, and opened an excellent restaurant where diners can enjoy his Syrian menu. Now, readers can try out some of the recipes at home too which will take you from a range of marvellous meze and salads, through mains and onto dessert. The book is worth buying simply to read Imad’s story and to understand more about his terrifying journey from Damascus to London, to think about holding those we love close and to take nothing in life for granted, but to be grateful for every privilege we enjoy. Then cook some of Imad’s life-enhancing food. We had a comfortable life, but most people in Syria were suffering. When you have a dictatorship for more than 50 years, of course people will be suffering. You cannot explain life without freedom to someone who’s lived all of their life with it. The author offers delightful treats, from an Aleppo breakfast to after-dinner Arab coffee and sweets. In addition, the book also includes some Bulgarian Wheat dishes to satisfy and delight vegetarians.It was just something I felt like I needed to do, because you get to make a lot of people happy. Especially at that time, they needed something to be happy about,” says the 45-year-old, who would feed as many as 400 people at a time. This unique cookbook is a collection of recipes of the Syrian family, taught from mother to daughter for over 100 years in the Arabic kitchen. You will find over 165 recipes with over 100 full-color appetizing photos of delicious food that will take you on your journey to discover traditional Syrian food. About the author:Barbara Abdeni Massaad was born in Beirut, Lebanon, and has moved to Florida. She is a TV host, regular contributor to international cooking magazines, a culinary writer, and cookbook author. Dina Mousawi is passionate and started her artistic career at the age of 10. She has had the opportunity to take part in national and international tours throughout America, Europe, and the Middle East.

While the cauli roasted, I made shurabat ends (red lentil soup). An odd choice you might think for mid-summer but since London is having a dismal few weeks of rain, I am wearing my fleece and happily eating hot soup. I simply adore soup and no day is too hot to eat a bowl in my view. Next, I made a vegan moussaka. I never make moussaka the traditional way because I don’t often cook meat at home and the required béchamel sauce is a faff, but this was a Syrian moussaka which is much less work and I put it together with ease in my lunch hour. This was served with sahan khudra, otherwise known as the green plate – Turkish green peppers, onion, herbs, spring onion and so on, the idea is that you help yourself to items from the green plate while eating your meal. In 2012, after making the filmAntigone of Syria, Dina continued to produce and direct theTerrestrial Journey– a theatrical production staged with Syrian women living in Beirut’s refugee camps. She currently lives in London and works at the Complicite theatre company. Aromas of Aleppo: The Legendary Cuisine of Syrian Jews All proceeds from the sale of this cookbook will directly benefit Mayada’s family and other refugee community members. Amid this is an extensive series of recipes that offer a bustling tour of Syrian cuisine. Many of the dishes that have become signatures at Alarnab’s London restaurant feature, including the falafel, which are strikingly shaped with hole in the middle for a ‘crispier texture’. There are six chapters to the book in total, covering spice mixes, recipe basics, starters, mains, desserts and drinks. His first cookbook is a combination of dishes served up at the restaurant and his late mother’s recipes. “Almost every single dish is somehow related to my mother – I keep seeking her approval in everything I do in life, but especially with cooking,” he says. It was his mum, Summer, who first taught him to cook. “Even if you create your own recipes, somehow you will [always] be inspired by your first teacher”. She died very suddenly while Alarnab was living alone in a caravan in west London.

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We are experiencing delays with deliveries to many countries, but in most cases local services have now resumed. For more details, please consult the latest information provided by Royal Mail's International Incident Bulletin. There were about 95 of us, I felt it was a stupid decision, risking my life so much. I believe the driver was so scared, or maybe drunk – the speed was absolutely scary. I thought we were not going to make it.” About the author:Charles Perry is a culinary historian and has written many books on Middle Eastern cooking. In addition, he has published and consulted on Middle Eastern culinary history and translated several pre-modern texts, includingA Baghdad Cookery Book: The Book of Dishes. Found recipes easy to follow. Beautiful photos within a large book deserving coffee table placement.”- Bookaholic Beautifully done cookbook with recipes from our home country. I appreciated the more complicated recipes alongside the simpler street food recipes. The pictures and stories were done perfectly.”- Nannie D.

About the author:Daniel Humphreys is a culinary writer and the author’s culinary knowledge influenced by British mothers. Daniel has 15 years of experience as a chef and has excellently satisfied all diners, even the most demanding ones. Ah’len Cookbook – A Culinary Journey Through the Eyes of the Syrian Lebanese Association of Trinidad Liz Clayman is the contributor to the great photographs in this book and is a New York food and hospitality photographer. Saha: A Chef’s Journey Through Lebanon and Syria [Middle Eastern Cookbook, 150 Recipes] Some excellent family recipes that do truly reflect the Middle East’s delicious foods in general and, more precisely, Syria.”- Fisherman3 About the author:Greg Malouf was born in Melbourne, Australia, but his parents are Lebanese. Before working internationally, he took formal apprenticeships at some of Australia’s best restaurants. Greg Malouf has created a unique cooking style that combines Middle Eastern tradition with contemporary flair.Claudia Roden is a cultural anthropologist and a British cookbook writer. She is the author of famous Middle Eastern cookbooks, includingA Book of Middle Eastern Food. Soup for Syria: Recipes to Celebrate our Shared Humanity My name is Imad Alarnab, and I was a refugee, an asylum seeker, a displaced person, an illegal immigrant. What does that make you think of? Be honest. Does it make you think of people deciding one day to leave their home country for a more exciting job or better opportunities elsewhere…We didn’t ‘choose’ to leave, it was not a decision any of us came to lightly. Every single one of us was forced. We had no choice. We fled our homes that we loved because we were no longer safe, or because our homes had been destroyed. Our families were in danger and we had to do what we could to keep them safe. What would you have done? We don’t want to travel illegally. We don’t want to take advantage of anything or anyone; we want to be part of a community, to work, to play our role in society again. We are all just like you.” This cookbook is beautiful, and I want to make almost every recipe. They are simpler than Indian cooking but still fascinating and yummy.”- Jane VanSant He is currently co-authoring with Lucy Malouf on several award-winning works and cooking at Melbourne’s MoMo restaurant. All profits that we get from the sale of this cookbook will be donated to help fund food relief efforts through various non-profit organizations.

It’s been hard leaving out so many of the recipes. You’ll have to get the book! But I’m very happy to be sharing a lovely recipe with you today, and it’s the Muhammara, a characteristically Syrian dip I adore, made with red peppers and walnuts, and topped with pomegranate molasses and seeds, red onion and parsley.By July 2015, he’d made the painful decision to leave his wife and three daughters in Damascus to make the treacherous journey via Lebanon, Greece and North Macedonia, to the UK, where they had relatives. With his children too young to make the journey, the family planned to join once he’d been granted asylum. Jennifer Sit is a writer, cookbook editor, and co-author ofSenegal: Modern Senegalese Recipes from the Source to the Bowlwith Pierre Thiam of the James Beard Award nomination. Besides, she has edited cookbooks at independent publishing houses Lake Isle Press and Blue Apron, including the IACP Award-winning Blue Apron Cookbook. Jennifer Sit currently lives in Brooklyn, New York. In some respects, the recipes in Imad Alarnab’s debut cookbook, named after his recently relocated Kingly Court restaurant in London’s Soho​​, are secondary to the author’s story of journeying as a refugee from his hometown of Damascus in Syria to London in 2015. “Being a refugee is exhausting,” he writes, emotionally, at one point. “It’s emotional. It’s depressing. It involves so much waiting, unable to do anything, completely at the mercy of a constantly changing series of people who mostly don’t seem to care.” About the author:“Ah’lenCookbook – A Culinary Journey Through the Eyes of the Syrian Lebanese Association of Trinidad” is created by The Syrian Lebanese Women’s Association, which brings together many people with passion and experience in culinary. This is their first cookbook. Sitto’s Kitchen: A Treasury of Syrian Family Recipes Taught from Mother to Daughter for Over 100 Years This is the first cookbook by Imad Alarnab, a renowned chef from Damascus. Imad now runs an acclaimed restaurant in London, which was named GQ’s “Best Breakthrough Restaurant 2022.” Imad’s Syrian Kitchen is a bustling tour through 90 traditional and adapted Syrian dishes that can be made in the comfort of your own home. Imad introduces us to the delicious flavors and techniques of the Syrian kitchen. And alongside delicious recipes, mouthwatering photography, and beautiful illustrations, Imad shares the unforgettable details of how he came to settle in London, as well as the story of his home country, Syria. This book is a celebration of how food has the power to bring people together.