Boustany: A Celebration of Vegetables from my Palestine [A Cookbook]

by Sami Tamimi

Celebrate the diverse cuisine of Palestine with more than 100 plant-based and vegetarian recipes for festive meals, breads, desserts, and more, from the award-winning co-author of Jerusalem, Falastin and co-founder of Ottolenghi.

The first solo cookbook from Ottolenghi co-founder Sami Tamimi, Boustany is a homage to Palestinian food and culture. "Boustany" translates from Arabic as "my garden," which reflects Sami's signature style and approach to colourful and simple vegetable- and grain-led dishes. Bold, inspiring and ever-evolving, Boustany picks up where Falastin left off, with flavour-packed vegetable-based dishes, including pantry items, midweek easy meals and special to-be-shared dishes. It’s an approach that’s strongly present in Palestinian cuisine, from building your mooneh, or pantry, by preserving seasonal vegetables and herbs to lining the dinner table with a variety of salads and condiments reflective of a love for fresh and vibrant food. 

This is how Sami grew up eating – platters of eggplant and chickpeas with a spicy green lemon sauce and fragrant lentil fatteh that always tasted better the next day. These are the 100 vegan and vegetarian dishes he has known, loved, cooked, and shared with friends,

Braised eggs with pita bread, tomatoes & za’atarSmoky chickpeas with cilantro tahiniCrushed butter beans with orange, makdous & mintFried halloumi with purslane saladCouscous fritters with preserved lemon yogurtJerusalem sesame bread Fenugreek & onion bunsPan-baked tahini, halva & coffee brownieLabneh & pomegranate ice cream 
Boustany is filled with vibrant and lively photographs of everyday meals that invite you into Sami's home. With recipes for breads, dinner parties, fermenting your own vegetables, and more, Sami shares the cultural fabric of Palestine through his eyes.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Cooking, Nonfiction, Middle East, Vegetarian

320 pages, Hardcover

Published July 15, 2025

Reviews

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written by Ottolenghi co-founder Sami Tamimi, Boustany is an homage to the author's hometown of Palestine. Inside you'll find more than a hundred vibrantly-photographed, vegetarian, nutrient-packed dishes. Included are recipes for savory breakfasts, dips and sides, salads and soups, plated meals, breads, and sweets. I loved this vegetarian cookbook not only for the highly delicious recipes but also for the fact that it isn't reliant on soy or any commercially made ingredients created to resemble a non-vegetarian based component. Instead the recipes rely heavily on various pulses, whole grains, yogurt, and tahini. Feta cheese, eggplant, lemon and mint figure prominently. There is a helpful glossary that explains some of the more uncommon ingredients and offers easily-found substitutions. Some dishes that I enjoyed are the loaded sweet potato with black-eyed peas, green beans with leek and tomato, an oregano and cheese loaf bread, and a lemon and pistachio cookie. Ten Speed Press provided me with a free copy of this book: the opinions are my own.

[Miss✧Pickypants ᓚᘏᗢ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rate 3.5 Stars Rounded Up to 4

A nicely designed cookbook filled with well-written recipes based on the author's Palestinian roots. There are loads of beautiful photos of the dishes, which are ones the author cooks regularly at home, think Palestinian comfort food.

While these are a nice collection of homey plant-based recipes there was a fair bit of repetition, the same spices and ingredients show up again and again. I know these ingredients are commonly used in this cuisine but it was the same flavour profiles tweaked ever so slightly that felt repetative. I couldn't help but wonder whether this book would have been published if the author wasn't already a renowned chef/cookbook author. That said, this would be a good cookbook for less experienced cooks and those looking to eat a more plant-diet who enjoy Mediterranean flavours.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Update: I liked this cookbook so much I bought my own copy

Boustany means "my garden" in Arabic, and this cookbook is filled with fresh recipes using vegetables, fruits and nuts, foods traditionally found in the Palestinian garden. Sami Tamimi has included classic dishes of his homeland, and has also updated other dishes hilighting his traditions and culture.

The cookbook provides beautiful photographs of the easy to read recipes, and is divided into sections...soup, salads, breads, sweets etc. I particularly like the section on pantry items which includes recipes for labneh, green lemon sauce and preserved eggplant.

We have made Green beans with leek and tomato (Fasoulia Khadra bil zeit) and Rice & lentils wet pilaf (Sha'aktoura), both of which were delicious. We intend make many more!

[Nez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am happy to have a Palestinian cookbook, although, most recipes have eggs or dairy (oh, so many eggs!).
This book was published this year, and it’s a shame the author didn’t (or couldn’t) call out the genocidal terrorist state of Israel. He could also put some food charities in there. A bit more about the culture and history of food in Palestine, would have been nice.
It’s a beautiful cookbook, but I was a little disappointed. 🇵🇸🍉☮️

[Catherine Woodman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a love letter to Palestinian food and the Palestinian people--
the author, who I first discovered when he co-authored a book with Yotam Ottolenghi called Jerusalem, lives in London, but his food is firmly rooted in the Middle East.
This is a bit of a love letter as well as a book full of food--there are stories to go with every recipe, and also at the beginning of each section.
This is a deeply personal book, laced with longing and a loving nostalgia. You can almost picture the author's grandparents’ boustan, or garden, and feel the joy he experienced spending time there as a child. He shares cherished family recipes, offers up dishes from the various ethnic communities in Palestine, and expresses enormous pride in his people’s culinary heritage.
It is all vegetables all the time. There are a lot of dairy products used, but they can often be eliminated or replaced with plant based alternatives if that is how you roll.

[Jelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, I actually do read my cookbooks cover to cover!

[WildesKopfkino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gibt’s eigentlich ein Gesetz dagegen, dass Kochbücher süchtig machen? Falls ja, dann müsste „Boustany“ sofort auf den Index gesetzt werden. Dieses Teil liegt auf meinem Küchentisch wie eine Dauer-Einladung nach Palästina – und zwar in die vegetarisch-vegane Genuss-Lounge. Kaum aufgeschlagen, schon riecht man gedanklich nach Kreuzkümmel, Zitrone und frisch gerösteten Kichererbsen. Und ganz ehrlich: Wenn ein Kochbuch es schafft, dass ich freiwillig ein Glas Tahin aus dem Schrank hole, ohne dass mich jemand dazu zwingt, dann ist das schon die halbe Miete.

Sami Tamimi bringt in seinen Rezepten eine solche Wärme rüber, dass man fast meint, er sitzt persönlich am Herd und ruft: „Mach mehr Knoblauch rein, Bruder, vertrau mir!“ Und ja, ich hab’s getan. Ergebnis? Mein Freundeskreis denkt seitdem, ich wäre ein heimlicher Mezze-König. Ob Linsen-Fatteh, das am nächsten Tag noch besser schmeckt, oder Auberginen mit Zitronen-Kick – das hier ist kein Standard-Kochbuch, das ist ein Festival der Geschmacksknospen.

Natürlich habe ich schon so einige Hochglanz-Kochbücher durchprobiert, die mehr zum Blättern als zum Kochen taugen. „Boustany“ ist das Gegenteil: fleckig, weil ständig in Gebrauch, mit Kichererbsenresten zwischen den Seiten und Olivenöl-Fingerabdrücken als Erinnerungsstücke. Und wisst ihr was? Genau so soll’s sein.

Fazit: Dieses Buch ist nicht nur eine Sammlung von Rezepten, sondern eine Einladung, sich einmal quer durch die palästinensische Seele zu futtern. Und das ganz ohne Fleisch. Wer also meint, vegetarisch sei langweilig, sollte sich warm anziehen – „Boustany“ bläst dir diese Ausrede direkt vom Teller.

[Maia Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sami Tamini’s new cookbook is a beautiful tribute to his Palestinian heritage and his grandparents Boustan-garden. The produce he saw grown there inspired this book of vegetarian recipes. You’ll be inspired too by the colors and textures in the photographs. There are recipes from simple to somewhat complicated for basic meals and snacks to bakes and celebrations. I appreciate the design of the book and the recipes are well-written and easy to follow. It gets bonus points for laying flat when open and having a place ribbon. So far I’ve made the Smoky Chickpeas with cilantro tahini, Za’atar & Anise Crackers, Mango & Salted Seeds Parfait, and Fried Halloumi with Purslane Salad. I’d recommend this book for intermediate to experienced cooks looking for some new adventures in vegetables. Ten Speed Press provided me with a free copy of this book; the opinions are my own.

[Kathy Piselli · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to love a book that has my name in it (p. 63). Also delicious roasted veggies. It's very cosmopolitan with everything from foraged greens to cauliflower and avocado. I particularly liked the section on the breads and those dishes that use stale bread. What you won't find is dishes people in the West associate with "Middle Eastern" like hummus and baba ghanouj, but there are umpteen creative soups and salads. I liked the different kinds of kubbeh, which I had thought was only made with meat. I noticed he uses cornstarch to make his ashta. I would only wish for the names of dishes in Arabic to be in actual Arabic, even if dialect. I loved the pictures of Bobo and Bibi that close the book.

[Kristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gorgeous cover, beautiful photos. Creative, simple ideas for cooking vegetables with fresh, colorful ingredients. I wasn’t a fan of the book’s layout. You see a photo & then you have to turn the page to match it with the recipe. There are a lot of specialty or unfamiliar ingredients & spices, but I think if I left a couple out most recipes would still be delicious. I liked the idea of mashing beans & I loved all the yogurt sauces.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cannot wait to cook all of these recipies...and share them with all my friends!

[Lew Stanisława · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully printed and illustrated, beautifully and concisely written, mouth-watering vegetarian recipes.

Free Palestine!

[Chad Alexander Guarino da Verona · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alhamdulillah there is still some joy to be found in this world

[Sobia A Khan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book about great foods from Palestine.

[Edward Drake · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book full of beautiful recipies