Palestine on a Plate: Memories From My Mother's Kitchen

by Joudie Kalla

While many countries in the Middle East have dishes in common, each country has its own interpretation and style, Palestine on a Plate showcases the wide-ranging, vibrant and truly delicious dishes of this country and introduces the reader to traditional Palestinian methods, cooking styles and flavours. Furthermore it presents recipes from the Palestinian home, rather than those traditionally found in restaurants.

The recipes found in Palestine on a Plate, although less fatty, less fussy and less time-consuming to prepare than their original incarnations, are largely unchanged since the author's grandmothers' days. The book has many photographs.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Middle East, Food and Drink, Reference

240 pages, Hardcover

First published September 13, 2016

Reviews

[Petra X · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was a poor student in Jerusalem, I didn't have much money for food, One of the ways of getting fed was to go to Mohammed the baker. His place was almost a cave of stone in the Old City, with a big oven, a huge, semi-circular hole with burning embers at the back and a deep pit in front of it. In that stood Mohammed, a tall thin Arab, very cheery, who wore no shirt, with his wooden peel to put in the trays of pita, breads, stews, and anything any of the restaurants and people who lived there wanted cooked.

People came in not only with goods to be baked but also to buy Arab pizza which is amazingly delicious. More than that even, it's an event. Around the sides of the room were about ten low wicker stools and you sat on one side if you wanted a pizza and a soda from the fridge (that, Mohammed's fan and the swinging light bulbs were possibly the only differences between a bakery in Biblical times and now) or you could call in a boy from the street to bring you a glass of mint tea on his swinging tray. However, if you didn't have any money, then you sat on the other side.

The person in the first stool made the pizzas. It was often me! Mohammed would hand me a really hot undercooked pita and, burning my hands I would quickly squish back the top layer into a standing crust. Then getting two Dairylea cheese triangles from the fridge, I'd dot them on the pastry base, add a few slices of tomato and break an egg on top, mix it up a bit, dust with black pepper, salt and paprika and back it went to Mohammed to bake until golden and crusty to be sold to the waiting customer on the opposite side.

Once I had made four or five (I forget) I gave up my seat, and the next person waiting to make pizzas moved into it, and I went to sit on the customer side for payment by pizza. If I made an made an extra two I got paid with a soda! (What a great way that was to run a business and not need staff).

The book is unremarkable. It's a three star. Good, everything sounds nice to eat, but that's it, not inspiring. However, I've upgraded it to 4-star because of all the memories about a different kind of life and the food I used to eat both in the Old City and the New back then.
___________

Why I read this book: After I read about this book in Haaretz, an Israeli news site, I thought I'd read it to balance Breaking Breads: A New World of Israeli Baking. Middle Eastern cuisine is pretty general over the whole area, but the differences are what makes each one special. It is also interesting to see how one dish is prepared in one country or among one culture and then in another one, or more. Falafel in Israel is made with chickpeas, but broad beans in Egypt, for example.

The author was born of Palestinian parents in Qatar and grew up in London. She's a modern woman who had a restaurant for three years, Beity - which in Arabic and Hebrew means my home. Her favourite chef and inspiration is Nigella Lawson which probably means that weighing everything accurately is less important than pinches of this and that and lots of tasting. I'm not a great Nigella fan myself, neither books nor tv, but her home-kitchen rather than professional-chef techniques have always appealed. The techniques in this book are similarly easy.

Rewritten as none of the links worked 19th June 2019

[Dana Al-Basha | دانة الباشا · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many feelings hit me while flipping through this beautiful, nostalgic, delicious book! This is such a beautiful book to have around your kitchen when you want to cook something your mom and grandmas made... I wish it was even longer!



My mouth watered while I flipped through the beautiful photos, I found myself smiling... if you are a person who is looking for a Middle East authentic flavor this is the book for you.

بحبك يا فلسطين يا أرض العسل والزيتون والتين والزعتر... ما أطيبك

[Shaimaa]

Try and find me one recipe that is onion-free.

[Stephen Simpson · Rating 3 out of 5]

There seem to be a lot of cookbooks on the shelves now from this general region (Mideast/Levant/E. Med ... whatever you want to call it), so this one doesn't really even have scarcity value going for it.

The production quality is solid (a lot of well-done pictures), but the recipes themselves are nothing special. The mix (appetizers, soups, proteins, desserts, etc.) is kinda skewed in weird ways and the recipes seem to sort out between very very simple or pretty complex/time-consuming. I realize there are plenty of good foods that take time, but the reality is that this probably more of a "use on the weekends" than a regular everyday cookbook.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I returned from a summer in Palestine, I left my heart/stomach (in this case, they are synonymous!). Because of the Occupation and the siege on Gaza since 2007, its abject poverty contrasts starkly with its rich cuisine and hospitality. Palestine is the elusive umami of flavor. This book counters the misconceptions promulgated by the media through the lush counter top of the kitchen table. According to Palestinians, the best compliment is an empty plate. But this book is rife with recipes sure to tantalize your taste buds.

It is no secret that scones are my love language; I always associate them with high tea and English accents--not Turkish coffee and Arabia. However, Za’atar and Medjool Scones (pages 47 and 227 respectively) promise a good meal in one bite! That is a proposal I’m willing to sample! Sultan Ibrahim (red mullet) is one of the most important fish used in Palestinian cooking; one of the most attractive men I met in Palestine was named Ibrahim...When Jesus said, “I will make you fishers of men,” I took him up on it!

Whether you have eaten Palestinian food conciously or unconsciously (due to its influence on our ingredients), this coffee table worthy book will inspire you to gather at our global table. For the kitchen is the classroom in which we learn to love our neighbors and taste and see that the God who created our diverse cultures and cuisine is good!

[Hiba · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is beautiful and useful! It has lots of wonderful pictures and each recipe doesn't take more than a page. It's easy to read and follow the recipes and the resulting tastes are very authentic. 


Two minor complaints:

1- There is no table of contents. It's so hard to find a particular recipe without having to flip through the book. The index is somewhat helpful but it's a lot easier to skim a list of recipes instead.

2- A lot of the recipes specify amounts that might vary like "juice of 3 lemons" or "4 onions chopped". The size of the lemon/onion is important. I quickly realized that she must be working with onions and lemons that are much smaller than I have. I could tell because I know what the results should look and taste like (others jot familiar with the dishes might end up with something too sour/onion-y). 

[Ietrio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this I could not stop and wonder. The whole World is based on what the White Europeans sensed. The Turkish and Arab cooking seems to be both branches of the same Levantine style of cooking. Yet if Turkey is views as one country, thus with one cooking style, the Arabs were split by the same Europeans with many borders. And thus, their cooking is not the same with some spicing variations, but one can get a Lebanese (never Syrian) restaurant and a Palestinian restaurant and feel they are different. At the same time, India, in which a 7th of the whole World population lives, is just one style, the British Raj style.

[Amir Gadhvi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a treasure. If you are into Middle Eastern food, this is a book that belongs in every kitchen. I've already made several of the dishes and my family has been very satisfied with them - the first dish was the Saffron and Lemon Cod with Jeweled Herby Rice, then last night I made Sayaddiyeh - Cumin and Lemon Cod, Cumin Rice, Tahini Tartare Sauce.

What makes this book special is the author's own special memories of the dishes which gives us a context of the dish. The pictures are all great too and the recipes are not overwhelmingly complicated.

[Linda Sweiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is visually stunning and takes you right back to Palestine, can’t wait to try some of these out for Ramadan ❤️ until we meet again oh Palestine 🇵🇸🤲

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

These recipes are as bright, beautiful, and timeless as the land they come from.

[Marketa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This amazing cookbook was introduced to me by my former Arab Israeli roomate and since then I have known I really need it as I do love everything about Palestinian food and its sophisticated simplicity and variety. The cookbook is not only good for someone who already fell in love with this cuisine, but also for people who have never tried any of its meals, as the author starts the book with description of Palestinian cuisine and its history and explanation of its basic ingredients. The recipes are very complex rather than offering you a basis for your fantasy which is a guarantee that you can expect really good outcome of your cooking efforts. So far I have cooked about five recipes, all of them turned out well and I had no problem to find any of neccessary ingredients in the Czech Republic.
The reason why I experienced love at first sight with the book are the photographs. I have never seen a cookbook with more beautiful pictures and I do not only speak about the beautiful meals but also about photos of everyday life in Palestine. These really make me feel like being in the Muslim quarter of Jerusalem, Bethlehem etc...

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a thrilling cookbook. All I can think about while I was reading this was how much I wanted to eat everything, even the things that would normally not be what I would choose for myself. Most of the recipes were very involved, meaning an abundance of ingredients and so many steps that it seemed quite daunting to make at times. This is not the normal fare of food that I would eat, however, like I said all of this food sounded wonderful and exotic. I would totally take the time to make this stuff. On the down side There are not as many pictures as I would like with this book. Some of the ingredients are ones that I have not heard of and it would be nice to have a point of reference for those type of things.

[Bundt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joudie’s gorgeous love song to Palestine preserves her family’s recipes and demystifies Palestinian dishes, from breakfast hummus and breads to grain-based salads (freekeh salad with marinated chicken and pomegranate dresseing, lentil and beetroot salad with parsley and sumac dressing and grilled halloumi), poultry and lamb, seafood (sumac and za’atar roasted monkfish), and beautiful rose-scented desserts (and a killer recipe for moreish tahini brownies).

[Judith Rich · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the author a little bit annoying but I'm looking forward to trying some of the recipes. I love all kinds of Middle Eastern food.

[Louise Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gorgeous cookbook. I really liked the simplicity of the recipes. Having a soft cover edition makes it easy to use in the kitchen. Warning, the book will make you hungry!

[Neus Gutiérrez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me ha gustado muchísimo. Las recetas, como están hechas, colores .. un libro genial para conocer un poco más una acultura y gastronomía muy cercana a la nuestra.

[Maxine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really beautiful cookbook with interesting recipes and nice photos. I just found some of the instructions and details were lacking and found myself looking things up in YouTube too much.

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excerpt from an interview with the author Joudie Kalla that I recently read.

In the U.S., the word “resistance” is becoming a prominent part of the conversation. For Palestinians, it’s been in the vocabulary for decades. Do you think of food as a form as resistance?

Definitely. Here in the U.K., a lot of “Middle Eastern” restaurants have popped up, and they are, in fact, Israeli. And it’s all the dishes we grew up on, in Arabic names, and it’s very frustrating. I’m not anti-Israeli, not anti-Jew, not anti-anything, just anti-misinformation. I think to label makloubeh and sayyadiyeh—dishes that actually mean something in Arabic and are historically from Palestine, from Arabs—to be presented and cooked and sold as Israeli is offensive and frightening. It’s the deletion of a culture and people.

But resistance doesn’t have to be aggressive or physically harming anyone. It can be through food, it can be through music and design, to reclaim some kind of identity. Some of the dishes are almost forgotten, like besara (a fava bean and jute mallow dip), from my Auntie Lamia. She said, "You have to put it in the book, because it’s dying, even in Palestine—people are not making it anymore because the older generations are dying out and the younger generations are going away and traveling and eating different things.” Now every single auntie is writing me messages, “If you write another book, I want to be in the book, I want people to remember my dish.” This is the whole point. The name was tongue-in-cheek, but it was also factual, and it represented us—well, me in particular—as resisting this deletion of Palestinian people and Palestinian food.

[Lori Kresse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful pictures and many seemingly delicious recipes--not sure since I haven't made any of them yet. The book helped me to reflect fondly on my time in Jerusalem, Nablus, Jericho, Qalqilya, Tulkarem, Ramallah, Bethlehem, Hebron, and Salfit many years ago. So many wonderful friends, always gracious and generous. The maqloubeh made by Awwad's wife... soooo good. The feast prepared by Mahmud's family in Ramallah. The wonderful barbeque at Faysal's house in Jericho, and the lazy, warm and fragrant evening under the stars smoking sheesha. The lamb chops, avocado salad, and mint lemonade at the Mount of Temptation restaurant in Jericho--the best way to recuperate and rejuvenate after a hike in the mountains nearby. The mezze at Philadelphia in Jerusalem, and the hospitality of the servers. The best hummus and felafal in the Old City of Jerusalem. The Peruvian chicken in Bethlehem. The kanafeh and strong coffee that I'd enjoy with friends all over the city of Nablus. I wonder how many of my favorite places even still exist there, and what became of these lovely friends?

[Wareesha Tariq · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is filled to the brim with so many amazing Palestinian dishes. I loved each and every section including the seafood section (which is crazy because I strongly dislike seafood haha).

I genuinely appreciated how detailed every recipe was and how many cool Palestinian dishes are out there! I only wish I had the ability to visit Palestine and that the genocidal regime of Israel allowed Palestinians to live and thrive in the region. Their massacre of this amazing group of people has led to the loss of so many lives as well as so much culture and history.

My love for Palestinian culture has grown tenfold after reading this cookbook which seems impossible because my love for Palestine was always at an all-time high level already. But once again, I am in awe of the resilience of the Palestinian people. 🇵🇸

[Insomniac Library (Drew) · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Stars - 34 / 100 for 2024 - eBook / Annotated
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Everything to me has a story, a feeling, a thought and a memory, and this is how I cook on a daily basis. I am governed by how I feel and what mood I am in. The same dish can be created from totally differing feelins of nostaglia, happiness, homesickness and so many other emotions, but the reality is, the food always makes me feel at peace when I am eating.
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Palestine on a Plate:Memories from my Mother's Kitchen is a beautifully written cookbook, i always love when cookbooks and recipes have stories to them. It makes the food mean so much more, I knew very little about Palestinian food / food related culture before reading this and learning the methods and ingredients and history was so interesting.
A bit like poetry, cookbooks are hard to review. For me the recipes are clear and explanatory, the photos of the food are beautiful and the tidbits of history and personal experiences make it a really fun read. I cannot wait to make some of these recipes, in particular the Yaffa Orange Cheesecake and Makloubeh (Upside-Down spice rice with lamb)
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Makloubeh is a traditional Palestinian dish that consists of meat, rice and friends vegtables placed in a pot, which is then flipped upside down when served hence the name, Makloubeh which translates literally as 'upside down'. We often make this dish for important events such as Eid, Ramadan and family birthdays as it is a labour of love...

[Annie Lin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent recipes and pictures. I really appreciate these recipes especially from a culture that is fighting for their survival and against occupation and an attempted genocide. Every recipe I have tried so far is loved by my family and guests, and the quality of the book is the icing on the cake.

[ST · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve tried so many recipes from this book from different sections (appetizers, mains etc) - and almost everything we tried has been so delicious!! It also turns out the way it looks. To mention just a few, we loved the machbous, sfiha, slatet djaj and musakhan. For personal preference we always change lamb to beef, and it still tastes amazing!

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though some of these recipes aren't my style (very different from what I know but I'm working on it) the photos are beautiful and the insights into the culture and food of Palestine are glorious. Can't wait to try the recipes.

[Saima · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful photos. Wonderful storytelling. Fantastic recipes.

[Eman AbuKhadra · Rating 5 out of 5]

My review here: http://aquacool.blog/2018/06/26/my-he...

[Diann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such great variety of recipes; some easy and some fancy. All that I have tried have been delicious.
The stories and photography are outstanding.

[Nick Pengelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome! Drool over the recipes. Make them. Repeat! :-)

[Melissa Nunchuck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything I've made has been delicious

[Aasinathena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful book filled with beautiful recipes !!!