The Gaza Kitchen: A Palestinian Culinary Journey

(Paperback)

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The cuisine of Gaza is a vibrant reflection of its rich heritage, blending bold flavours, fresh ingredients and time-honoured techniques. Spicy stews, tangy dips, fragrant fish dishes and honey-soaked desserts embody a culinary tradition shaped by history and sustained through adversity. Each dish tells the story of a people whose connection to their land and culture endures despite immense challenges, showcasing the power of food as a cultural anchor.

The Gaza Kitchen brings new life to this cuisine with more than one hundred recipes collected first-hand by Laila El-Haddad and Maggie Schmitt. It offers an intimate portrait of Gazan life through hundreds of photographs of Gazan cooks, farmers and fresh-produce merchants at work, and in-kitchen interviews in which these women and men tell the stories of their food, their heritage and their families.

This new edition of this much loved, award-winning cookbook stands as both a celebration of Palestinian cultural identity and a powerful testament to the resilience of the Gaza community.

Author Bio

Laila El-Haddad is a Palestinian writer, journalist and social activist, and the author of Gaza Mom and co-editor of Gaza Unsilenced. A leading voice on Gaza and the intersection of food and politics, she has written for the Washington Post, International Herald Tribune and Le Monde diplomatique, and appeared on NPR and CNN. She was formerly Al Jazeera Englishs Gaza correspondent and co-directed two documentaries, including the award-winning Tunnel Trade. El-Haddad also featured in CNNs Parts Unknown as Anthony Bourdains guide in Gaza. Born in Kuwait to Palestinian parents from Gaza, she lectures globally and lives in Maryland with her family. Maggie Schmitt is a writer, researcher, translator, educator and social activist. She holds a BA from Harvard and has conducted advanced graduate studies at the Universidad Autnoma de Madrid. Schmitt works in various media exploring the daily practices of ordinary people as a way of understanding political and social realities in the Mediterranean region.