A bit about the food you’ll see here

I’m grateful that I’ve grown up in one of the most culturally rich areas of the world, the Middle East. As a Lebanese-Syrian, I’m incredibly lucky to have 2 beautiful countries steeped in history and culinary richness that I can call home. I also grew up in the UAE, which is a melting pot of so many cultures from the region but also has such a unique identity of its own.

Given all the influences I’ve had growing up, you’ll see a lot of Indian, Levantine, Gulf, European and North African ingredients and foods that I’ve adapted my own way. I promise to try and give credit where credit is due, and give you history on every dish / meal / snack that I prepare.

For the savory foods I prepare, the basis is super fresh vegetables, spices in all their varieties, and pulses (what we call Mooneh in Lebanon), and I strictly use olive oil or coconut oil for my cooking. No processed vegetable or sunflower oil for me. The salt I use is minimal and it’s usually sea salt, and I use a pepper mill for freshly ground black pepper.

For the sweet foods I prepare, I also only use coconut oil, I own no white sugar or icing sugar, honey or dark brown sugar is my go to sweetener. I only use whole wheat flour, and usually do any flour base as half whole-wheat flour and half rolled oats. I use buckwheat and oat flour from time to time, and always toss in some chia and ground flax seeds for extra nutrients.

Personally, I’m a vegetarian, though I wasn’t always one, I only stopped eating meat in the year that passed. That being said, however, there are so many great dishes I make for my loved ones that are not vegetarian, and it would be a shame to keep from sharing those recipes with the world.

Oh, and I love cheese, so I’ll be adding cheese wherever I can!