17/07/2025
How do you approach cookbooks? Start to finish? Flick through for inspo? Start with the index and look up a main ingredient?
Me — I pour over them page by page like a novel, seeing what unfolds and then I rarely follow a recipe verbatim, mostly its a guide, a muse if you will… and Bethlehem by Fadi Kattan is no exception.
It’s a beautiful, evocative book, full of memory, flavour, and deep love for Palestinian food and place. I picked it up because I’ve been wanting to connect more with the culture, history, and everyday life behind the headlines — to understand more deeply what’s being lost in Gaza, and what endures.
This is the first of a few dishes inspired by the book: roasted aubergines with a silky tahinia sauce (just yoghurt, tahini, garlic — blended into magic). More to come, but this one already feels like a keeper. I also used the sauce on green beans with pistachios and lemon.
If you can’t buy the book right now, there’s a lovely extract in The Guardian from last year, link in bio. And if you’re able, please also consider donating to support those in Gaza.
Food is resistance. It’s a basic right. It’s memory, and it’s love.
