Photo by Haarala Hamilton
There are many books that I come across only after their publication that I wish had been on CookbookCorner. This is unavoidable, but nevertheless I do feel a pang about their omission. Hisham Assaad’s first book, Bayrut: The Cookbook, published in 2021 is a case in point, so I’m very glad to be featuring his second here now. I say glad, but there is also an undeniable poignancy, to say the very least, about the celebration of a book written by a descendant of Palestinian refugees forced into exile in Lebanon. But Assaad has written this book so that these traditions, this food, can be celebrated and savoured. "I wish for this book to be used and enjoyed." he writes in his introduction. “…Bring our food to life. Keep our stories alive. And one day we will be all together around a table and can celebrate our cultures.”
The book takes its title from the flatbread made in the oven of the same name and, indeed, this is the very first recipe and an emblematic beginning to a story of community, cultural heritage and comfort, savoury and sweet. My copy is already a-flutter with post-it notes, highlighting, among others, the crêpe-thin flatbread, Saj; Ma’arouk (Sweet-Stuffed Brioche Buns); the za’atar-sprinkled flatbreads, Manouchet Za’atar with its variously flavoured options; the little open-topped meat pies, Sfeeha Baalbekiye; Souborek, a filo-crisp, layered cheese pie; Arayes Msakhan, a Palestinian chicken version of the fabulous fried stuffed pita that’s been a longtime favourite of mine when stuffed with spicy beef mince, Lebanese-style, and so this calls to me particularly; nutty, sweet Baklava Fingers (Baklava Asabea’); the luscious, layered pistachio pastry, Mafrouke/Daoukiye; Karabeej Maa Natef which are pistachio butter cookies with meringue; the honeyed peanut brittle bars, Festiyeh; a fabulous (and obviously contemporary) Burnt Basque Baklava Cheesecake; the heady ginger doughnuts in fig-leaf syrup, Awaymet Maa Zanjabeel; and some gorgeous roasted nectarines with orange blossom labneh cream, honey and pistachios. This is just scraping the surface of a book that is rich in recipes for the enquiring baker, but there is only one I can share with you today, and it’s the glorious Tamriye, or beignets filled with semolina pudding. I couldn’t resist!
Taboon by Hisham Assaad, published by Smith Street Books, £27.
Photos by Haarala Hamilton.
