Word: arabize
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...Palestinian bearing good news is, well, news. So much misery occurs in the lands they and the Israelis fight over that the Palestinians' image is inextricable from refugees, poverty, tanks and suicide bombings. Salah Jamal, however, gives a different flavor to what it means to be Palestinian. His book Arab Aroma, Recipes and Stories (Zendrera Zariquiey; 211 pages) takes readers to a place that reveals more about a culture than failed negotiations: the kitchen...
...three children, a lucrative practice as a dermatologist in Barcelona, a second degree in history and geography, a seat on the board of the Ateneo and a professorship in cultural diversity at the Catalan University of Vic. As if that were not enough, he also gives classes in Arab cooking...
...Arab Aroma is entering its sixth edition - two Catalan, four Spanish - with sales pushing 20,000, according to its publisher. Negotiations are underway for versions in English, Italian and French. The Spanish edition was named best foreign cuisine book at the 2000 Salon de Livre Gourmand in Périgueux, France...
Jamal admits it is odd for a Palestinian man to have written such a book, the kitchen being the preserve of women in his culture. To collect recipes he talked to women in many Arab countries, finding them "happy but surprised" to have such conversations. "They passed on their knowledge," writes Jamal, "but on their faces I saw total lack of confidence in me being able to produce even a simple dish...
Jamal persevered because he loves cooking and saw an opportunity to provide food for thought, so to speak, about Arab culture. This he does with engaging humor and scant respect for many Arab governments. He intersperses juicy recipes and equally juicy stories about growing up in Nablus and attending conferences around the world as an adult. He explains how to make falafel, tabbouleh, baba ghanoush and lesser-known dishes. At the same time, the reader picks up knowledge that is not strictly culinary. For example, that baba means coquettish and ghanoush is, roughly, dissolute - adjectives that seem unlikely...