Dima will be at Words Bookstore Café on April 21.
Was there a lot of research as you have said that the food tells the story of the people?
Yes of course! Three and a half years of research to be precise. You see, I am Palestinian, I am no stranger to this culture. I cook and eat this food every day. I grew up eating this food, and the stories in the book are from my life, very true. Yet, academic writing and documentation cannot be based on my perceptions, nor can they be moody or assuming. Proper documentation needs proper tracing, gathering so much information, filtering the information and also vigilant research into every single detail. That I have done in ample amounts. In short, I had focus groups all over the world. Inside Falasteen and around the world, that were distributing questionnaires and asking people from across the generations and locations all types of information. I had designed the questionnaire in a way that if any piece of information was given/confirmed by at least six non-related families it would make the cut. That is how I determined, areas, what was cooked where and by whom, even going to details such as social class, area, age group, old vs new, pre-1948 and post-1948, the movement of food, the secret recipe culture and how it was demolished.
Now, I wrote it all in the form of a story, otherwise it would not be read except by scholars, but don’t let that distract you from the fact that the book is packed with information.
What are your favourite recipes in the book?
Look, Musakhan is a soft spot for all Palestinian people. It is for me too. From the story of Taboon [the oven and the bread], to the story of olive oil, then to the actual recipe, this dish sums up the Palestinians and Palestine. This dish is single-handedly the character of Falasteen.
Then, of course, there are the rolled vine leaves – I am weak in the face of that – and the rolled cabbages too. I have included offal, though not many people use offal these days; it had to be there, it is cultural food and that must remain in the memory of people. Falafel, hummus, fatteh are all included too. My favorite section is Mooneh [pantry] and it is the reason I started my Mooneh line.
Will you be doing a demo when you come to Bahrain and what else can people expect at your Bahrain appearance?
Yes I will be. I’m not sure which yet but I will be carrying out a couple of recipes. I will also talk about the book and the process, I want to inspire aspiring authors to go ahead and write their stories. There is nothing more precious than books and nothing better to do than writing one. Finally, I will talk about Falasteen, there is nothing more heartwarming, more loving, more tender and more inspiring than Falasteen.
