Thirty Years since my Official Entrance into the Food World

Shot by James Poole for Brownbook

It was during the Gulf war in 1990, when Iraq invaded Kuwait, that my art consulting work came to a halt. I was then helping a few members of the Kuwaiti royal family, who were also friends, to collect Islamic and other art but they, understandably, became more concerned with what was happening to their country rather than what art to buy. As a result, I began thinking about a change of career.

I had always wanted to write, although my initial ambition was to write novels like those of my literary heroine, Simone de Beauvoir, rather than write about food. I quickly realised it was an unattainable goal and decided to write about collecting — my plan was to tell the stories of collectors who had put together interesting, and in some cases valuable collections with limited means, mainly by anticipating the market the way I had done with my fishing collection amongst others. However, a fortuitous concours de circonstances led me onto the path of food writing following an evening spent with my then literary agent and a Lebanese publisher friend of hers.

At some stage during that evening, they started talking about cookbooks as an emerging trend in publishing. As I listened to them, I wondered if I shouldn’t write a book about Lebanese food with my mother’s recipes. She was, still is at 93, an amazing cook and I thought it would be a good idea to record her recipes, not only for myself and my siblings but also for the world at large. This way, her exquisite recipes would be saved for us, as well as for those displaced by the civil war who did not have the same privilege I had of growing up in the home country, watching my mother and grandmother prepare everything at home.

So, on a whim, and not knowing anything about food writing, I suggested I write a Lebanese cookbook that was user friendly to both those who knew the cuisine and those not so familiar with it.

My agent immediately liked the idea, even more so because she had been asked by a publisher to find an author to pen such a book. Our Lebanese friend was not so enthusiastic, saying there were plenty of books on the subject, including the then bible by Rayess. In that bible, a recipe for a chicken dish starts with ‘catch your chicken, kill it, pluck it then wash it’ before getting onto the cooking instructions! I am exaggerating of course but it was that old-fashioned!

Anyhow, I persevered but a book I thought would take me 3 months to produce took practically 3 years, mainly because my agent (Caroline Davidson, the daughter of Alan Davidson) wanted me to produce a serious cookbook.

The first thing she did was to take me to the Oxford Symposium of Food and Cookery where I met many of the luminaries of the food world, including Julia Child. I then chose a few mentors to help me learn about food writing. I very quickly realised that to research and write about food was serious business. I spent days in the British Library, looking for literary references as well as historical facts. I also spent days in Alan Davidson’s studio, looking through his library in search of information on our dishes as well as ingredients and preserves. I also started collecting cookbooks, both on Lebanese food and on Middle Eastern food in general. And last but not least, I asked my mother to write down her recipes which she did in Arabic, which I translated before I got her into the kitchen with me to test them. This way, I could transform her vague quantities and instructions into precise recipes with clear, detailed instructions.

When the book came out, in October 1994, it was very well received and I decided that it was a field I wanted to stay in having learned a fair amount about it over the three years it took me to research and write Lebanese Cuisine, and when I was asked to write a book about Moroccan street food, I said yes and had a great time travelling throughout Morocco in search of recipes and stories.

I followed it with Mediterranean Street Food, and another and another and now I am on my 11th, which is also on Lebanese food but with a regional angle which will come out in 2026. I may stop her or carry on although I am seriously considering going into the visual element and perfecting my photography together with learning how to film and edit, still all to do with food!