Welcome to my new substack

All about food, travel, and the occasional belly dancer

Once upon a time, I took up blogging and I rather enjoyed sharing recipes and stories and the occasional belly dancer with my readers. Then, once I got sold on the idea of instagram (it took 3 years from when they started), I moved to posting there, both photos and clips from my food travels. I also enjoyed it and built a respectable following but then my lovely agent, Nicole Aragi, recently suggested I start posting on substack and I liked the idea — also becasue many friends and colleagues are also using this platform.

So here I am, planning to post various food adventures, from the past and from the present as I research my latest book on regional Lebanese, which will be published by Ecco in the US and Bloomsbury in the UK, with of course photos (the picture above is of my lovely baker in Ballouneh, Emile, who made the best ever mana2ish مناقيش but has sadly closed shop) together with clips of various people preparing amazing or interesting food. I will also resume my belly dancer of the month which I had on my blog although perhaps not on a monthly basis.

The choice for you to either have a free or paid subscription. I will start by posting free content but please do not hesitate to get a paid subscription. In the paid section, I will offer regular zoom sessions, either of me cooking in my kitchen in Trapani or of cooks preparing interesting breads or sweets in the places I will be visiting on my travels.

You can also become a founding member, and for those who choose to do this, I will offer short one on one cooking demos, or sessions with tips on how to become a food writer or enter the food business the way I did 30 years ago, or general advice on moving to Sicily, and so on.

But first, I will start with a short series on several of my food heroines, women who have been very influential, to me and to others but who are no longer so much in the public eye.

I look forward to having you join me here and to growing a food community who is as passionate about traditional foodways and cooking as I am.

Thank you, شكرا , Anissa