Joudie Kalla’s book ‘Baladi Palestine: A Celebration of Food from land and sea’ (published by Interlink Books) is 256 pages of visual delight, apart from the obviously excellent recipes. The photographs in this book are my favorite and what makes them even sweeter is that the images actually have been crowd-sourced through people living in Palestine, so what you see is streets, orchards, fresh produce, beautiful bazaars, farms- you see the Palestine that people carry in their hearts and not the Palestine that makes it to newspapers. One of my favorite books about Palestinian food, Baladi Palestine brims with breakfast ideas especially useful during Ramadan for suhoor, recipes that can be prepared earlier or even whipped up quickly within a few minutes. I’ve chosen some such recipes and illustrated them. Take a look:
Mashwi ma’ bayd
Grilled halloumi, fried eggs and roasted tomatoes
Qudsiyeh
Hummus and fava bean purée with olive oil and parsley
Shatta Khadra wa hamra
Green and red shatta
Hummus bil shatta
Hummus with spicy shatta
Khubez bil awermah wa bayd
Pastry stuffed with spiced lamb with eggs
Be sure to check out the book and get a copy, it’s a wonderful book to own!
The gorgeous images I’ve illustrated, are by photographer Jamie Orlando Smith.
