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Friday, May 6, 2011

Nouha Taouk - Whispers From a Lebanese Kitchen


Last night in Sydney was the unveiling of the hottest new cookbook to hit the bookstores.


 Nouha Taouk is a Lebanese Australian who has been recording her family's recipes since she was 10 years old -  never imagining in her wildest dreams that one day they would be published. 


It's the women in Nouha's family - her grandmother Citi Leila, her mother Joumana and her aunts Therese, Hind and Rosa (front row right)- who are responsible for the cooking passion in her family.
As she says in her book "Every family has their story - mine is best told through food'.


At last night's launch at Berkelouw Books in Mona Vale, Nouha shared some of her treasured cooking memories and how difficult it was to extract extact recipe measurements from her relatives. 'There is no measuring. They just throw in a handful of this or that. It is all about intuition.'


Whispers From a Lebanese Kitchen features beautiful evocative photos taken by Nouha's husband Johan Palsson. There are authentic and time-tested recipes for baba ghanoush, kofta and Lebanese sweets.


Lucky attendees got to sample a few recipes from the book...


A veritable Lebanese feast....


Triangle spinach pies (fatayr)


Hummous (it was the best I've ever tasted)


Baked Kibbeh (Kibbeh bi sayneeh)


Nouha's proud mother Joumana.


Nouha with her aunt


I am Lebanese woman - Hear me roar!

4 comments:

  1. From one Lebanese woman with a food penchant to another, I say, YAY :)

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  2. Can't wait to buy a copy. Thank you for sharing the book launch!

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  3. I have Abla's cookbook, but it's a great thing to see another local presenting a beautiful Lebanese cookbook full of home-style tempters! I'd never heard of this book Indira, so thank you for bringing it to my attention, it's added to my wishlist as of now:D

    Saw a friend blog about a baked kibbeh that she found a huge disappointment, so I'm especially curious about that one:D

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  4. I pre-ordered this book and was so pleased when it finally arrived. When growing up I had lots of friends who had a Lebanese background so it is like a trip down memory lane reading about Nouha and her family. I can't wait to cook from the book!

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