Trained as a lawyer, Yasmin Khan’s professional career began with her work as a human rights activist, focusing on the Middle East. She fell in love with Palestinian food while working in the region. Gradually, she began to look for a different way of telling people’s stories, seeking to “portray the sum of life’s experiences through food.”
In her new book, Zaitoun: Recipes from the Palestinian Kitchen, she illuminates the wonders of Palestinian food while acknowledging the tragic apparatus of the Israeli occupation and the impact it has had on the region’s political realities.
Her recipes and stories come from cooking with friends in the Occupied Territories and from Palestinian grandmothers. She also shares dishes that she enjoyed in cafes and restaurants during her travels to the Middle East. But perhaps what is most important is Khan’s ability to celebrate the role that food and generous, openhearted hospitality has played in maintaining a sense of self and a connection to Palestine, despite the cruelties of displacement.
“What is the meaning of refugee?
They will say One who is uprooted from his homeland.
Then when asked what is the meaning of Homeland, they will say
The house, the mulberry tree, the chicken coop, the beehive, the smell of bread and the first sky”