Lebanese Grandmother Cooking

Arabs have lived in this country since the 1870s, but Arab Americans have always been considered peculiarly foreign (insofar as other Americans knew they existed, that is), so the first generation has keenly felt the usual immigrant alienation. Their children and grandchildren, in turn, are often somewhat ambivalent about their roots.

Because of this, Arab American writers have started reexamining the lives of their remarkably determined ancestors. “Alice’s Kitchen: My Grandmother Dalal & Mother Alice’s Traditional Lebanese Cooking” by Linda Dalal Sawaya is both a cookbook and a part of this literature.

The author grew up in Los Angeles in the ‘50s among neighbors who had never heard of hummus, tabbouleh or pita bread although her family had been here since the ‘20s, when her grandfather owned a downtown dry-goods store on Los Angeles Street. Part of the book is her family history, and part represents a dialogue with her tradition in which pride alternates with passionate nostalgia and a certain poignant distance. She is enough of an American girl to be shocked by the sight of her mother slaughtering a chicken for dinner, for instance.

But most of the book is recipes. The title says it all--this book grew out of the author’s desire to cook the dishes she grew up on. The strength of the book is this tight focus. The carefully written recipes represent a very clear aesthetic.

If you have a Lebanese cookbook, most of the recipes will look familiar (the spellings will differ; cookbook writers have no concept of spelling Arabic consistently), but in the Middle Eastern tradition, every cook has a subtle touch of her own. And some recipes may be new to you, such as the potato salad dressed with parsley, mint and lemon juice.

This book covers some very basic procedures rarely described elsewhere, such as curing olives, baking paper-thin marouq (marqu^q) bread and making Arab-style cheese. There’s even a recipe for arishe (qari^sheh), a sort of tart ricotta made from the whey you get when you make “yogurt cheese” by draining yogurt overnight.

“Alice’s Kitchen” is available in bookstores for $17 or from the author for $20, including shipping and handling; write to Linda Sawaya, P.O. Box 150878, San Rafael, CA 94915.