Imad's Syrian Kitchen: A Love Letter from Damascus

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The first chapter features spice mixes, such as dukkah, Baharat and shish taouk, while the second focuses on the basics, including the plain bulgur needed in the recipes for tabbouleh and mujadara, or a perfect tahini sauce which Alarnab says he uses "for everything. Firstly, the exact dimensions of the pan are not given, and secondly, it makes it very difficult to halve the recipe, as you cannot calculate ratios. Imad opened his much-anticipated restaurant in London in May 2021, which was named GQ's "Best Breakthrough Restaurant" in 2022. Restaurant quality cooking in your kitchen During those long days of Covid lockdown when many restaurants kept afloat by pivoting to meal kit deliveries, I was gifted a wonderful meal. K., and how cooking—including making meals on a hot plate for hundreds of his fellow refugees in a camp in Calais, France—got him through tough times.

Start by washing the lentils, rice and freekeh together in a large sieve until the water runs clear. Alarnab's story is heartbreaking and humbling, with pages of key Syrian ingredients sitting next to the story of his brutal beating by Syrian police.This book is now joining my collection alongside The Baghdad Kitchen [which I also recommend if you can find it].

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Imad burst onto the London restaurant scene four years ago with a series of charity events that became hugely popular; supper clubs sold out within hours and hungry workers waited patiently in long queues for takeaway lunches at pop-ups. Lastly, I made jirjir (rocket salad), a gorgeously refreshing mix of watermelon, halloumi and rocket.

His unvarnished descriptions of the immigrant experience (“We were cold, exhausted, afraid of what came next”)—are movingly rendered and segue smoothly into recipes where generosity is the watchword. Imad Alarnab is a Syrian chef, entrepreneur, and refugee who ran three successful restaurants, several juice bars and cafes in Damascus. The only complaint I have, is that when water needs to be added (to lentils, bulgar wheat etc) we are directed to add enough to come so many centimetres above the dried food. Imad's Syrian Kitchen is a bustling, riotous tour through 90 traditional and adapted Syrian dishes that can be made in the comfort of your own home. There are a lot of very nice photographs of the completed recipes, and also some of the preparations and intermediary stages, where extra help might be needed.Imad Alarnab was a successful restaurateur in Damascus with three restaurants, plus several juice bars and cafes.