Lama Obeid

Slingshot Books, 2025, $33
Reviewed by Lama Obeid
Mona Zahed’s debut cookbook was written in a tent during genocide.
During the past few years, we have seen more and more Palestinian cookbooks being written and published in English, sharing the richness of the cuisine with the world. Mona Zahed from Gaza has made the latest contribution to Palestinian cookbooks with her debut Tabkha: Recipes from Under the Rubble, featuring 20 recipes from Palestine, published by Slingshot Books on behalf of ...

posted on: Mar 5, 2025
By: Lama Obeid / Arab America Contributing Writer
In recent years, more Palestinian cookbooks have been written and published in English, sharing the richness of the cuisine with the world. Mona Zahed, from Gaza, has made the latest addition to this collection with her debut cookbook Tabkha: Recipes from Under the Rubble, featuring 20 recipes from Palestine. The book was published by Slingshot Books on behalf of Coffees for Gaza.
The title is quite literal, as Zahed wro...

Before October 2023, Palestinian chef and mother, Mona Zahed ran a successful catering business, putting her skills and passions to practice. But as Israel's genocide erupted, she was displaced from her home in Al-Mina, the seaport of Gaza, with her four children and husband Osama Khateeb.

Israeli airstrikes devastated homes and buildings, driving hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to evacuate their neighbourhoods, with nearly 90 percent of Gaza's population being displaced.

But not all ho...

Çevirmenin notu: Aşağıda çevirisini sunduğumuz röportaj, Filistinli şef Mona Zahed’in İsrail işgal rejiminin Gazze’de yürüttüğü soykırımın yıkımı altında, yalnızca bedensel varlığını değil, kültürel mirasını da koruma mücadelesini anlatıyor. Zahed’in yemek kitabı Tabkha, bir yemek tarifi koleksiyonundan öte, yok edilmek istenen bir halkın kimliğini ve direncini belgeleyen politik bir eylem olarak okunmalı belki de.
Zahed, bu kitap aracılığıyla, işgal devletinin emek ve geçim kaynaklarını yok ...

Accueil > Informations > Culture > « Tabkha » de Mona Zahed : le livre de cuisine palestinien écrit sous une tente pendant le génocide de Gaza
Culture
The New Arab par Lama Obeid
Au milieu de la destruction de Gaza, Mona Zahed a écrit « Tabkha », un livre de cuisine qui célèbre l’héritage et la culture palestiniens, ainsi que la volonté de survivre.
Photo : « Tabkha » de Mona Zahed © The New Arab
Avant octobre 2023, Mona Zahed, chef cuisinière et mère de famille palestinienne, dirigeait une e...

Article and interviews on Palestinian Gastronomy during times of war

Lama Obeid is a Palestinian writer and trainer based in Ramallah, Palestine. She writes about travel, gastronomy, politics and culture. She advocates for the Palestinian cause wherever she goes and is a third generation Palestinian refugee displaced from the town of Ein Karem in West Jerusalem. Here she is with a short essay on the realities of being a Palestinian travel writer.
In 2023, I got my debut into the travel writing world: a commission for Lonely Planet’s 11th edition of the Israel ...

Para Lama Obeid, ser escritora de viajes no es simplemente una profesión; es un reto constante, un desafío que va mucho más allá de lo que cualquiera podría imaginar.
Como palestina, Lama no solo se enfrenta a las dificultades habituales de la vida profesional, sino también a un sistema que le pone trabas en cada paso de su camino. Su historia, más que un relato de aventuras y descubrimientos, es una cruda realidad que ilustra lo que significa viajar cuando tu pasaporte no te otorga privilegi...

From the West Bank, Lama Obeid shares a lyrical recipe for the Palestinian dish Fatteh Adas against the backdrop of the genocide
By Lama Obeid
Commissioned by Molly Lipson
Most days we feel helpless while trying to remain hopeful. We watch as Israelis attack food aid trucks at the Karam Abu Salem border. We watch them stomp on the food, making it inedible. We watch them show their children how to do the same. Meanwhile, our children, the children of Gaza, are dying of famine imposed by the Is...

An essay for the Lonely Planet guidebook talking about the culture of olive oil and olive trees in Palestine and the socio-economic people get from it.

Ramadan Kareem fellow travelers!

Traveling to places where Ramadan is observed can be an enriching and interesting experience, especially when you know what to expect. Here's our guide to visiting Muslim-majority countries during the month of Ramadan.

What is Ramadan and why do people observe it?

Ramadan is a month where Muslim people are encouraged to become more spiritual by focusing on charity, prayers and reading the Quran (the holy book of Islam). To focus on the spiritual side, people o...

Lama Obeid
Ramadan Kareem à toutes et à tous !
Voyager dans des pays où le Ramadan est observé peut être une expérience intéressante et enrichissante si vous savez à quoi vous attendre. Suivez nos conseils si vous avez décidé de vous balader dans des pays à majorité musulmane pendant le Ramadan.
Le Ramadan, c’est quoi ?
Pendant le mois du Ramadan, les Musulmans sont encouragés à devenir plus spirituels en se concentrant sur l’altruisme, la générosité, la prière et la lecture du Coran. Pour se...

For most people, the word 'flour' has little meaning. It's a staple, we can get it anytime and anywhere. However, in Gaza, it's now a luxury. At the time of writing, a bag of flour costs up to 2500 to 3000 ILS ($700) in the Gaza Strip.

For the past few months, Israel has been starving Gazans to death. Flour is now a matter of survival. Travelling to the south of Gaza — where 1.3 million Gazans shelter — is a deadly shopping trip, and getting flour from an aid truck makes you a live target for...

Yalla! Let's Eat: Palestinian food is having a moment, and where better to try it than Palestine itself? In a whistle-stop tour, The New Arab rundowns some of the country's favourite eats, and where best to find them.
Palestine is world-renowned for its cuisine. Join us on a journey through Palestine where we'll give you a rundown of some of the most popular Palestinian dishes and the best spots to find them in the West Bank.
The first to try is, of course, Maqlouba. Translating to "upside-do...

Saudi national dishes