praise for alice’s kitchen

“A warm and enthusiastic cookbook…one to be treasured!”
—Paula Wolfert, author of The Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean

“An elegant and utterly delicious tribute to Middle Eastern food, memory and the precious family flavors we savor all our lives-I adore Linda Sawaya’s written-with-true-love cookbook and keep it close by at all times. It has never yet met the shelf.”—Naomi Shihab Nye, author of Sitti’s Secrets, Habibi

“Your cookbook performs miracles!…It’s like going home!”
—from one of Alice’s Kitchen’s Lebanese-American readers

“Food is central to Arab culture in general and Lebanese culture in particular. It is also central to one of the most important factors in that culture which is Hospitality.

Food is served to family and guests in copious amounts and the variety of dishes on a well laid table is designed to delight the eye, as well as to impress the appetite and the guest. Such a table is a proud work of art.

Artist Linda Sawaya’s timely book, Alice’s Kitchen, serves up such a work of art. In so doing, she passes on a cherished tradition to Arabic speaking immigrants’ children and their well-assimilated descendants several generations deep. She beckons them to follow her lead and keep the wonderful tradition alive. She gives them, as well, mouth-watering recipes from which to create their own proud works of art.

Thank you, Linda Sawaya, for this book.” —Alixa Naff, Ph.D, Middle East Social and Political History, Creator of the Naff Arab American Collection; National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

Amazon reviews

5-star reviews from Amazon.com buyers of Alice’s Kitchen

From: Maria G. Fitzpatrick
5.0 out of 5 stars best majudra February 6, 2019
“This has the best recipe for Majudra. it works every time. Very good book. I sent this to my niece”

From: Taco
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing book! Filled with the best recipes January 27, 2016
Amazing book! Filled with the best recipes!!! Buy this book and cook some of the healthiest, best tasting recipes I’ve ever tried. The love her family has brought to the table for generations can now be shared with your family in these dishes that are practical for all occasions. Enjoy!

From: Mamaglobird
5.0 out of 5 stars Authentic recipes August 26, 2015
Great recipes, and the story behind them makes this a must have recipe book for those who love to cook.
From: M.D. Thomas (New London, CT):
“Delightful eat down someone else’s memory lane
Growing up as third generation Lebanese-American, I enjoyed many of the dishes in this book. I have prepared many of the dishes in this book with great success. I enjoy cooking Lebanese food regularly (now if I could just get some help with the language). The recipes are easy to follow and yield marvelous results. I highly recommend the Lentil Soup (Shourbat Addis)and the Lebanese Squash stuffed with lamb and rice (Kousa Mihshi). Reading Ms. Sawaya’s introduction and tips greatly enhanced my enjoyment of using this cookbook. If you are interested in preparing Lebanese foods, or like me, remembering food from your childhood, this book is an excellent place to start. Simple recipes that produce tasty results.”

“Absolutely Excellent book, December 4, 2001
This book has accurate, yummy recipes. A little cultural background and story. The recipes are very traditional and simple. Highly highly recommend it. Many friends have asked for this book for XMAS. Well done.”

From: Sally (Seattle, Washington), August 15, 1999:
“An exquisite, thorough cookbook.
As a 22-year-old Lebanese American, I know that our food is not simply something thrown down your throat. It is love, it is nourishment to our souls as well as to our hearts. It is shared at every event, every home…sometimes when you are not even hungry! Sawaya starts the book with her family’s history, which truly brought tears to my eyes. She explains all the ingredients, even their history. The book includes everything Lebanese I have ever eaten, and those I haven’t. She covers all breads, preserves, herbs, sauces, hors d’oeuvres, salads, lamb, chicken, fish, sweets, beverages, grains, vegetables…It is 216 pages of hard work and lots of love. Family pictures of Sawaya’s abound, and her hand-done illustrations grace the cover. I am moving away from home soon and will take this book with me, to share with all who come into my home, the pleasure and joy of Lebanese cooking.”

Real Lebanese Recipes, April 5, 2014
By vee3 “VeeMA” (Punta Gorda, FL USA)These recipes are wonderful! They are delicious and authentic. They are just the way my “sittu” and mother cooked. What a delightful cookbook and “story”; worth every penny.

Terrific cookbook, wonderful family stories, June 21, 2010
Linda Sawaya’s book, Alice’s Kitchen, is warm and wonderful with excellent recipes for all seasons.

Almost as good as Nana’s
By D. Heaton on October 4, 2013
Having grown up in a home redolent with the scents of allspice, simmering grape leaf rolls, baking koosa and myriad other Mediterranean wonders (all created by a doting Lebanese grandmother), I find the flavors of Arabic food soul-soothing. It would be blasphemy in my family to hint anyone’s cooking is as good as Nana’s used to be, but Linda Dalal Sawaya’s recipes are pretty darn close. I’ve tried several; they are just delicious and more like the food I remember than most other cookbooks I’ve tried. These recipes have a big advantage over my Nana’s too—they are actually written down! Oh, and the stories! I will forever be grateful for the glimpse of a Lebanon so different from what I see on the news. Overall, this has become more like a family recipe treasury than just some random cookbook, and for that I owe the author a hearty “Thank you”.

From: M.D. Thomas (New London, CT):
“Delightful eat down someone else’s memory lane
Growing up as third generation Lebanese-American, I enjoyed many of the dishes in this book. I have prepared many of the dishes in this book with great success. I enjoy cooking Lebanese food regularly (now if I could just get some help with the language). The recipes are easy to follow and yield marvelous results. I highly recommend the Lentil Soup (Shourbat Addis)and the Lebanese Squash stuffed with lamb and rice (Kousa Mihshi). Reading Ms. Sawaya’s introduction and tips greatly enhanced my enjoyment of using this cookbook. If you are interested in preparing Lebanese foods, or like me, remembering food from your childhood, this book is an excellent place to start. Simple recipes that produce tasty results.”

“Absolutely Excellent book, December 4, 2001
This book has accurate, yummy recipes. A little cultural background and story. The recipes are very traditional and simple. Highly highly recommend it. Many friends have asked for this book for XMAS. Well done.”

From: Sally (Seattle, Washington), August 15, 1999:
“An exquisite, thorough cookbook.
As a 22-year-old Lebanese American, I know that our food is not simply something thrown down your throat. It is love, it is nourishment to our souls as well as to our hearts. It is shared at every event, every home…sometimes when you are not even hungry! Sawaya starts the book with her family’s history, which truly brought tears to my eyes. She explains all the ingredients, even their history. The book includes everything Lebanese I have ever eaten, and those I haven’t. She covers all breads, preserves, herbs, sauces, hors d’oeuvres, salads, lamb, chicken, fish, sweets, beverages, grains, vegetables…It is 216 pages of hard work and lots of love. Family pictures of Sawaya’s abound, and her hand-done illustrations grace the cover. I am moving away from home soon and will take this book with me, to share with all who come into my home, the pleasure and joy of Lebanese cooking.”

Real Lebanese Recipes, April 5, 2014
By vee3 “VeeMA” (Punta Gorda, FL USA)These recipes are wonderful! They are delicious and authentic. They are just the way my “sittu” and mother cooked. What a delightful cookbook and “story”; worth every penny.

Terrific cookbook, wonderful family stories, June 21, 2010
Linda Sawaya’s book, Alice’s Kitchen, is warm and wonderful with excellent recipes for all seasons.

Almost as good as Nana’s
By D. Heaton on October 4, 2013
Having grown up in a home redolent with the scents of allspice, simmering grape leaf rolls, baking koosa and myriad other Mediterranean wonders (all created by a doting Lebanese grandmother), I find the flavors of Arabic food soul-soothing. It would be blasphemy in my family to hint anyone’s cooking is as good as Nana’s used to be, but Linda Dalal Sawaya’s recipes are pretty darn close. I’ve tried several; they are just delicious and more like the food I remember than most other cookbooks I’ve tried. These recipes have a big advantage over my Nana’s too—they are actually written down! Oh, and the stories! I will forever be grateful for the glimpse of a Lebanon so different from what I see on the news. Overall, this has become more like a family recipe treasury than just some random cookbook, and for that I owe the author a hearty “Thank you”.

From: Rebecca Johnson (Washington State):
Traditional Lebanese Cuisine
“Having a garden and eating foods in season is our inherited ancestral tradition of living gently on the earth, using its resources respectfully, and preparing and sharing food with love. Food, of course, is a central part of Lebanese culture.” ~Linda Dalal Sawaya

Linda Dalal Sawaya presents a cookbook with a beautiful warm personality, filled with recipes for: Appetizers, Cheese, Yogurt, Butter, Sauces, Soups, Salads, Lamb, Chicken, Fish, Vegetarian Entrees, Vegetables, Beans, Grains, Breads, Sweets, Preserves, Beverages, Herbs, Spices and Fragrant Waters.

Sample Recipes:
Fig Jam with Aniseed and Walnuts
Spinach Pies
Stuffed Grape Leaves with Lamb and Rice
Savory Pastry or Meat Pies
Lemony Lentil Soup with Chard
Turkish Coffee
Rose Water Pudding
Filo Cheescake with Orange Blossom Water
Baklava
Sesame Cookies

Alice’s Kitchen is a world of Lebanese cooking that gives insight into how life was lived in Lebanon and how a family adapted to buying ingredients in America while living in California. Linda Dalal Sawaya tells the story with humor and we learn about how her family maintained their traditions despite a variety of obstacles.

“Dear, if you make it with love, it will be delicious.” —Mother Alice

Each recipe is set out in a way that is easy to follow with step-by-step instructions and plenty of pictures throughout to keep you entertained. The pictures and the family stories make this book collectible and the recipes bring the warmth of Lebanese cooking into your home in a way that is very accessible. The ingredients include spices and herbs like parsley, paprika, cinnamon and allspice. Lemon juice and olive oil are used throughout the recipes. Pomegranate syrup and orange blossom water are very easy to find these days, especially online. Most of the recipes use ingredients you can find at your local grocery store, but you might want to order some “zaatar.”

This book made me long for my childhood overseas when we had Lebanese friends who always made delicious dinners and taught me to make a spinach dish with yogurt and cheese. My dad also used to make fig jam from a tree in our backyard. So, this book was filled with lots of memories and introduced me to a world of treasured memories as shared by Linda Dalal Sawaya.

As you cook from this book your home will be filled with the scents of fragrant spices, warm syrupy baklava, rose, lemon, anise, coffee, doughnuts, buttery cookies, fresh bread, lamb with rice, and of course, garlic! Sufra deimi! ~The Rebecca Review

readers’ comments

WHAT ALICE’S KITCHEN READERS SAY
these amazing “love notes” to me are snippets of lives that are lovely to read! i am so grateful for the lovelies who take time to write and share their family stories and why they love Alice’s Kitchen! Shukran and sahtein!

send your comments to me here!

•”Hi Linda. . . I have a copy of your book and I refer to it every time I’m cooking, the recipes are simply delicious. Thank you for your work on this excellent book. I’m gifting the book I just ordered to my sister in law. . . I appreciate you signing it for her.”—Thanks, Rafif, California

• “I have never wept over a cookbook before, but I found myself tearing up reading Alice’s Kitchen. I was holding love and family in my hands . . . ‘Shukrun ktir’ for a lovely, lovely book.”—Barbara Bedway, Hudson, New York

• “Your stories about Douma and Lebanon are so interesting to me and I never tire of hearing them.”—Philip Simon, Los Angeles

• “Your artwork and recipes are superb efforts as well as the memories of your family life and the gems of cooking . . . I have tried two of the recipes already and they turned out delicious.”—Frank Sumarah, Halifax, Canada

• “Alice’s Kitchen is a real treasure! . . . I absolutely love it and will cherish it forever. Linda, thank you for doing this for all of us out here—your mother and your grandmother: the best cooks ever!!”—Barbara Connor, Ventura, California

• “The cookbook is an absolute gem—I love the new edition. You’re wonderful to endow us with such lush history and tradition.—Joan Shipley, Portland, Oregon

• “It’s a rainy day here and your almond crescent moons are in the oven baking. Your family reaffirmed what we’ve always known, but forget. Time for family, food prepared with love, these things are our treasures.”—Donna Stewman, Ben Lomond, California

• “I actually have made 3 recipes from your book: Garlic Sauce, Hummus and bbq chicken. I catered a friends film this last weekend and wanted to try them out. They were a big hit!”—Michelle M., Portland, Oregon

• “I’ve been eating zucchini patties for lunch this week. Mmmmmm, so tasty! Good cold and plain, also good warmed up and inside pocket bread. I used the Vegetable Patties recipe from Alice’s Kitchen Lebanese cookbook. So thanks Matt, and if you still see Linda, tell her your sister enjoys the recipes.”—Jenn

•”Linda….your dessert paintings are fabulous….makes me want to bake and eat!”—Sally W., Portland, Oregon

•”Dear Ms. Sawaya, I purchased this book some years ago on the recommendation of some cookery friend or other: perhaps Paula Wolfert, perhaps someone on eGullet. I’ve forgotten now how I heard of the book, but I did, and I bought it. I want you to know that I have found, and continue to find, the book thoroughly delightful! Whether I’m at home in Minnesota or escaping the winter in our trailer, I keep it with me so I can get my “fix” of Arabic food; most recently I used it to guide me through making my own pita bread (the khoubz marqouq) and to arrive at my best reproduction of toumeyya, the garlic sauce I first learned of at a Lebanese restaurant in Cairo. (In your book it’s listed as toum ou zeit, but it’ll always be toumeyya to me.)

Every recipe I’ve tried—admittedly not an exhaustive exploration—has worked beautifully. What I find especially charming, and what prompts me to write after all this time, is the family history: photos, stories, and your beautiful artwork. In 2011, I presented my extended family with a compilation of stories and photos from the growing-up years of my father, his brother and sister and their friends, and their early family life in the Central California oil fields and mountains. The photos had been rescued from my grandmother’s house, and I collected stories about them from my father before he died. It was a Shutterfly book, designed to appeal to our family alone. I think I now have a small idea of just how much work you had to put into Alice’s Kitchen. Before, it was a beautiful book to me and a good cookbook; now, it really is an artful love letter to your family. Thank you so much! Yislamou eydayki,”
—Nancy S.

•”…received my son’s cookbook today and I wanted to thank you again. I have so enjoyed reading your memories as they parallel mine so much. I, too, learned to play basra and my son knows how to play this card game as well. We are sharks with those Jack’s!! Just such great memories. And your pictures tell such a story. Thank you for personalizing it to him. It is going to be put in one of the 3 cedar chests I have for him. My copy will be remaining with me to enjoy now. Thank you so much again. I have MANY Lebanese cookbooks and I can say yours without question is not just a recipe book. It is one of the most important books I have seen to cover the true culture of our parent immigrants. You rock! Sincerely,”—Alice S.

•”…was able to just glance at your book which I was enthralled by the pictures especially the ladies boning the lamb! My mother was on a first name basis with the slaughter house. All the ladies would march in with their sharpest knives. Some of the meat and fat would go for “awarma” (for eggs, yummy!!!) then others for kibbe or shish kebab. Your pictures brought it all back. My mom had a grape arbor in our back yard. Yes, I know I will love your book. Thank you for signing it. I will order another soon to put in my son’s cedar chest for hopefully his someday wife. I hope you will sign that too. Thank you Linda for keeping our culture alive. Thank you for going to the trouble of getting the “measurements” for those of us who didn’t. Yes I will keep in touch. Sincerely,”—Alice S.

•”Greetings from Charlotte, NC. Still love your book and always go to it first for recipes. Closer to the real thing!!!—Alice H.

•”SYMPATHIES WITH YOU ABOUT MOM. I SEE HER PIX ON YOUR BOOK. I USE YOUR BOOK REGULARLY, WHEN I FORGET WHAT MY MOTHER TAUGHT ME.
VIDEO? HOW CAN I VIEW IT?”—Joe Sabah

•”I have been making the dough and freezing it for Christmas, as my 3 kids will be coming. Since we get together so seldom, they all put in their request for the traditional Arabic foods. Your book will provide the bases for many of the items. I have to say….your recipes are the closest I have ever come to what I remember as “our” food. I inherited the ability from my mom of being able to almost taste a dish by simply reading the ingredients. So as I read your book I was amazed at not only the ingredients but the techniques were right on the button. I have other middle eastern cookbooks, some just Lebanese, but I always would modify them, still using them as a guide. You have included all the little details that my mom would use to make a point, emphasizing this or that, as we would work together on some recipe. She used to tell me, if you want the Hummous to be extra smooth, drain the liquid off the beans and warm it before adding it back with all the other ingredients. I can hear her now as I write.”—Sandra, California

•”I’m thoroughly enjoying your book. It’s amazing to read about the significance of cooking and enjoying meals and your appreciation for all that goes with that part of life. I’m looking forward to making mjaddrah sometime soon. Yours was delicious!”—Linda M., Oregon

•”I must tell you how much I have enjoyed Alice’s Kitchen. My own family memories and traditions are much the same as your own. Reading the book has brought back so many wonderful times spent cooking Lebanese food with my grandmother.”—S. A. N.

•”As you mention in your book, my life was much the same. My grandmother was the oldest of 13 children born to F. and C. T. They immigrated from Zahle in the late 1800’s and homesteaded land in Rugby, North Dakota. By 1925 they moved with all the children to Los Angeles. My sisters and I would all gather around the table and watch as Grandma would start to work. It was so much fun to watch and learn and talk and eat as we helped grandma prepare the food. With such a large family, there was always a huge crowd of folks at every meal. My great-grandmother had two kitchens at her house and no matter what time of day or night you might come by, there was a Lebanese feast set before you!

It has been a pleasure to read your book and remember all those wonderful times with my grandmother. She is ever present in my life…every time I juice a lemon or make a salad I feel her presence and approval. Yes, she taught me well! I have seen a lot of Lebanese cookbooks, but yours is the closest to our family’s traditional recipes. I cook like your mother did–without using measurements as that is how I learned. But I have to say that it is very helpful to have those measurements written down!”—Jan T., California

•”I have viewed and been transported by your Lebanese cooking videos. Thank you so very much! My grandmother was Lebanese (from Zahle) and I spent much time with her learning to cook. In one of your videos you talk about throwing the bread. I watched Sitti throw kebz/hoobiz my whole life. Every Saturday, she would make a batch of bread with 20 lbs. of flour for us and to give it away to people. What I would do for a piece of it now! I can make the thick breads but I live in Colorado now because the altitude makes it hard to throw it thin enough to make kebz. I listen to you and it’s like hearing a cousin, sister or great-aunt. You have the same attitude toward food with which I grew up. It warms my heart and brings back such wonderful memories of my childhod and Sitti! ……Thank you again. You have touched me deeply.”—Nyla H., Colorado

•”My mother’s family was Khouri, from Zahle, so home cooking was always “mountain style.” I am so enjoying your book, and I plan to buy copies from my Koory cousins so they can share the memories, too. Thank you for making this book possible—Selma.S., Maryland

•”OMG!! Thank you for responding. I love your cookbook. A friend of ours owned two different restaurants in Houston, Texas and he is from Lebanon. He gave me the cookbook in 1998. I’ve used my son’s food processor, but just didn’t want another small appliance taking up room in my cabinets. And I do have a mini-food processor attachment on my blender, but who can make a small batch? We pig out on this recipe. We make so many other recipes out of your book. I plan on putting others on my blog. Like Julie and Julia….lol! Again, it’s an honor to have you respond to my blog. I am in tears.Thank you.”—k.f.

•”I received my copy of Alice’s Kitchen today. The way it is written and the personalized notes make it feel like a gift. It is such a pleasure to read!

Thank you so much for all of the work you put into this book. Thank you for the special touches that make it feel like a gift. Thank you for writing about cooking in a way that makes it feel like something wonderful instead of like a chore or a complicated burden.
Thank you for writing about food in a way that makes it feel like something valuable and important instead of something to worry about or fear. I have already found some wonderful new things to try with my lentils and rice. The chickpeas I had soaked for tonight’s dinner will be extra special now. Thank you!”

•” Thanks Linda! I am adding your blog to my list now! I LOVE your recipes—they are not cryptic like my grandmother’s recipes!!! And everyone loves my tabouli… thanks to you. I’ll pass your blog onto them too…—Georgette N.S., Seattle

•”I just wanted to write and tell you how much I liked your cookbook. I received it as a birthday gift recently. I’ve wanted a Lebanese cookbook for a long time because my grandfather’s family was from Lebanon, the town of Damour I think. I know how to cook a few dishes, but I’m excited about having all of your recipes now. I also enjoyed reading all of the stories and looking at the pictures! Thanks again for a great cookbook!”— Gretchen S.

•”Hi Linda, I don’t think we’ve ever met, but your cookbook is my go to place for tasty recipes when I don’t know what to make for dinner. I was introduced to your book by my wife, MaryAlecia, and I’ve been enjoying making fabulous meals from it ever since!”—Evan H., Santa Cruz, California

send your comments about Alice's Kitchen to me here!

press

Alice’s Kitchen press reviews & excerpts

•Aramco World, Jan/Feb, 1997
Memories of a Lebanese Garden
by Linda Dalal Sawaya
When Alice’s Kitchen: Traditional Lebanese Cooking was barely made into a first draft, 100 copies of a 64-page booklet printed at Kinko’s (he’s Lebanese!) for Christmas gifts to family and friends in 1992, I had no idea what was to follow a few years later, when the little book was excerpted by Saudi Aramco World magazine and published as a cover story in Jan/Feb 1997. This amazing opportunity launched the publication of my little project to 150,000 readers all over the world. And I was offered the opportunity to paint illustrations to accompany the article as well, which included a half dozen recipes.

This publication drew hundreds of “love” letters from amazing people all over the world who wrote to me how much the images, the stories, the recipes resonated with them, reminded them of their own loved ones, and brought tears to their eyes. Some of them shared their own family stories with me in letters that reached 6 pages of handwritten love, and these brought tears to my eyes as well.

At a time in the world, especially the U.S., when images of Arabs are portrayed mostly negatively, this story of food, culture, and love was a powerful antidote and a blessing to all.

I feel so blessed to have participated in this, in the opportunity to have worked with my mother to preserve our family stories and recipes and food made with love. It has expanded my horizons, my world, my family to far beyond my biological family of origin and has connected me to many most cherished “cousins” around the world, to whom I am so grateful for reaching out and connecting with me. Ahlan wa Sahlan! Welcome to Alice’s Kitchen, where if you make it with love, it will be delicious!
• click for the Aramco World (Jan/Feb. 1997) article excerpt of ALICE’S KITCHEN, illustrated by Linda Sawaya

•The Los Angeles Times, Sunday, November 11, 2007
A recipe for forming a Middle East identity
by Therese Watanabe

Inside the UCLA exhibit case, the family cookbooks offer generations of recipes and traditions that have persisted beyond place and time in America’s Middle Eastern diaspora communities. There is “Assyrian Cookery: Exotic Foods that Outlasted a Civilization” and the “Iraqi Family Cookbook: From Mosul to America.” There are Palestinian cookbooks from 1960s Detroit, and Armenian cookbooks from 1920s Boston. “Alice’s Kitchen: Traditional Lebanese Cooking” by Linda Dalal Sawaya offers a treasury of her mother’s recipes, including spinach pie and sesame cookies.

The most extraordinary thing about the cookbooks, however, is that they are housed together in one glass exhibit case. They are part of a groundbreaking exhibit at UCLA that seeks to present a pan-ethnic identity for Middle Eastern Americans though a collective display of their literature, media, scholarly works, memoirs and other written material. Whatever political, religious and ethnic differences divide ethnic Armenians and Turks, Arabs and Israelis, Iranians and Assyrians, exhibit organizers say, commonalities also bind them — like shared spices and dishes in their cuisine, such as cardamom, falafel and hummus.

Consider Sawaya’s book. It might focus on growing up Lebanese American in Los Angeles, but it contains scenes that might resonate with an Armenian or Arab — memories of community picnics, visiting family vineyards, curing olives and cooking with three generations of women…
(for continuation of article click here)

• Wednesday, August 18, 1999
COOKBOOK WATCH The Los Angeles Times
Lebanese Grandmother Cooking
by Charles Perry
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 father 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 grandmother 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.

•Tuesday, February 3, 1998 • FOODDAY, The Oregonian

Cookbooks from HOME
by Barbara Durbin

“Author explores Lebanese roots in ALICE’S KITCHEN/Family cookbook is as much about love as food”

For author Linda Dalal Sawaya, a Portland free-lance graphic artist, “Alice’s Kitchen: My Grandmother Dalal & Mother Alice’s Traditional Lebanese Cuisine” is a culinary trip down memory lane.
For those who love Lebanese food, it’s a handbook for good eating.
For those who have no connection to Lebanese food, it’s a blueprint for putting together a recipe collection that spans several generations.
As Sawaya explains in her book, “in the late 1800s when my grandmother, Dalal Hage Ganamey, whom we always called Sitto, was sent as a child to the convent school in her Lebanese mountain village of Douma, she was taken not into the classroom, but into the kitchen to cook. As a result, she didn’t learn to read or write–instead, she became an incredible cook.”
…Sawaya recalls her southern California upbringing, the youngest of Alice and Elias Sawaya’s five daughters. Linda Sawaya’s reminiscences of cooking with her mother and of her grandmother make the book both personal and homey. Because of the anecdotes, the book is a tribute to the centuries-old tradition of mothers handing down a love of cooking to their daughters, rather than simply a chronicling of recipes.
Sawaya has lived in Portland for 20 years. In addition to her graphic arts work, she paints and has illustrated two children’s books–the bilingual “The Little Ant/La Hormiga Chiquita” and “How to Get Famous in Brooklyn.”
Sawaya started the core of what developed into the cookbook about the same time she settled here, transferring family recipes from scraps of paper onto index cards, and eventually onto computer.
Recipe testing required multiple calls home to mother Alice, interspersed with personal visits, plus transcribing the family’s oral history onto paper. Old and newer family photographs are sandwiched among the recipes, giving added dimension.
The author includes recipes not found in many other Lebanese cookbooks–such as for curing olives, pickling vegetables and making quince jam–in addition to the ones cooks have come to expect, such as for hommous, tabbouli, kibbe and baklawa.
Her basic bread dough, which can be made into pocket bread, is “also nice substitute for pizza,” Sawaya explains, particularly when converted to tilme b’kishk—small circles of bread topped with a mixture of olive oil, onion, tomato, and bulgar kishk–or tilme b’zaatar–bread topped with an olive oil, sesame seed and zaatar seasoning mix.
Juggling making two of these “pizza” varieties and an omelet (ijhee) at the same time in her tiny kitchen, Sawaya says, “I cook like I paint, I always have too much stuff out.” The omelet makes a great breakfast, lunch, or dinner—warm, at room temperature or cold, Sawaya notes. And because it’s heavy on minced parsley, mint, onion, and zucchini but light on the eggs, it’s also a healthy dish.

•Santa Cruz Sentinel, March 1998

Kitchen Memories: Daughter keeps legacy of Lebanese cooking alive
by Janet Blaser

When Linda Dalal Sawaya was a little girl growing up in Los Angeles, she and her sisters brought lunch from home like all the other kids. But their lunches were different. Instead of bologna or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, they had hummus, lentil stew, and yogurt and cucumber salad—traditional Lebanese foods made by their mother and grandmother, Sitto.

Eventually the girls begged their mom to give them more “American” lunches to avoid being teased by their school mates. Meals at home, though, were a smorgasbord of delightful tastes, textures and ingredients that were as familiar to Linda as they were exotic to her friends.

Tabbouli, falafil and kusah mahshi (squash stuffed with lamb and rice) graced the table, with many of the ingredients coming out of the kitchen garden growing outside. Linda, as the youngest child, often helped the women in the kitchen after school, making flat bread, curing olives, chopping herbs and stuffing savory pastries…

…Readers find the book ties together food, ethnic heritage, and nostalgia in much the same way as “Like Water for Chocolate”, “Soul Food”, and “The Big Night”…”

—excerpt from the entire review in the Santa Cruz Sentinel

•Al Jadid, a Review & Record of Arab Culture and Arts, Vol. 4 No. 25 Fall 1998 review of ALICE’S KITCHEN, 3rd ed.

Art of the Cookbook
by Judith Gabriel

This earthy, almost fragrant book is “self-published” in the same way that homemade bread is a “self-rising” mound of leavened flour. When you smell it baking, you can only be grateful someone did the kneading. (And the writing.) And then hope they give you a slice while it’s still hot. Especially if it’s khoobz marouq . . .

Linda Dalal Sawaya . . . is also a writer, and the pages of this very special cookbook contain not only recipes, but evocative descriptions of how her grandmother, Dalal, prepared the traditional dishes back in her Lebanese mountain village, and how her mother, Alice, followed the time-tested formulas in her American kitchen, making adjustments that Sawaya passes on . . . a highly useful reference . . . A truly literary picture emerges of such commonplace dishes as Lebanese pickles and kibbeh, which one would expect to find in such a setting. What makes the entries stand out is the context of descriptive nostalgia and culinary refinement that frames them.

•Dennis Stoval good reads review (4 stars)
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/18328848

Portlander Linda Sawaya’s wonderful book captures the recipes of her Lebanese family, along with lovely short stories, art by Linda, and family photos. I’ve made many of the recipes over and over. One of my favorite foods (the other is calamari) is tabouli, and Linda’s recipe is one of my favorites. It’s become a point of departure for experimentation.