Qirfeh bil jooz (qirfeh is Arabic for cinnamon and jooz is walnuts) is a warm and comforting cinnamon drink topped with nuts -usually walnuts- traditionally served in colder months in Palestine and throughout the levant.
comfort food
What do you pack when you’re an expat at the end of your vacation back home and you’re getting ready for another year away from your family and friends?
How do you capture the precious warmth and joy that you feel in their company? what can you take to help you get through the months of nostalgia?
Whenever we go back home for a visit, my mum prepares a love package for me and the kids, there are always new books and DVDs for the kids,a few props for my blog, her signature cookies, maamoul, Zaatar, nabulsi cheese and this apricot jam. My son loves jam but in his book, no store-bought could ever come close to his teta’s homemade apricot jam (teta is Arabic for grandma).
For the first few months after the vacation, I am fine, I miss everyone, but I manage to keep busy and keep my mind off it. But as the year rolls by and we get to the last couple of months before the summer break I struggle with longing and little details like opening a jar of my mum’s jam, tracing her handwriting on the lovely notes she sticks to the lids can drive me to tears.
For this month’s Arabic Flavor assignment, our host Ihssan chose Moroccan Harira soup. This rich soup has been […]
Maftoul often called Palestinian couscous is a form of hand rolled tiny pasta pearls that are 2-3 mm […]
The weather forecast promises a winter that is the coldest in 70 years and December delivers! After 3 days of none stop rain and snow, all you crave is comfort food.Something warm, that transports you back to your mum’s kitchen. You are a kid again, at your family’s dinner table, hungry, cold and a little gloomy but the hot steam coming off the plate that mum set before you with a smile makes you feel better just by looking at it.
Stuffed cabbage rolls is one of those recipes. Something my mum used to make on cold winter days. The cabbage leaves are neatly rolled and then cooked to perfection. They are so tender that they nearly melt into your mouth, the slow cooking brings out a subtle sweetness in them that pairs beautifully with the fresh tang of lemon juice and the faint garlic note from the garlic cloves nestled between them.
After telling the story behind the 30 day soup, it would only be fair to share the recipe […]
Our Daring Cooks’ December 2012 Hostess is Andy of Today’s the Day and Today’s the Day I Cook! […]
The temperatures drop, the sun decides to take a leave of absence for a couple of days and […]
Chef in disguise 