Gaza Feast: Palestinian celebrity chef comes to Frome

Laila el-Haddad is the co-author of The Gaza Kitchen: A Palestinian Culinary Journey, which the world-renowned Yotam Ottolenghi calls “a great book”. Laila is on her way to the Frankfurt Book Fair to promote her latest book, Gaza Unsilenced, and we’ve persuaded her to visit us in Frome.

The images we associate with Gaza are of misery and desolation. Massive destruction caused by Israeli blitzkriegs, people struggling to live amid the ruins, world leaders still reluctant to hold Israel to account or to help Gaza rebuild. Much less is said about Gaza’s cultural heritage, deep-rooted and sustaining, that underpins its peoples’ resistance. And at the heart of it all is food. Palestinians speak of cuisine with reverence, even urgency. “Everyday kitchen valour forms the psychological bedrock of the place, keeping the population sane in insane circumstances.”

Come and sample a meal made from Gaza Kitchen recipes, cooked by Frome Friends of Palestine’s team of gourmet chefs, and hear Laila talk to us about food and resistance. Treats in store include Ful Imdammas (smothered lava beans and hot garlic dressing), Fatayer sabinikh (savoury spinach pies), Qidra (richly spiced rice and lamb for special occasions) and Zibdiyit Gambari (shrimp in a clay pot, a speciality of Gaza), followed by Ma’routa (a date speciality), Mabrousha (bitter orange Streusel) and Knafa Arabiya (a uniquely Gazan pastry, made with walnut and cinnamon).

Tickets available for the ludicrously low price of £10 from Frome Wholefoods in Cheap Street.