The Recipes We Carry
What I’ve been cooking (and craving), why Boustany by Sami Tamimi moved me, and how you can win a copy. Plus: Substack Live this week!
What Went Down in the Kitchen
For the past few weeks, I’ve been on a bit of a tandoori bender. We’ve made skillet naan (because not all of us have a clay oven in our backyard), fast and fancy tandoori lamb, oven-roasted tandoori salmon over at America’s Test Kitchen (yes, it works, no, your smoke alarm won’t love it), and even grilled carrots because... vegetables deserve a smoky glow-up too.
And just when things were getting a little too hot, we cooled it all down with a Coconut Lychee Lime Granita. It’s icy, floral, and the opposite of standing over a grill in August, which is to say, highly recommended. Plus a double feature on apricots, featuring an Apricot Lemon and Orange Jam with a hint of orange blossom water, and an Apricot Coconut Cake laced with cardamom, accompanied by a sweet coconut crumble.
I’d love to see how you take these recipes and techniques — whether it’s tandoori-style grilling or turning fruit into frosty magic — and make them your own. Use them as a jumping-off point, remix them, and tag me on social media when you do. That’s where the real fun (and flavor) begins.
August’s Flavor Forecast
This month’s recipes are basically a vacation in your kitchen, with just enough heat to make things exciting (hello, spicy shrimp roast) and plenty of cool-downs to keep you sane. We’re twirling noodles through no-cook tomato sauces that taste like you’ve been simmering them for hours (spoiler: you haven’t), tossing preserved lemon spaghetti like it’s our full-time job, and letting miso crash the pasta party in the best way possible. There’s a retro-crunch iceberg salad, a garlic-zucchini-yogurt situation that’s begging to be scooped with everything, and desserts that scream summer: roasted strawberries with balsamic, popcorn ice cream (yes, you read that right), and a peach-saffron cake that’s basically August in a slice. Oh—and my Bombay lemonade, because we’re fancy and hydrated! Let’s cook.
What I’m Reading
I’m looking forward to my upcoming conversation with chef and author
. I don’t say this lightly: Boustany is one of the most soulful and evocative cookbooks I’ve encountered in years (and I’m featuring a recipe from it this week!). I have always admired Sami’s work. Sami has a rare talent for weaving stories through food, and in Boustany, he shares them on a deeply personal level—braiding memory, displacement, and identity into every dish and every word.The very title, “Boustany,” translates to “my garden” in Arabic—an apt, lyrical name for a cookbook devoted to the bounty of vegetables. The word itself conjures visions of his maternal grandparents’ garden in Hebron, teeming with vibrant fruits and lush greens, and of a childhood spent wandering the hills of the Old City of Jerusalem, foraging alongside his parents. During the long days of the pandemic, Sami found solace in tending his own garden in Umbria, Italy, letting the act of nurturing plants ground him. Throughout the pages of his book, one theme stands out clearly to me: the elegance of cooking with simplicity, making the most of a few humble ingredients, leaning on the pantry, which is filled with foods like preserves, fermented foods, and pickles that carry memories of tradition throughout the year.
Sami’s book isn’t just a collection of recipes; it’s a tender tribute to Palestinian people, their kitchens, and the homes many have left behind, a reminder of the endurance of culture expressed through flavor and ritual.
My copy is already bristling with bookmarks: the Freekeh-Stuffed Peppers, Two-Lentil Mejadra, Tomato Arugula Walnut Salad, and the Jerusalem Sesame Bread Nests, where each nest cradles a golden-yolked egg. These are recipes I know I’ll return to again and again, not just for their taste but for the stories they carry. Boustany is a book to cook from, yes—but also to sit with, to reflect on, and to cherish.
Join us live TODAY at 12 pm ET on Substack Live. (Missed today’s Substack Live at noon? Paid subscribers to Flavor Files+ can now watch the full conversation below.)
Recipe
The recipe is this week is Eggplant & chickpeas with green lemon sauce/ Bitinjan ma’ Hummus, direct from Sami’s book.
There are many kinds of eggplant and tomato dishes in the Middle East, each with its own distinct character, and this eggplant and chickpea stew is no exception. It’s a hearty dish that combines the meatiness of the eggplant, the nutty-creamy texture of the chickpeas and the umami of the tomato sauce, all complemented by the zesty
green chile sauce.