By Karima Hazim Chatila & Sivine Tabbouch

The world already has a gazillion Lebanese cookery books so what, you might be wondering, is the exact purpose of another? We thought the same when we received a copy of Sofra… but then, we opened it. Instantly, we felt like we were entering a most delicious world, with pics that include plenty of tactile, hands-on action, like wrapping, rolling, mixing and serving. These give a lovely, loose and inviting sense of the home made, and instantly give the recipes life. 

The authors are a mother and daughter duo from Sydney where they run a cook school called Sunday Kitchen. This, their first book, celebrates ‘Lebanese weekend cooking,’ with each of the nine chapters revolving around a particular culinary spread. These, they explain, represent the way that Lebanese gather and cook on weekends. Each spread (or 'sofra’) is a complementary set of dishes from Siline’s (the Mum’s) repertoire. Some of the dishes are the kind that are suited for the weekend because they require time to make and cook, or they’re ones usually reserved for holidays or religious celebrations. Each spread is designed to serve 10, making them perfect for when you need to cater for a crowd. The authors are quick to point out that the recipes can easily be scaled down if needed, however, so there is flexibility built in. Each chapter includes extensive make-ahead notes to help you easily manage the cooking, which is super helpful with so many dishes to make.

As for the food, the chapters are titled things like ‘A Village Breakfast’, ‘Breakfast in the Souk’, ‘Lamb for Eid’, ‘By the Sea’ and ‘Vegetarian Picnic’. If you know Lebanese fare at all then you’ll find that, in the main, everything here is an expected mix of fresh, big-flavoured salads, rice, grain and vegetable dishes, meat grills, dips, and pastries, both savoury and sweet. It’s the kind of food and mode of serving we happen to love, where you make heaps of everything, then casually pile it all in large bowls and on platters, and let everyone hoe in. It’s generous, gutsy and, by and large, healthy food too. 

There are many things we’d like to make from Sofra, and we’re currently eyeing off ‘The Community’ chapter which is structured around Shish Barak (meat dumplings in a rich garlic-yoghurt sauce), Mujaddara (spiced lentil rice with caramelised onion), a delicious shaved cabbage and herb salad, a warm, lemony wild green salad, and okra with tomato and oil. (It also includes teeny, aromatic Lebanese sausages which we probably can’t get in NZ but no worries; there’s so much else going on that no one would starve if you left them out). Looking at the photography and other credits at the end of the book (yes, we are cookbook nerds), it’s lovely to see that the authors did the food styling. Which probably explains why it looks so relaxed and effortless, and that’s not to minimise how difficult great food styling is. These two happen to be extremely great at it. They make the dishes look attainable, in a way that sometimes cookbook photography doesn't.

Who is this book for? We’d say anyone who wants to explore traditional Lebanese fare, but not be restrained too much. In her intro Karima explains that the spreads are a guide, and that "the beauty of home cooking is there are no strict rules, dishes are always interchangeable based on the season and availability and, of course, customised to suit the guests.” We love this approach and think there are some real gems in here you’ll absolutely want to cook.

Recipes from Sofra…