Modern Middle Eastern Cooking

In this part-demonstration, part-practical class, Sahar will take you on a taste journey of her native Middle East. Born in Iraq, Sahar has lived and worked as a cook in many countries, learning many cuisines and food customs on her journeys.

She values cooking delicious meals as a way to honour her family and guests, and wishes to share this approach with you.

With dishes and flavours widely popular in the western world, the cuisine of the Middle East is both diverse and similar (due to commonality of ingredients).

Middle Eastern cuisine is typically identified as the foods of Arab, Iranian, Iraqi, Israeli, Greek, Turkish, Cypriot, Georgian, Azerbaijani, Assyrian and Armenian cultures. 

Commonly used ingredients include lamb, mint, chickpeas, olives, sesame seeds, rice and dates. Herbs and spices are also widely used. In this course, Sahar will share recipes from Turkey, Morocco, Lebanon, Greece, Persia (Iran) and Iraq.

Along the way, Sahar will share her knowledge of food customs in the Middle East, putting those recipes into a cultural perspective.

Bring a tea towel, small container for any leftovers and apron (optional).  For the second, third, fourth and fifth weeks, Sahar will tell you what ingredients to bring to the course. Your course fee includes ingredients for the first night only ($20).

Those wanting to learn middle eastern dishes to add to their repertoire at home. Those wanting to explore different flavours. Those wanting to learn something about the food and eating customs of the Middle East.