Childhood memories shape us, especially around taste and smell and their cultural settings. The nostalgia we feel and the associations we hold onto stay with us through adulthood. Flavors from the Levant have permeated my culinary explorations. Baking in particular has been a comforting pastime. The pleasure of immersing my hands to knead and shape the dough, mixing in the spices, the sesame/nigella seeds, along with the nuts and the aromatic orange/rose blossom water, results in a distinct sense of satisfaction and accomplishment when the fruits of my labor emerge from the oven — not too different from working in clay and seeing the process through as the carefully crafted forms are taken out of the kiln.

Highlights of my baking shown below are made with recipes from Sami Tamimi and Tara Wigley’s Falastine: A Cookbook, Joudie Kalla’s Palestine on a Plate, Laila El-Haddad and Maggie Schmitt’s Gaza Kitchen, along with recipes from friends.