Live and in person at the Coolidge Corner Theatre with Brookline Booksmith, to celebrate the release of Boustany with author Sami Tamimi, in conversation with Ana Sortun.

Register for the event!

This event is ticketed. Tickets include a general admission seat at the event and a copy of Boustany.

Ticketholders will receive email updates with important details about the program. If this event sells out, there will not be a waiting list.

Signed books!

This event will include a live signing at the end of the talk, taking place across the street from the theater at Brookline Booksmith.

CAN’T MAKE IT TO THE EVENT? Preorder the book here to have it signed, and choose to have it held for pickup or shipped from the store!

Book orders are processed for pickup or shipping after ticket sales have closed.

Boustany: A Celebration of Vegetables from My Palestine

Celebrate the diverse cuisine of Palestine with more than 100 plant-based and vegetarian recipes for festive meals, breads, desserts, and more, from the award-winning co-author of Jerusalem, Falastin and co-founder of Ottolenghi.“With recipes rooted in nostalgia and memory, Sami Tamimi brings his heritage to life, plate by plate.”—Andy Baraghani, James Beard award–winning author of The Cook You Want to BeThe first solo cookbook from Ottolenghi co-founder Sami Tamimi, Boustany is anhomage to Palestinian food and culture. “Boustany” translates from Arabic as “my garden,” which reflects Sami’s signature style and approach to food: colorful and simple vegetable- and grain-led dishes. Bold, inspiring and ever-evolving, Boustany picks up where Falastin left off, with flavor-packed vegetable-based dishes, including pantry items, midweek easy meals and special to-be-shared dishes. It’s an approach that’s strongly present in Palestinian cuisine, from building your mooneh, or pantry, by preserving seasonal vegetables and herbs to lining the dinner table with a variety of salads and condiments reflective of a love for fresh and vibrant food.This is how Sami grew up eating—platters of eggplant and chickpeas with a spicy green lemon sauce and fragrant lentil fatteh that always tasted better the next day. These are the 100 vegan and vegetarian dishes he has known, loved, cooked, and shared with friends, including:• Braised eggs with pita bread, tomatoes & za’atar• Smoky chickpeas with cilantro tahini• Crushed butter beans with orange, makdous & mint• Fried halloumi with purslane salad• Couscous fritters with preserved lemon yogurt• Jerusalem sesame bread• Fenugreek & onion buns• Pan-baked tahini, halva & coffee brownie• Labneh & pomegranate ice creamBoustany is filled with vibrant and lively photographs of everyday meals that invite you into Sami’s home. With recipes for breads, dinner parties, fermenting your own vegetables, and more, Sami shares the cultural fabric of Palestine through his eyes.

Sami Tamimi was born and raised in Jerusalem and immersed in food since childhood. Hestarted his career at 17 as commis-chef in a Jerusalem hotel and gained expertise by workinghis way up, through a variety of restaurants, mastering diverse culinary traditions along the way,to become head chef of Lilith, one of the top restaurants in Tel Aviv in the 1990s. In 2002, hepartnered with Noam Bar and Yotam Ottolenghi to set up Ottolenghi in Notting Hill. Thecompany now has seven delis and two restaurants, NOPI and ROVI, all in London. As theexecutive head chef, Sami was involved in developing and nurturing young kitchen talents andcreating new dishes and innovative menus. Sami and Yotam have written two critically acclaimed cookbooks, Ottolenghi: The Cookbook and Jerusalem: A Cookbook. Sami’s third cookbook Falastin is co-authored with Tara Wigley and is a winner of the Fortnum & Mason Cookery Book of the Year, a James Beard Award nominee, an IACP Award winner and longlisted for The Art of Eating Prize. Nowadays, Sami divides his time between London and Umbria in Italy.

Ana Sortun is a native of Seattle, Washington and graduated from La Varenne Ecole de Cuisine de Paris in 1989. She opened her first restaurant, Oleana, in 2001 and was named Best Chef in the Northeast by the James Beard Foundation in 2005. That same year she gave birth to her daughter Siena and wrote her first cookbook, Spice: Flavors of the Eastern Mediterranean. In 2010, she opened Sofra Bakery and Café with business partner and Pastry Chef, Maura Kilpatrick and several years later they co-authored Soframiz: Vibrant Middle Eastern Recipes from Sofra Bakery. In 2013, Sortun partnered with Chef Cassie Piuma to open Sarma in Somerville, modeled after a Turkish meyhane or meze restaurant. Ana is a James Beard Semi-Finalist for Outstanding Chef in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019 and a finalist in 2020. She is known for bringing Middle Eastern flavors into the mainstream through her passion of Turkish cooking, spices and her husband’s (Chris Kurth of Siena Farms) fresh, organic vegetables.

Fun Fact—Oleana is Ana’s full/real name. Ana is a nick name. Oleana is an old-fashioned Norwegian name that has nothing to do with Turkish food or the Mediterranean but it’s also a song and a story about a utopia or promised land!

About Brookline Booksmith

We are one of New England’s premier independent bookstores, family-owned and locally run since 1961. We offer an extensive selection of new, used, and bargain books; unique, beautiful gifts; award-winning events series; and specialty foods. Every day, we strive to foster community through the written word, represent a diverse range of voices and histories, and inspire conversations that enrich our lives. Find more at brooklinebooksmith.com!

EVENT ACCESSIBILITY

This event will take place on the second floor of Coolidge Corner Theatre, accessible by stair or elevator. Wheelchair spaces are available in the theater. ASL interpretation may be provided (based on the availability of interpreters) but must be requested at least 2 weeks in advance of the event. Seats are general admission (first come, first served). Please email us at tickets@brooklinebooksmith.com as soon as possible if you require ASL interpretation, a guaranteed seat location, a wheelchair space, or other accommodations. We will do our best to serve your needs!