My Mother's Favorite Arab Recipe that Invokes a Great Memory!

posted on: May 10, 2020

Compiled by Arab America

Mother’s day to you and all MOMS in your life. Some of our Arab America Foundation Team Members from France, Iowa, Michigan, New Jersey, and Virginia submitted a favorite recipe from their mothers. We received a variety of recipes reflecting an essential part of our Arab heritage. More importantly, these recipes represent family traditions handed down from generation to generation. If you would like to become a Team member, please contact us at info@arabamerica.com.

Safsouf, A Popular Lebanese Dish

Submitted By: Yasmina Hage, DC/France
Mom’s Name: Zeina
Country: Lebanon

This dish reminds me of my mom when she and her family used to go to the high Alps (in France) on holidays. They used to picnic in the mountains, and on this occasion, they often prepared Safsouf. So this dish brings back many nice memories to me and her!

Before they set off for the high Alps, they started cooking bulgur at home, then, they put all the rest of the ingredients in a bag so they could mix it all when they arrived.

Those are precious times when Mom and her family and friends were playing together, hiking, etc. Actually these are unforgettable moments in the family’s life. For a little anecdote, one day, my mother had opened the bowl of bulgur in the car, but unfortunately, the car turned, and half of the bulgur spilled. That upset Mom so much. Fortunately, her mother had an excellent idea to stop in a supermarket not far away to buy some more. Once there, she prepared the delicious Safsouf while watching the snow-covered mountain and enjoying the sunshine at the same time.

Safsouf is a popular dish in Lebanon. This dish reminds her so much of her homeland of beautiful Lebanon; she misses it since she lives now in Africa. Today, every time she makes Safsouf, it reminds her of her vacation in the high Alps and the big family dinner they used to make in Lebanon.  Mom always told me that family dinners are the best way to create the most significant memories!

Safsouf Recipe:

Use fine-ground bulgur,

Soak them for 12 hours and then cook them for 30 minutes.

After cooking them, soak them in water for 35 minutes.

Chop mint parsley and onions

Crush garlic cloves and salt

After 35 minutes, remove the bulgur from the water and remove their skin

Once everything is done, mix it all and add oil and lemon.

Musakhan, the National Dish of Palestine

Submitted By: John Dabeet, Iowa
Mom’s Name: Aida
Country: Palestine

This is Musakhan, my favorite dish in the world because it reminds me of my Mother and of my homeland of Palestine.  It’s my favorite dish because it reminds me of the Taboon bread that Mom freshly prepared and of our olive trees and how we utilized the oil to cook Musakhan and other delicious Palestinian dishes. Try it! It is composed of roasted chicken baked with onions, olive oil, sumac, allspice, saffron, and fried pine nuts. Serve it with any Arab bread, especially the Taboon bread.  Forever I am grateful that Mom shared the recipe of this dish with me. It’s with honor that I share it with you!

Musakhan Recipe

Chicken, onions, sumac, allspice, pine nuts, and taboon bread.

Cut the whole chicken into four pieces, clean, then spray sumac and allspice, and then bake in the oven.

Put the taboon bread in a large baking sheet, spread olive oil on both sides of each taboon bread,

Put the caramelized onion mixed with sumac and pine nuts on each taboon and then place a piece of chicken on top.

Bake for around 10 minutes.

Sahtein!

My Iraqi Dad’s Kibbe: A Mother’s Day Tribute

Submitted By: Anisa Mehdi, New Jersey
Mom’s Name: Beverlee (Dad Mohammad’s Recipe)
Country: Iraq

What made my mother happy on Mother’s Day was my father’s cooking. She, Beverlee Turner, was born in Nova Scotia, Canada. He, Dr. Mohammad T. Mehdi, was from Baghdad, Iraq. She was a good cook and put dinner on the table every night after working full days as a teacher in the New York City public school system.

My dad was a great cook, and we all looked forwards his signature dishes on Mother’s Day. He made dolma – showing my sisters and me how to roll cabbage leaves and stuff zucchini. He made a wicked dish with okra and tomatoes; his eggplant melted in the mouth. We relished his Iraqi “harissa” – a thick porridge of burghul mixed with tiny chunks of lamb, chopped dates, and drizzled with maple syrup — that was a pre-dawn staple during Ramadan. But my favorite by far was his kibbe. And that’s what he made often for Mother’s Day.

My dad, who spent most days and nights from the early 1960s through his death in 1998 championing Palestinian human and civil rights, didn’t often don an apron. When he did, he was as passionate about cooking as he was about the liberation of Palestine.

Kibbe Recipe

For his Mother’s Day kibbe, he mixed ground lamb and cracked wheat in a bowl with strong, clean hands, adding chopped parsley, salt and pepper, and other spices to which I paid no mind at the time. He tamped half of that mixture into the bottom of a baking pan, about ¾ inch thick. Then he would lightly sauté small cubes of lamb on the stove, with chopped onion, garlic, and those other spices. Paprika? Cumin? Sumac? Then he’d stir in raisins just enough to warm them. That mixture was spooned on top of the layer in the pan and covered with another round of the ground lamb mix. The three tiers together must have been close to two inches high. Before popping it into the oven to bake, dad would use a knife to make a crisscrossed design on top. That’s how he would cut the finished kibbe: in the shape of diamonds.

I can still inhale the aroma of the baking meat if I close my eyes tightly enough and click my heels together whispering, “there’s no place like home.” Kibbe dinner, served with rice and salad on Mother’s Day, was a treat. I’m sure I was tasting my father’s love for me, my sisters, and especially for our mom.

Writing about this brings all those feelings back to me like a flavored sensation in the back of my throat. It’s a salty taste. (I’m sure you know it. It’s the taste that comes just before tears.) And with it, there’s a hint of paprika … or maybe sumac.

Yabret, Stuffed Grape Leaves, Aleppo Style

Submitted By: Ed Chidiac, Virginia
Mom’s name: Josephine
Country: Syria

The attached recipe was written down by my sister Pauline Chidiac based on her “apprenticeship” in my mother’s ( Josephine Kandala Chidiac ) kitchen in Paterson, NJ. Pauline produced a series of these recipes, copied and bound them for distribution to the various grandchildren.

At her 90th birthday party, attended by all of her 6 children, their spouses, and all the grandchildren, one of the testimonials offered was an “estimate” that she had rolled and cooked more than 1.4 mm grape leaves. Josephine lived to be nearly 99 and added significantly to that total as more grandchildren ( and great-grandchildren ) were added to her special consume base!

Recipe: Yab’Ret (Waraq Enab)

“Haneeth” Slow Roasted Yemeni Lamb

Submitted By: Moghitha Alkibsi, Virginia
Mom’s Name: Taqia Hameedadeen
Country: Yemen

My mother was the daughter of Imam Yahya Hameedadeen who ruled Yemen for 40 years. She never worked in a kitchen but I have memories of her giving our domestic help direction on how to make this particular dish as it was her favorite and was presentable for guests who we had most of the time.

When I was getting ready to be married and go to America, she asked my older sister to show me how to make it from a handwritten cookbook she wrote me with the recipe for Haneeth and other important recipes. Haneeth lamb recipe is a favorite dish of mine. It reminds me of my dear mama, bless her heart; she’s now 97 years old.

Recipe: Haneeth

This YouTube video will tell you how to make this popular dish and is courtesy of Amjad Al-Husain, my talented cousin. The truth is my mom never cooked a dish in her life but has supervised all her girls to make this her favorite dish called ‘Haneeth’

Kebbeh with Yogurt was Palestinian Moms Favorite

Submitted By:  Hana Mahmoud, Michigan
Mom’s Name: Kameleh
Country: Palestine

Above is a favorite picture of my mom in her backyard in Amman, Jordan. She was Palestinian and lived all her childhood in Palestine, a village called Anabta. She passed away in 2017 (Allah Yerhama).

Recipe: Kebbeh bi-Laban (Kebbeh with yogurt)

Make the Kebbeh dough: Ground beef, ground rice

Kibbeh filling: ground lamb, onions, pine nuts, and salt & spices

Make the Yogurt sauce

Mix yogurt with some 1 Tsp corn starch and an egg.

Stir on medium heat until it thickens

Drop the Kebbeh in the yogurt sauce to cook

Enjoy!

Pickled Turnips (Lifet) are a Staple in Arab Cuisine

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