Book of Dishes
Hey there, I’m Hind and I’m the face behind Book of Dishes. I’m so glad you’re here, welcome to my kitchen! This blog is where I share my favorite recipes and home tips with you all. I started blogging while pursuing my masters in public health as a creative outlet. I more recently decided to take a break and pursue blogging full time, as I mama to two boys under the age of two. My recipes are heavily inspired by my Egyptian-American upbringing in the very culturally diverse, Brooklyn, NY. I share a lot of traditional Middle Eastern and Mediterranean dishes as well as my take on a lot of these dishes (sorry in advance if you don’t like fusion or mash-up dishes!). My husband is Lebanese-Syrian, so our homed is pretty mixed–we both love cooking, so there are a lot of opinions in our kitchen! This is where I document my recipes, my book of dishes, if you will.
I really enjoy the artistic aspect of blogging and have built up a collection of dishes and service ware that I often use to document my dishes. I really enjoy the process of plating food so that it looks beautiful and inviting. You eat with your eyes first, after all. We love traveling and I often treat myself to beautifully intricate ceramic and clay dishware (and homeware) that I find in bazaars, boutique shoppes and on the side of the road (quite literally). One of my favorite pastimes with my mama is thrifting, where I have been fortunate enough to find so many lovely pieces! When I’m not cooking, I love to host family and friends, go hiking with my littles, and explore this city which I love so much. At home, I love painting and doing other DIY projects. You can often find me cozying up in my rocking chair by my library, scanning the pages, reading the blurbs and anecdotes in the cookbooks that I cherish.
The inspiration behind my blog’s name is Kitab al Tabikh, كتاب الطبيخ, which literally translated to ‘Book of Dishes.’ Kitab al Tabikh is the earliest known, surviving cookbook in the Arabic language. It was compiled in the tenth century by Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq. The book indicates the dishes, spices and techniques used during the Abbasid period in modern day Iraq and is thus a guide for traditional forms of cooking in the Middle East.1
I’m so thankful for you taking the time to get to know a snippet of my life. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out here, via email or on my social channels. I hope you enjoy your time here.
1- information sourced here is from Wikipedia.