Bethlehem

A BEST COOKBOOK OF THE YEAR: Los Angeles Times Bethlehem is a celebration of Palestinian food and culture from one of the area's most dynamic chefs and a portrait of one of the most storied cities in the world.

Franco-Palestinian chef Fadi Kattan celebrates the hidden parts of Bethlehem, his home, conjuring the colors and smells of its market and spice shops and introducing readers to the local farmers and artisans with whom he works to find the perfect ingredients and shares his love of culinary experimentation. Fadi's inspiration comes from these food artisans, who grow the grapes, mill the wheat, make the olive oil, and most importantly, pass down the generational food knowledge.

His loving profiles of these people are accompanied by his own recipes, some passed down, some from his restaurants in Bethlehem and London. Learn to stuff grape leaves with Nabulsi cheese, slow roast lamb seasoned with fenugreek and cardamom, roll labaneh in nigella seeds, and make Mouhalabieh, a milky pudding scented with mastic and pistachios. Bright and bold flavors and the stories of their origins await readers in Bethlehem.

Amidst growing chaos and strife, these stories, recipes, and the legacy of this ancient city, Bethlehem, endure.