A Word on Food Sustainability from the Editors

Many who authored these recipes are refugees from Syria, Yemen, and other war-torn countries. Many Turkish contributors came from regions where food scarcity was often a problem. What all contributors have in common is an awareness about using every ingredient they select. Many of the recipe authors insisted that there would be no waste when dictating the methods of preparation. For example, Inam Al-Shayeb noted that she used vegetable leftovers like the juice and seeds of fresh tomatoes for other dishes. Nizar Akram Elkharrat includes one recipe using Swiss chard leaves and another for the stems. And these pages include many interesting ways of using stale bread, including soaking it with an herbed yogurt sauce, as seen in Hayat Ali Naji Al-Laith’s recipe for shafut, or adding it to Fatima Fouad’s recipe for muz fattah, a comforting mix of toasted flatbread and banana slices drizzled with honey and cream.