Um Salih

Restless and anxious to learn, Um Salih (Kiyaan El-Najjar) has clearly read up on health and nutrition; her kitchen conversation is scattered with opinions ranging from her wariness of plastic and wooden cutting boards (fragments of the board’s material might enter the food) to her enthusiasm for medicinal herbs and light, fresh, mostly vegetarian cooking.

She has adapted several classic Gazan dishes to her family’s more modern and health-conscious tastes. Her daughter, who comes to chat with us in the kitchen while we’re cooking, says she doesn’t know how to cook anything; she is busy with her studies at the university and isn’t really interested. “But she looks up recipes for me on the Internet!” says Um Salih proudly.