Warm dishes for a winter spread

Winter in Amsterdam, the city I now call home, is a time to savour the warmth of good company gathered around the dining table. I like to invite people over, preferably a whole kitchen full. The best part is seating as many as can fit along both sides of two-and-a-half metres, the length of my dining room table! My friends hail from all corners of the globe – Asia, South America, Europe and the Middle East – and I feed them Syrian-style, with a rich assortment of dishes meant to be shared. I feed them as my mother and my grandmother taught me.