Señora Favorite
Sami Tamimi
Jerusalem / London
Palestinian chef and co-author of Jerusalem and Falastin, Sami brings the deeply personal flavors of Palestinian cooking to a global audience with grace and pride.
Known for: Falastin and his long collaboration with Ottolenghi at their restaurants
Falastin
Señora Favorite
Yotam Ottolenghi
Jerusalem / London
The chef, restaurateur, and author who single-handedly changed how the English-speaking world cooks vegetables — through the lens of Israeli, Palestinian, and Middle Eastern flavor.
Known for: Jerusalem, SIMPLE, and the Ottolenghi Test Kitchen series
Jerusalem
Anissa Helou
Lebanon / London
One of the world’s great food anthropologists, Anissa has spent decades documenting the cuisines of the Arab world, the Mediterranean, and the Silk Road with extraordinary depth.
Known for: Feast and Levant — the definitive books on Islamic culinary culture
Feast: Food of the Islamic World
Bethany Kehdy
Lebanon / London
Lebanese-American food writer, chef, and author behind Dirty Kitchen Secrets — a proud, fun, and utterly authentic voice for Middle Eastern flavors in the modern world.
Known for: Dirty Kitchen Secrets blog and The Jewelled Kitchen
The Jewelled Kitchen
Joudie Kalla
London / Palestine
Palestinian food writer and chef whose Palestine on a Plate is one of the most personally moving cookbooks in recent memory — generous, honest, and absolutely delicious.
Known for: Palestine on a Plate and Baladi
Palestine on a Plate
Mona Hatoum
Beirut / Amman
Jordanian food writer and culinary educator who documents Levantine cooking traditions with scholarly care and the warmth of someone who grew up eating them.
Known for: Her work documenting traditional Jordanian and Palestinian home cooking
Reem Kassis
Jerusalem / Philadelphia
Palestinian author of The Palestinian Table and The Arabesque Table, Reem documents Palestinian culinary heritage with fierce beauty and unflinching cultural pride.
Known for: The Palestinian Table — the first comprehensive Palestinian cookbook
The Palestinian Table
Salma Hage
Lebanon / London
Lebanese home cook and author of The Lebanese Kitchen — a magnificent doorstop of a book that feels like a grandmother’s entire cooking life put between covers.
Known for: The Lebanese Kitchen and The Middle Eastern Vegetarian Cookbook
The Lebanese Kitchen