Against all odds, Imad’s Syrian Kitchen opened its doors in May 2021 – a warm and welcoming restaurant in buzzy Soho in central London, serving up Alarnab’s best dishes, from his mouthwatering falafel to delicious Kabab Hindi, a lamb and tomato-based dish. Or to put it in terms relevant to a restaurant column, we do not have a more diverse restaurant sector than any other country in Europe by accident. It’s the product of waves of immigration. And yes, of course, some of that is also the product of rampant imperialism; the two things are often fellow travellers. Still, the fact is that if you enjoy eating the food of the Indian subcontinent, or of China and the Middle East, or of West and East Africa, of Thailand and Japan and Poland and all other points of the compass, cooked by people schooled from birth in its intricacies, you should give thanks for immigration. You should give thanks to people like Imad Alarnab, some of whom have risked their lives to be here. I know this is all bloody obvious, but sometimes the obvious needs to be said. I served the moussaka as suggested with mujadara. I have often made this dish but usually with rice and lentils rather than bulgar and lentils as specified in Imad’s recipe. This made for a very good texture and the spicing with baharat and mild curry powder was excellent as were the crispy onions strewn over the top. I whipped up the recipe for laban bikhiar (yoghurt salad) – Greek yoghurt topped with grated cucumber, mint, garlic and lemon – which is served with the mujadara. This is such a helpful book: the detail and organisation build a sense of understanding, working in confidence-building steps from what you know and like to a broader world of flavour and pleasure. It’s written in a bright, friendly tone, and I loved the mix of personal, historic and culinary. This episode came to be because along this journey we met many people working in grassroots refugee response, who have lived experience of migration themselves. By this I mean, refugees, people who have been displaced themselves, going on to support others in their same situation.

Alarnab says the issue is that some people view refugees as if they come from “a different planet.” In the run up to interviewing Imad I read loads of articles about his story. In some he spoke about the 65 days he spent living in Calais, holding on to the underside of lorries trying to get to the UK. But most importantly I remember him talking about how cooking was always a part of his journey. How a British Pakistani volunteer had given him a small stove and gas canisters so he could cook for himself and 14 friends. How he didn’t want to carry a knife and appear dangerous so he broke the vegetables up with his hands, and how a local Calais resident had been annoyed with them fishing close by, until one day Imad offered him some of the dish he had made with the fish, and from then on, he allowed Imad and his friends to charge their phones at his house. wife and daughters, they are more happy than ever,” Alarnab says. “We are connecting to each other more than ever. They are doing great at their schools.” Engaging and warm as the words are, the colourful illustrations by Harriet Lynas magnify and enhance the message of this unique celebration of how we eat. Imad’s Syrian Kitchen was born of a dream that first took hold when Alarnab partnered with a charity to host a pop-up kitchen in east London in March 2017. It was an immediate word-of-mouth success and led to many more, with Alarnab bringing traditional Syrian cuisine to customers from Hampstead to High Wycombe.

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The interior of Imad’s Syrian Kitchen – light and airy with pops of blue tiles – was designed by Alarnab to be “very simple,” and to resemble a home in Damascus.

This episode is about my Eritrean foster brother Mez and his younger brother Josi. A few years after Mez left Eritrea to avoid compulsory military service, so too did his little brother Josi. Josi is two years younger than Mez and they grew up doing everything together. They wore the same clothes, liked all the same things and Mez described him as being his little shadow. So despite Mez’s warnings of how dangerous it was, it’s no wonder that when he also became of age to be called up to the military, Josi chose to follow in his older brothers footsteps and flee the dictatorship in which he lived, in the hope of joining his older brother here in the UK.

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This is an episode and a story that I’ve been wanting to share for nearly two years... and I am so happy to finally be able to do so! Neem luchthavens in de buurt op in je zoekopdracht. Verbreed je zoekopdracht voor vluchtaanbiedingen voor Damascus naar Londen door de optie 'Luchthavens in de buurt toevoegen' te selecteren. Hiermee kun je vluchtprijzen zien voor alle dichtstbijzijnde luchthavens op je vertrekpunt en je bestemming en kun je de volgende keer dat je reist besparen.

The book is a celebration of – and an elegy to – the Syria that Imad was forced to leave behind. He was a very successful businessman and chef in Damascus, but his opposition to Assad meant that it was no longer safe for him nor his family for him to remain. Interspersed with the recipes is the story of how he came to London – a tale that mirrors that of so many desperate refugees seeking asylum here. People often ask ‘Why Britain, and not some other safe country?’. Imad’s response is that 1) he already spoke fluent English, and did not feel at his age he could learn a new language to the same proficiency required to integrate into the new country; 2) he already had family living in Northern England. He has now become a British citizen, and his wife and children have been able to join him. The step-by-step tutorials include images numerous enough to guide and few enough not to confuse. The appealing recipes showcase the different pasta forms superbly: gemelli with slow-cooked pork shoulder ragù and saffron lorighittas with blue swimmer crab made me particularly hungry. The subtitle – The Many Shapes Of A Family Tradition – reflects the importance of family food traditions and connections that run through the book.Born in Iran, Saghar Setareh has lived in Italy since her early twenties. Her first book is a seriously beautiful, rich sharing of the food culture of her two ‘homes’ and the space between, capturing how the migration of ingredients, recipes and people informs and develops food traditions. This personal, lively and engaging book – laced with sour cherries, pomegranates, filopastry, anchovies and courgettes – delivers as fully on photography (her own) and writing as it does recipes. I was introduced to Nadir’s work through his most recent youtube series Bad Pakistani about his journey through Pakistan to explore and understand his Pakistani heritage. I loved it. His work spans themes of culture, travel, heritage, belonging, food and more - all my favourite topics. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did…

Complete with heartfelt stories, stunning photography, and beautiful illustrations, Imad's Syrian Kitchen features 90 sensational recipes celebrating the flavors of Syria. This is the story of how Mez has spent the last few years doing everything he possibly can to get his brother to safety. It's a very personal episode and I hope you enjoy it. Part two coming soon! Recipe I can’t wait to make: Neri miso, a combination of miso, honey and water or sake, which has “extremes of salt and sweet that are so balanced it’s as if your taste buds have been put into a painful, yet deeply soothing, yoga position” . In Damascus, chef Imad Alarnab says he ran three popular restaurants, alongside several juice bars and cafes. During the Syrian civil war, Alarnab’s businesses were destroyed, and Alarnab was forced to leave his home country. In some respects, the recipes in Imad Alarnab’s debut cookbook, named after his recently relocated Kingly Court restaurant in London’s Soho​​, are secondary to the author’s story of journeying as a refugee from his hometown of Damascus in Syria to London in 2015. “Being a refugee is exhausting,” he writes, emotionally, at one point. “It’s emotional. It’s depressing. It involves so much waiting, unable to do anything, completely at the mercy of a constantly changing series of people who mostly don’t seem to care.”Imad’s Syrian Kitchen is a bustling, riotous tour through 90 traditional and adapted Syrian dishes that can be made in the comfort of your own home. Imad will introduce us to the delicious flavours and techniques of the Syrian kitchen – showing you just how easy this wonderful cuisine can be.