Description

By (author) Kattan, Fadi

Short /annotation:
Bethlehem is a celebration of Palestinian food and culture from one of the area’s most dynamic chefs and a portrait of one of the most storied cities in the world.

:

SHORTLISTED FOR THE GUILD OF FOOD WRITERS AWARDS 2025

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BRITISH LIBRARY FOOD SEASON AWARD 2025

Bethlehem is a celebration of Palestinian food and culture from one of the area’s most dynamic chefs and a portrait of one of the most storied cities in the world.

Franco-Palestinian chef Fadi Kattan celebrates the hidden parts of Bethlehem, his home, conjuring the colours and smells of its market and spice shops and introducing readers to the local farmers and artisans with whom he works to find the perfect ingredients and shares his love of culinary experimentation. Fadi’s inspiration comes from these food artisans, who grow the grapes, mill the wheat, make the olive oil, and most importantly, pass down the generational food knowledge.

His loving profiles of these people are accompanied by his own recipes, some passed down, some from his restaurants in Bethlehem and London. Learn to stuff
grape leaves with Nabulsi cheese,
slow roast lamb seasoned with fenugreek and cardamom, roll
labaneh in nigella seeds, and make
Mouhalabieh, a milky pudding scented with mastic and pistachios. Bright and bold flavours and the stories of their origins await readers in Bethlehem.

Amidst growing chaos and strife, these stories, recipes, and the legacy of this ancient city, Bethlehem, endure.

Biographical note:

Fadi Kattan is a Franco-Palestinian chef living in Bethlehem. He has two restaurants: Fawda, in Bethlehem, and Akub, in London, as well as a Youtube series profiling Palestinian grandmothers and their food knowledge and traditions.