BOOK OF THE WEEK by Linda Jennings – TOGETHER, THE HUBB COMMUNITY KITCHEN, 9781529102925 (Ebury Press) BD4.900 for Gulf Weekly Book Club members
With a foreward by HRH The Duchess of Sussex, Together celebrates the power of cooking to connect us to one another.
In the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire in London which claimed the lives of 72 residents, a group of local women gathered together to cook fresh food for survivors, their families, neighbours and helpers.
Over the chatter and aromas of the kitchen they discovered the power of cooking and eating together to create connections, restore hope and normality, and provide a sense of home. This was the start of the Hubb Community Kitchen.
Together is a storybook of this West London community, showcasing more than 50 delicious recipes from the kitchen and all profits from the book will be reinvested in the Hubb.
The women invite readers to make their favourite simple dishes - many handed down over generations - from the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and Eastern Mediterranean.
Every dish tells a story of history, culture and family, and each has been developed to use few ingredients and easy methods so that anyone can cook these personal recipes.
Together features mouthwatering dishes including Green Chilli and Avocado Dip, Coconut Chicken Curry, Aubergine Masala, Persian Chicken with Barberry Rice, Caramelised Plum Upside-Down Cake, Spiced Mint Tea and lots more.
This stunning charity cookbook is a homage to life,
friendship and togetherness.
READ IT NOW IN PAPERBACK
SEA PRAYER, KHALED HOSSEINI
9781526602718 (BLOOMSBURY)
BD5.400 for Gulf Weekly Book Club members.
The No 1 New York Times-bestselling author of The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns, and And the Mountains Echoed responds to the heartbreak of the current refugee crisis with this deeply moving, beautifully illustrated (by Dan Williams) short work of fiction for people of all ages, everywhere.
On a moonlit beach a father cradles his sleeping son as they wait for dawn to break and a boat to arrive. He speaks to his boy of the long summers of his childhood, recalling his grandfather’s house in Syria, the stirring of olive trees in the breeze, the bleating of his grandmother’s goat, the clanking of her cooking pots.
And he remembers, too, the bustling city of Homs with its crowded lanes, its mosque and grand souk, in the days before the bombs and they had to flee.
When the sun rises they and those around them will gather their possessions and embark on a perilous sea journey in search of a new home.
MY FAVOURITE
READ OF THE WEEK
VOICES OF THE FUTURE, BLOOMSBURY PUBLISHING, 978-1472949431 (BLOOMSBURY)
BD7.300 for Gulf Weekly Book Club members.
A wonderful anthology of eight stories addressing children’s rights and sustainable development, written by child authors from all around the world and produced in conjunction with UNESCO’s Voices of Future Generations initiative. The stories in this book are written by children aged between eight and 12 from every corner of the globe: Canada, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, South Africa, Taiwan, Uruguay and United Arab Emirates.
With beautiful, full colour illustrations throughout by Jhonny Nunez, Giovana Medeiros, Marco Guadalupi and Mona Meslier Menaua, this book is the perfect way to engage children with the issues facing the planet and the lives of children in other countries.
The stories are imaginative, empowering and inspiring. They focus on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Sustainable Development Goals and present likeable characters who go on problem-solving adventures to fix the problems faced in each region.