Khadija's Kitchen: By Salwan Alshaibani and Dr. Nasrine Abdushakra

In Khadija’s Kitchen, childhood friends Nasrine and Salwan invite readers on a culinary journey from Dubai to India to Washington D.C. Both women grew up traversing the globe with their mothers, who magically share the same name: Khadija. The authors are delighted to share this very personal collection of over 40 recipes curated from their mothers’ kitchens, where they learned that food is more than physical sustenance. It is nourishment for the heart and soul. The pair grew up learning to prepare fresh, wholesome meals with their mothers. In those moments, surrounded by dust clouds of spice or piles of sticky dates straight from the marketplace, they also absorbed lessons in resilience, the beautiful alchemy of diversity, and the transformative power of love. Like the aroma of fresh-crushed spices in semolina halwa or the peaceful bubbling of curry on the stove, this exquisite cross-cultural cookbook’s diversity of recipes will entice both the body and imagination. Khadija’s Kitchen brings back the joy and delight of presenting a handmade feast at the table. Along the way, the pages are infused  with rich descriptions and vignettes of two women who learned to blossom in their mothers’ kitchens.