Zaatari: Culinary Traditions of the World's Largest Syrian Refugee Camp

This affecting and rich book chronicles the food prepared within Zaatari, a camp in Jordan for Syrian refugees. Established in 2012, it has become home to more than 80,000 displaced people.

Collected by a field researcher and ethnographer embedded within the camp, in the words of Claudia Roden, “What makes Zaatari extraordinary and poignant is… intimate insight into the misery, culture, and joyful vitality of the camp through the voices of its inhabitants. Passed down the generations from mother to daughter, cooking keeps the people of Zaatari camp connected to the towns and villages of the Syria they fled.”

Profiles of camp residents deepen this perspective: artists and athletes, librarians and entrepreneurs, bakers and barbers. They prepare and enjoy dishes such as:

• al-Bazala al Khadra, fresh green peas served with fresh coriander, garlic, and fried pine nuts

• Shakriyeh, lamb in yogurt made fragrant with cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, and peppercorns

• Rgagah, layers of dough and spiced chicken

• Maamoul, a sweet, molded pastry eaten to break Ramadan fasts, made with a range of fillings that determine their shapes

Given the scarcity of specifically Syrian books in English, and the warmth and generosity with which camp residents have shared their recipes, this is a particularly welcome addition to the literature.

Hardcover. Color photographs throughout.