CONTACT: fitmeinfo@protonmail.com
Welcome to Feast in the Middle East! My name is Blanche Shaheen, with Blanche pronounced the French way, not the Golden Girls way (rhymes with Launch) I am a cookbook author, Emmy Award winning journalist, entertainment correspondent for NBC, fitness and travel enthusiast, and Youtuber as the host of Feast in the Middle East. I have followed the Mediterranean diet pretty much my entire life, and here I share with you heirloom recipes from the Levant that have been passed down to me from generations. The Levant consists of Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan.
These family heirloom recipes were never written down, until now. Using my journalism background, I did deep historical dives on these recipes and studied and documented the preparation methods so you can recreate these special dishes in your own kitchen successfully! My grandmother lived to 102 years old on this diet, and according to the Mayo Clinic the Mediterranean diet is the one diet actually proven to be the most heart healthy!
While you can find many recipes here and on my Youtube channel, my highly rated cookbook, Feast In the Middle East, A Pesonal Journey of Family and Cuisine gathers all of these recipes in one colorful 200 page guide that makes a great centerpiece as well. This book is also a historical document, giving you a deeper background on many of these ancient dishes. Feast in the Middle East has been acknowledged and recommended by Vogue Arabia, BBC Travel, BBC International, and NPR Radio.
When I am not publishing content on Youtube, I regularly appear on NBC’s California Live, where I interview chefs, restauranteurs, artists, and business people that are making an impact, while also covering lively events going on in California. I love giving a platform to small businesses that are contributing so much to our communities with their creative talents!
Before focusing on food, I became the first Arab American to become an entertainment and lifestyle reporter in the United States. I reported live daily on the ABC entertainment program called “View from the Bay”, hosted the PBS independent film show called “Video I,” reported business and tech news on “Tech Live,” and moderated politcal panels on “Mosaic, World News of the Middle East.”
But this project, Feast in the Middle East, is the most special to me, in that I get to interact with all of you in the most impactful and meaningful ways. While I love interacting with you on Youtube, some of you have seen my cooking segments on Virgin American Airlines in flight entertainment, others of you have attended my cooking classes at Draeger’s Markets and still others have found me from reading my food columns for the San Jose Mercury News or Arab America. Whatever the way your found me, I hope you feel welcome in this virtual home and find lots of healthy meal prepping ideas here! I love spreading my passion for Middle Eastern food and the Mediterranean lifestyle.
Thanks to all of you, this blog was voted as the 6th most popular Middle Eastern food blog in the world! https://blog.feedspot.com/middle_eastern_food_blogs/
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Here is the original Feast in the Middle East Trailer:
As for educational background, I got my Bachelor of Arts in Political Economy of Industrial Societies at U.C. Berkeley, followed by a Master’s Degree in broadcast journalism. I speak Spanish and Arabic, I am also a certified Zumba Fitness and bootcamp instructor, teaching hip hop, salsa, bollywood, and bellydance for 7 years. I support causes that fight human trafficking like Not for Sale and the International Justice Mission, as well as causes that help Palestinian children, like Heal Palestine and the PCRF. I am a Compassion International sponsor for an eighth grade girl in Colombia.
You can contact Feast In the Middle East here: fitmeinfo@protonmail.com
Just watched your recipe for Fattoush. Like your other recipes here, it’s exactly like my mom’s! Therefore, you’re now my newest best friend. Question: Beside the color, what’s the difference between zatar and sumack? I have always had both, but never taste a huge difference. BTW: My mom’s kibbe (the kind that’s UFO shaped w/ pine nuts) is absolutely amazing!
I bet your momma is an amazing cook Kell–I learned how to do all the old school stuff from my mother as well 🙂 Love that you described kibbeh as ufo shaped, (too cute) we just call them footballs but I would never throw them cause I would never get em back! 🙂 To answer your question, zatar is a spice primarily made of thyme, with hints of sumac in it sometimes. It has an herbal nutty flavor. Sumac is more lemony in flavor from the sumac berry. As a matter of fact, if you want to add a touch of sourness to food you can add sumac. You can use both to season chicken fish and vegetables. Of course with zatar you can eat plain with bread but with sumac that is not the best idea 😉
Thank you for responding!
I do put zatar on pita, w/ olive oil and tomatoes, but usually use sumac in my summer salads when purslane is growing.
Re: Kibbe – My mom also makes the football ones (kabboush?). The ufo shaped ones are perfect for grilling. Our all-time favorite is nayyeh with melted butter & onions on top.
Now I’m hungry.
Now you are making me hungry too lol!!
Do you ever list your recipes on your site? I do love your vids with all the great instruction (keep em coming) but sometimes just want to refer back to the ingredients and directions. Thanks so much.
Currently you can see my recipes in print form on http://my.ifood.tv/feast-in-the-middle-east but I plan to put all of the recipes in a e-cookbook within a year. Thanks for your interest.:)
I love your recipes. I love your Mom she is the bomb! Please do the Kanafe video.
God bless and hugs!
Lori Jo
Aw thanks Lori! Will pass the message on to her–God bless and thanks for your feedback! 😉
You are such a sweetie, thank you so much! xoxo
Please Blanche,
Could you do a full You-Tube on how to make real Lebanese Rice with meat, the same kind you see in Lebanese Restaurants as their side dish. Thank you for you’re awesome recipes. Love the videos with your mom. I lost my lovely mom in 2012. She was an amazing cook and my best friend. I have so many memories of her and I cooking together. Your You-Tubes with your mom makes me think of my mom and all the fun times we had together. So I thank you for including your mother. Shalom, Lisa
Hi Lisa! I do have a video for the rice, it’s about as authentic as it can get, and easy too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLiRpUmr8Cg&index=7&list=PLm5-PI4h0s4rITyI6Hd9bn2R328rBe8CB As for the meat do you mean kebab? Thanks for sharing the story of your mother, I am incredibly sorry for your loss, and glad I can bring back good memories for you. Consider us part of your virtual family!
Salam,
Blanche
Habibti Blanche, Love your page and channel. Could you please make a video for Maqlooba. Thank You keep up the good work your making us Palestinians proud.
Thank you so much for your kind words Nidal. I love Maqlooba! The only reason I haven’t done it yet is I am thinking of a less time consuming way to make it for a short video. Once I figure that out I will do a video on it. 🙂 Best regards, Blanche
Hello Blanche, my mother made a stuffed purple carrots stew in pomegranate juice with garlic and lemon sweet and tart; would you happen to have the recipe please?
Wow that sounds amazing! I have never grown up with or tried that dish before. Is it from Lebanon by any chance?
i like the fattoush salad it was an amazing and i hope tasty can i get the recipe
Hi Blanche, I was taught to make maqlouba by friends in a Negev Bedouin village where I lived in the early 2000’s. You are right that it would be difficult to fit into a short video . . .They also introduced me to the za’atar plant used for tea and medicinal purposes. But you might be able to do sauteed khobezi with rice, if you can ever get some. Khobezi (wild spinach) grows in fields and along the roads in southern Israel and in some places in the north, but I’ve never seen it anywhere else. It’s incredibly nutritious although most people consider it a weed . . .
What a great experience you had, wow maqlouba with bedouins in the Negev! I am wondering if the khobezi you refer to is another name for molokhia. It is like spinach but a bit slimier in texture, served with lots of lemon juice?
Hi Blanche, I think you are so sweet & gorgeous. I enjoy your Palestinian recipes. Just wondering if you know of an Arabic dish like that feels like turkish delight, but it is made of builders lime, & pumpkin, & after days it sets when cooked with sugar syrup. I don’t know what it is called, but I had tried it years ago, & was very nice. Blanche do you know what I am talking about? Can you do a video, how to make it? Thank you habibiti, love Teresa.
I wish I knew, I have never heard of that before! I will ask around and see if I can learn ore. Thank you for your feedback habibtee! Hugs, Blanche
Hello Blanche. Do you make the thick, round loaves of Syrian/Lebanese Bread? My Sito came from Syria and this was the only bread they made in her village. She would only use flour, salt, cake yeast & water. She would do two risings before making balls about the size of a grape fruit and allowing them to rise before flattening them out roughly the size of a pizza shell and allow them to rise. She’d place the loaves directly on the low oven racks in a 500 oven. Within a minute or so the loaf would rise about 10 inches. She would then transfer it to the high oven racks to brown.
Also, do you know how to make the Holy Bread that is used in the Orthodox Churches in Syria, Lebanon, etc. I believe the Slavic Churches call the bread Prosphora. I don’t know what it is called in Arabic.
Thank You 🙏
Hi There! Here is our recipe for homemade pita bread: https://youtu.be/zxW0lEWRyYE
Hi there Blanche, I have a Turkish background. Saw your 2 books and had to order them. I paid for both the hard cover and soft cover and received the hard cover only. It came along with instructions to download (?????) something. I’m 75, high maintenance & low tech. Have no idea what download is and no one to help me either. Would you please send me the soft cover book, which I paid the $9.95 along with the & $34.95 + shipping and handling? Thank You, Shukran, AnnaMarie Karsant
My invoice # 234873, purchase order # MBO-1150919, order date 7/20/2022