Reem Assil - Arabiyya: Recipes from the Life of an Arab in Diaspora [A Cookbook]

Giving Thanks

SHUKRAN! THANK YOU!

Words alone cannot capture my thanks. For that, I would need food. And justice. And love. To all the people who have stood by me, held space for me, and experienced joy with me, you have my infinite gratitude.

My mama, Iman, equally powerful against adversaries and generous beyond measure. You are my rock.

My baba, Naim, your knack for knowing when I need to be connected to my roots has fed me time and again.

My sisters, Dalyah and Manal, who fill my life with pleasure. You are the orange blossom syrup to my knafeh.

My aunts and uncles, near and far, your meals and laughter lift and inspire me.

My partner, J, whose motto, Dont stop, dont quit, has pulled me through hard times. Your grace and ease safeguard me. Our beautiful son, Zain. Who knew the human heart could love like this? In the words of poet Ellen Bass, Ive become one of the mothers, with their hearts beating outside their bodies.

My grandparents, Nabigha and Tahsin, you demonstrated that the meals we eat together can feed our souls along with our bodies.

My Uncle Eyad, whose homemade focaccia was the first, and best, Ive ever tasted. Asker-of-hard questions, you helped crack open my defenses under the refuge of Californias redwoods.

The Reems team, past and present, I have learned from every one of you. Hai, my fairy godmother, your administrative wizardry made space for the important things. Zaynah, my ride-or-die, who brings Reems to life with me. You embody the truest spirit of Arab hospitality.

La Cocina staff and entrepreneurs. Caleb Zigas, you went out of your way to drum up support each time I reached the brink, and Emiliana Puyana and Blake Kutner, you taught me how to cook bold and refined dishes that defied my insecurities.

My guardian angel Ghassan Haddad, you drove your masonry and tools up from Southern California to build me the hearth from which a thousand loaves would rise.

All the entrepreneurship programs (there were a lot): ICA Fund Good Jobs, Food Systems 6, Centro Community Partners, Womens Initiative, you each had a hand in nurturing my inner entrepreneur.

My unofficial uncle Jess Ghannam, who provided support in just the way I needed it and doubled down when the going got tough. You believed in me even when my own belief faltered.

The fierce activists who continue to tell the truth about the Palestinian struggle. I am blessed to walk in your footsteps.

Rasmea Odeh, you remind me to find joy in the struggle, even when Im afraid.

My organizing community, past and present, you encourage me to take a chance on food.

Arab Resource and Organizing CenterLara Kiswani, Sami Kitmitto, Chris Lymbertos, Sharif Zakout, and the crewyou continue to be my political home. Center for Third World Organizing, East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy, School for Unity and Liberation, Residents United for a Livable Emeryville, and SEIU, your trainings in ground-up organizing are part of everything I do.

My alliesJewish Voices for Piece, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Critical Resistance, ANSWER, Third World for Black Poweralways ready with a flatbed truck and microphone to amplify our voices. Thank you for having my back against my harassers and fighting for a more liberatory abolitionist future.

Left Wing Ftbol Club, you build community while fighting imperialism. A special shout-out to mama Sita Kuratomi Bhaumik, you schemed menus with me for team dinners while we peeled thousands of chickpeas for my first pop-ups.

Alicia Garza, you summoned your own food origins in the foreword and inspire me to live my best life even in the hard work of transformation.

Palestinian women cookbook writers Laila El-Haddad, Joudie Kalla, Reem Kassis, and Rawia Bishara, you paved the way for our voices to be heard.

Bay Area chef community, you accepted me as one of your own, despite my unconventional path to food, and opened opportunities of which I could only have dreamed.

IMEU and Life and Thyme crew, you helped tell stories that I didnt even know I had. And all the food media writers and producers, you made space for my voice in the face of death threats and raging opposition.

My high school history teacher Bill Schechter, you taught me that we live our history and first helped me find the words to capture it.

All the kick-ass women who helped bring this book to life:

Michelle Minori, chef extraordinaire, you tested every recipe and added you own special flair to deepen flavors. I am thankful for your mentorship.

Alana Hale, Jillian Knox, and Fanny Pan, you rocked the photoshoots and brought laughter and dance into the mix. Cece Carpio, you captured the essence of my story in your beautiful illustrations.

My agent, Rica Allanic, you followed my work from across the country and kept after me until I finally agreed to write this book.

My editor Kelly Snowden and art director Betsy Stromberg, along with the rest of the Ten Speed Press crew. Your enthusiasm and eye for beauty provided the cracks that let the light in during the darkness of a pandemic.

Emily Timberlake, you came to my side when I was figuring out what this book would be and offered wit and wisdom as an editor and lover of food and justice.

And finally, my Aunt Emily. Yours was another kitchen that I grew up in. Thank you for excavating family stories with me, distilling meaning and rhyme from the way the world has shaped me. Thank you for believing in this project and taking a chance to help me bring it to life, with your heart wide open.

About the Author

REEM ASSIL IS a Palestinian-Syrian entrepreneur based in Oakland, California, and founder of Reems California, a nationally acclaimed bakery and restaurant inspired by her passion for Arab street-corner bakeries and the vibrant communities they feed. Reem has garnered an array of top accolades in food, including as a back-to-back James Beard Semifinalist for Best Chef: West (2018/2019), StarChefs 2019 San Francisco Rising Star Restaurateur, San Francisco magazines 2018 Chef of the Year, and a San Francisco Chronicle 2017 Rising Stars Chef. Reem built her food career at esteemed worker cooperative Arizmendi Bakery & Pizzeria and is a graduate of the womens food business incubator program La Cocina, through which she had the privilege of learning from some of the Bay Areas most notable chefs.

Prior to her food career, Reem spent more than a decade organizing workers and residents in marginalized communities to have voices on the job and in their neighborhoods. Combining her lifelong experience fighting for justice and twenty years in the nonprofit and food industry, Reems current work sits at the intersection of her three passions: Arab hospitality, community building, and social justice.

Reem chose to write this book with her aunt Emily Katz, who is Jewish. Emily works in nonprofit public interest communications and advocates for social justice. She grew up in rural Northern California, beyond Humboldt Countys electric poles and phone lines, eating the vegetables that her family grew on its homestead and tending the goats and chickens that they raised beneath their cabin.

The process of book writing was new to them both, but the exercise of self-discovery and reflection was something Reem and Emily had been doing together for most of Reems life.