Matbakh | Food of the Arab World

Matbakh | Food of the Arab World

Author: afikra Language: English Episodes: 42
There’s a story in every pot, a history in every spice blend, and a conversation waiting to happen around every table. Matbakh | Food of the Arab World, from the team at afikra, is built on that idea. Rather than just presenting recipes, this series digs into the rich, layered connections between food, culture, and memory across the Arab world. Each episode is a deep dive with a different voice-chefs, historians, writers, and critics-who bring their personal and professional perspectives to the table. You’ll hear about dishes you might know and love, alongside hidden gems and ingredients that haven’t gotten their due. The conversations naturally explore where these foods come from, how they’ve traveled and transformed, and where they might be headed next. It’s a podcast that understands a cuisine is never static; it’s a living, evolving record of people and places. Tuning in feels less like a lecture and more like pulling up a chair to a fascinating, ongoing discussion where flavor is the starting point for everything from art and society to politics and identity.
Episodes
The Sudanese Kitchen | Omer Al Tijani [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 57:55
Discover an extensive amount of Sudanese dishes and ingredients (that you probably have never heard) shared by the author of The Sudanese Kitchen cookbook, who delves into them in nuanced detail. Sudan's culinary practic…
Palestinian Ingredients Through Time & Space | Fadi Kattan [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 57:41
This special episode of Matbakh is the first in a series of talks and special menu events called "dawaween al diwan" at restaurant, louf, in Toronto. Franco-Palestinian chef, Fadi Kattan, and Salma Serry, a doctoral rese…
Ziyad Ayass | Innovation & Nostalgia in F&B Startups [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:20
Join us for the second live episode of Matbakh in collaboration with What The Food, featuring Ziyad Ayass, the founder and managing partner of Wonder Restaurants, with Dubai F&B outlets like Ka'ak Al Manara – a Lebanese…
Leen Al Zaben | Building a Real Arab Culinary Community [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:39
Vanessa Zuabi interviews Leen Al Zaben in this one in two Matbakh special, recorded live on stage at What The Food by alserkal in Dubai. They discuss Leen's unexpected journey into the food industry, which began 15 years…
What Is Armenian Food? | Aline Kamakian [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:16:45
Over a shared meal at Mayrig restaurant in Beirut, we sit down with Aline Kamakian, the restaurant's creator, to discuss and get a taste of Armenia's rich food history and the diasporic evolution of what she calls this "…
The History of Coffee From Yemen to the World | Mokhtar Alkhanshali [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:35
Feeling curious and inspired to learn more about the history of coffee? Take a look through Mokhtar's coffee-themed reading recommendations 👉 https://www.afikra.com/daftarjournal/history-of-coffeeMokhtar Alkhanshali is a…
Al-Tujibi's 13th Century Andalusian Cookbook | Daniel Newman [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:47
Daniel Newman is the chair of Arabic Studies at the School of Modern Languages and Cultures in the University of Durham. His main areas of interest include Arab food history and Arabic geographical and travel literature.…
Iraqi-Jewish Food Culture & the Jews of Baghdad | Awafi Kitchen [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:00:51
This episode of Matbakh features Annabel "Nibal" and Sam Rabiyah, the sibling duo behind The Awafi Kitchen: a Boston-based pop-up culinary space dedicated to sharing Iraqi-Jewish food culture. This conversation looks at…