About this item
Rawia, in Arabic, means storyteller. And that is what I am. I tell the stories of my life's journey, culture, and family through my cooking. A delicious meal is the greatest companion to the memories we cherish most. I was born into a food-loving Palestinian-Arab family in Nazareth, a beautiful town in the southern Galilee. Though the words "organic," "locavore," and "sustainable" were unknown then, my parents' approach qualified on all counts. My respect for the sources of food, how it is grown and prepared, originates in my early years at home. My grandmother had ceramic urns filled with fruity olive oil, pressed from the trees on her family's land picked by my aunts and uncles. My mother, too, made her own olive oil, and used the remaining "crude" oil to make soap; she also distilled her own vinegar, sun-dried her own herbs and fruits, made fresh batches of goat cheese, as well as sweet wine from our vineyards, and jarred jewel-colored jams from the bounty of the local orchards.
About the Author
Rawia Bishara opened her restaurant, Tanoreen, in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn in 1998. Since then she has received many accolades, among them Gourmet magazine's "11 Best Restaurants Worth Your Money," The New York Times' Sam Sifton's "50 Current Favorite New York Restaurants," New York Magazine's "Best Mezze" and "#1 Cheap Eats" awards and The New York Post's "Top 5 Restaurants in Brooklyn." Tanoreen has been named to Michelin's Bib Gourmand guide four years running and has received "Best In" category scores in Zagat as well as being named in their top 50 New York City restaurants. Rawia and her food has been featured in The New Yorker, Travel and Leisure, Blackbook magazine and The Village Voice among other publications. Her recipes have been featured on the Food Network's "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" and published in The New York Times, Plate, The Daily News, and New York Magazine. Rawia was just named one of Schneps' "Top Women in Business." She also teaches a recurring cooking course at the prestigious DeGustibus Culinary School in New York City.
