Bishara’s cooking combines Middle Eastern techniques with Mediterranean flavors. But she takes cues from other cuisines, too. An eggplant napoleon is an ode to its principal ingredient, as well as an inspired marriage of textures: layers of feathery fried eggplant rest daintily between smears of baba ghanoush. Musakhan—flatbread topped with sumac-spiced chicken, slow-cooked onions, and almond slivers piled high, and sliced like a pizza—is a near-perfect harmony of sweetness and pungency. (Katherine Stirling, Tables for Two
The New Yorker, 7/5/2010)
Ms. Bishara’s translation of Middle Eastern cooking has Mediterranean accents, and occasional North American ones from her decades in the United States. And so the tang of cilantro enlivens some of her dishes, and the musk of basil, the welcome zing of jalapeño. (Sam Sifton, Tanoreen
The New York Times, 2/23/2010)
A strong contender for "Favorite Cookbook of the Season" is Brooklyn Chef Rawia Bishara's Olives, Lemons & Za'atar: The Best Middle Eastern Home Cooking. Her Bay Ridge restaurant, Tanoreen, has been recognized by critics and media alike as one of the best Middle Eastern restaurants in New York. Update your "must-visit" list and make these vegetarian stuffed eggplants, potatoes, tomatoes and squash for a memorable Meatless Monday. (
Food Republic, 2/10/2014)
it’s no big surprise that we’ve been drooling over the pages of Rawia Bishara’s beautiful new cookbook "Olives, lemons and Za’atar". Taking inspiration from her cosmopolitan childhood growing up in New York and holidaying in the Med, Rawia has created a book full of cross-cultural cooking. With chapters dedicated to breakfast, mezze, salads, soups and stews, main courses, sides, pickles and sauces and desserts you’re guaranteed to find something to satisfy your spice craving. For a fresh but filling salad the classic tabbouleh is a must try, packed with fragrant parsley and sweet plum tomatoes, no mezze would be complete without it! Or for the ultimate winter warmer the spiced lamb shanks are perfect. Tender slow cooked meat in a richly spiced sauce, all that’s needed is a crispy warmed flatbread and you have the ultimate comfort food. (Grace Parry
Eat. Travel. Live)
This is the first cookbook from Rawia Bishara, whose Brooklyn restaurant Tanoreen serves what she refers to as Middle Eastern home cooking. The book will focus on Bishara's personal experience with Middle Eastern food growing up in Nazareth, as well as food from across the region. As she calls it, it will be "a bible of Middle Eastern food." (Paula Forbes
Eater.com, 1/16/2014)
"Olives, Lemons and Za'atar'' [is] the story of how the food of a Nazareth childhood became destination cuisine. [Rawia Bishara’s] food has been called "narcotic,'' but now there's relief for some of the far-flung junkies. (Katherine Lanpher
Aljazeera America, 2/14/2014)
For 16 years, Bishara — whose first name means “storyteller” in Arabic — has been telling stories through the recipes she serves up at her popular Bay Ridge restaurant, Tanoreen. Now, Bishara is really living up to her name by putting those dishes down on paper, with her debut cookbook, “Olives, Lemons & Za’atar.”The book, which Bishara will sign at the BookMark Shoppe on March 4, is comprised of 135 recipes that celebrate her Middle Eastern roots, while also spicing up some old favorites. For Bishara, creating dishes that are delicious is more important than being entirely authentic.A staple in Bay Ridge since 1998, Tanoreen’s menu is inspired by the food that Bishara, a Palestinian, experienced growing up in Nazareth in northern Israel. Fans of the eatery will find many of their favorite dishes in “Olives, Lemons & Za’atar” — such as Bishara’s knafeh, her take on a sweet cheese-filled pastry, which was featured on the Food Network show “The Best Thing I Ever Ate.” But Bishara also concocted many new recipes just for the cookbook. (Sarah Iannone
Brooklyn Daily, 3/3/2014)
Why It’s Worthy: “Originally when I first came [to this country], everyone had the idea that Middle Eastern food was all about hummus and falafel and shish kebab,” Bishara told us. “People did not know that we really have a healthy, fantastic kitchen.”Even the book’s most impressive-looking dishes are relatively easy to execute, she stressed. “People are always afraid to try and cook new things; it’s really much easier than they think,” Bishara said. You won’t have to run here, there and everywhere in search of exotic ingredients, either; Bishara said you can find them at any good-sized supermarket. (Rachel Tepper, One for the Library: "Olives, Lemons & Za'atar"
Yahoo Food, 2/28/2014)
These recipes from the cookbook "Olives, Lemons and Za'atar" by Rawia Bishara, owner and chef at Tanoreen, showcase the unique flavor of Middle Eastern cuisine. (
Reader's Digest)
Bishara's book looks at the foods of her native Nazareth as well as the amped-up riffs that she serves at Tanoreen.Time and again throughout the book, she mentions adding more spice, more herbs, more flavor to a dish than her mother would have. Similarly, vegetarian options are given for many recipes. On a Cauliflower and Lamb Stew, for example, Bishara notes the recipe "doesn't rely on its meat for its flavor; simply use vegetable broth, omit the meat and enjoy it just the same, ladled over fragrant basmati rice." (Paula Forbes
Eater.com National, 2/18/2014)
Olives, Lemons & Za’atar: The Best Middle Eastern Home Cooking was released last week. It’s filled with more than 100 recipes for soups, salads, breakfast dishes, main courses, sides and desserts. While the recipes reflect traditional preparations that Bishara learned cooking with her family in Israel, there are also contemporary flourishes and influences from other cultures, such as the tagine djaj (chicken tagine), a popular Moroccan dish, and salmon in pesto, which Bishara started cooking when she arrived in the U.S.Bishara’s book isn’s just a compendium of recipes–it’s also a personal scrapbook of sorts, with reminiscences of her Palestinian upbringing in the town of Nazareth in northern Israel. (David Chiu
Brooklyn Based, 2/17/2014)
The record-breaking cold has turned you into one hungry s.o.b. But your recipe rotation (chili, lasagna) is weighing you down — literally. Ditch the usual winter suspects and warm up with a Middle Eastern classic from Nazareth native Rawia Bishara’s (of Brooklyn’s beloved Tanoreen) debut cookbook, Olives, Lemons & Za’atar. (Meghan Rooney, A Fried Tomato Recipe to Warm You Up: A hot Middle Eastern classic
Daily Candy, 2/24/2014)
In Olives, Lemons & Za’atar, Rawia Bishara takes you on a culinary journey from Nazareth to New York, with dishes that honor and expand on her mother’s unique approach to Middle Eastern home cooking. (
Table Matters, 2/28/2014)
I have long been a fan of Tanoreen, Rawia Bishara’s Palestinian restaurant tucked away in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, where her inventive mezze, like fried Brussels sprouts drizzled with fresh tahini and pomegranate seeds and eggplant napoleons slathered in babaganoush cream, make the forty-five minute trek from Manhattan well worthwhile. So, I was thrilled when I finally got my hands on her cookbook, and the secrets behind the delectable dishes I’d eaten at her restaurant. The recipes for my favorites turned out to be shockingly easy, 5-ingredient affairs, and as I flipped through the pages of mouthwatering photographs and lovely asides about local culinary folklore and her own food memories, I also discovered simplified recipes for many Palestinian classics. For example, her recipe for Musakhan, a complicated festival dish of sumac-rubbed roast chicken served on rounds of fresh-baked taboon bread, is transformed from weekend project to weeknight meal with a simple pizza-like flatbread recipe and smart substitutions like quick sautéed boneless chicken breast. Bishara’s modern, approachable take on classic Palestinian food makes Olives, Lemons, & Za’atar a book I’m glad to have on my shelf as a source for doable, exciting dishes and tried and true favorites that I will be reaching for again and again. (Felicia Campbell, Books Worth Buying: February and March's Best Food and Drink Releases
Saveur, 3/6/2014)