AVAILABLE: MARCH 21, 2022
Karavan Kitchen is a beautifully photographed vegan cookbook that provides an introduction to cultures deeply affected by war, displacement, and oppression, featuring recipes of the Middle East and North Africa.
Published in support of Karavan, a non-profit organization that supports displaced people around the world by leveraging blockchain technology to improve the lives of millions of global refugees.
Food and stories from across the region, including Afghanistan, Syria, and Eritrea, highlight the plight of people dealing with the daily realities of living with war and political repression. The striking photography helps evoke senses of both the multiple places these people reside, physically and mentally, and of the people themselves.
Dishes in Karavan Kitchen are as diverse as corn in a coconut-turmeric sauce from Somalia, Ethiopian cabbage and potato stir-fry, and Iraqi-style samosas stuffed with pomegranate and mint. Full-page photographs accompany most recipes.
Soraya Beheshti is the CEO and founder of Karvan, a recipient of the Columbia University Innovation Grant, where she was also an undergrad student, and was a semi-finalist for the Tech.Co Startup of the Year competition and the 2018 Hult Prize, the world’s largest social venture competition.
An excellent addition in any kitchen, and a sober reminder that in the past decade, the global refugee population has more than doubled. According to the UNHCR, over 84 million people around the world have been forced to flee their homes. Among them are over 26.6 million refugees, the highest population on record.
Those numbers do not include the Ukrainian crisis from the Russian invasion. We currently live in the largest displacement crisis in Europe since World War II.
Beheshti,Soraya. Karavan Kitchen.Lantern Publishing & Media;Woodstock,NY. Hardcover. RRP$75. 332pp. 2022.
