Your Lebanon Chef Feature: The Janoudi Kitchen
The sisters behind The Janoudi Kitchen have made their passion for food a beautiful hobby. Their page is filled with dinner inspirations, and they share step by step recipe tutorials. Living abroad, they understand the importance of staying in touch with where you are from, and like us, they do so through their food and traditions!
Connect:
- Instagram: Instagram/TheJanoudiKitchen
Guest Recipe Features:
Q & A with The Janoudi Kitchen
Please tell us about yourself:
We’re three sisters named Sarah, Sima and Suhair Janoudi (Fun fact: Sarah and Sima are actually twins!), we’re Syrian American. Our Instagram blog bio says “Scientists by day, foodies by night”, which is exactly what we are. Sarah is a laboratory scientist, Sima goes to school studying biology, and Suhair is in the field of clinical research. But when we’re home, we’re making Syrian and cross-cultural meals for friends and family, and we love hosting parties!
Where are you from:
We are from a small coastal town in Syria called Jableh, but we’ve lived in the USA for most of our lives.
Where are you currently residing:
We’re all in the US but we each live in a different state, but we’re very close and are often visiting each other <3
What is your favorite Middle Eastern dish to make:
Mehshi kusa (stuffed zucchini)! It was our favorite dish growing up and we still love it and love making it today.
Do you prefer traditional Middle Eastern dishes or Modern/fusion Middle Eastern dishes:
Definitely traditional!
What do you love most about cooking Middle Eastern cuisine:
It helps to learn the old traditions and flavors of dishes, a great way to keep the Middle Eastern cuisine going for generations
What is your favorite Middle Eastern restaurant:
Al-Mall (المل) an amazing Lebanese restaurant in Cranston, Rhode Island!
What is your favorite food blog:
A small but very authentic source of Lebanese dishes with amazing recipes from Habibi, What’s Cooking? Here is the link: https://achamseddine.wixsite.com/habibi-whats-cooking
What is a must have tool in your kitchen for making Middle Eastern food:
Maamoul molds 😉 always need those for maamoul and other Ramadan/Eid sweets!
What advice do you have for someone just starting to find their way around the kitchen:
My advice is go and watch the masters and take notes! That could be your mom, aunt, grandpa or even online chefs. Once you can replicate perfectly then start to add little tweaks of your own and make something more original!
What nostalgic candy bar would you grab on walks to the local deken when you were a kid:
There was one we used to love in Jableh, Syria called Ruby.
Cooking for us is one of the best and simplest ways to show gratitude to the blessings of food, family, friends and culture. It is one of those timeless gifts to the world and we imagine we will love cooking and sharing for the rest of our lives.