This is Instant Coffee, your quick fix of everything Middle East. This podcast, brought to you by the LSE Middle East Centre, features 20-minute conversations with activists, artists, journalists and more from the region.
From Tlmecen through to Bethlehem and the Bekaa Valley, we chart the history of wine production in the Middle East and North Africa. Farrah Berrou talks us through her journey of wine writing for a Western audience and what the future holds for Lebanese wine. We also explore the relationship between french colonialism and wine production, and ideas of nationhood, religion, and politics in Algeria and Palestine. Farrah is founder of B for Bacchus, a media platform & podcast featuring wine stories from the Fertile Crescent. Farrah is also a contributing editor to The Wine Zine, a print publication about natural wine. This episode also features commentary from Jamal Rayyis, a Palestinian-American wine writer, as well as Arthur Asseraf, historian of modern North Africa, France and the Mediterranean.
Have you ever thought about the names behind the dishes you're eating? Salma Serry, an Egyptian born filmmaker and interdisciplinary foodways researcher, gave us the lowdown on how many of the foods we know and love came to be named. We discuss folk tales, personal and national histories, and even get into the grammar of it all! This episode also features contributions from Mahmoud Arif, Iran Seyed Raeesi, Rusaila Bazlamit, Rawand Issa, Rajae Oujlakh and Sergen Bahceci. Thank you for sending in your recordings!
No new episode this week, but we're working on something that requires your help. Do you know any interesting facts, stories or folk tales about the names of dishes from the region? If so we want to hear from you! Drop us an email or contact us on Instagram to get involved. @instantcoffee.pod n.almanasfi@lse.ac.uk; r.sleiman-haidar@lse.ac.uk
Camel milk, mushrooms, ta'miyah, agashe, aseeda, tarkeen, these are just some of the foods and dishes that make up Sudan's intricate network of cuisines. We spoke with Omer Eltigani, cook, archivist and founder of ‘The Sudanese Kitchen' to talk more about the country's vast foods, their historical influences and how he is trying to bring these recipes to the younger generation. This episode also features comments on gender and food from Jennifer Shutek, PhD candidate and instructor, as well as a discussion on food and identity with filmmaker Hajooj Kuka. Follow Jennifer on Twitter: https://twitter.com/quixoticavocado Watch Hajooj's documentary 'Beats of Antonov': https://vimeo.com/ondemand/59409?autoplay=1 Visit Omer's website 'The Sudanese Kitchen': https://www.sudanesekitchen.com/
Is there such a thing as a Dubai cuisine? What role do the migrants and expats of the Emirate play in curating this food culture? On episode 7 we see if Vidya Balachander can help us find some answers. The episode also features additional analysis from Steffen Hertog, Associate Professor in the Department of Government at LSE. Vidya is a food writer, editor and journalist currently based in Dubai. She is the South Asia editor of Whetstone Magazine, an American print magazine and media company dedicated to food origins and culture.
In this episode, we speak about veganism both around the world and in Iran with Mana Shamshiri. Mana is a philosophy graduate and creator of the website and Instagram platform 'The Iranian Vegan'. She wanted to showcase the diversity of Iranian cuisine as well as provide a space for vegans of colour and those who aren't from traditionally vegan backgrounds. Follow Mana's work here: https://www.instagram.com/theiranianvegan/ https://theiranianvegan.com/
‘UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food' - who wouldn't want that job title? When we read about Michael, we knew we had to interview him to learn about what he had to do to get this cool job and to know what it actually entails. He talked to us about why food is a human right and how he uses the case of Lebanon, his home country, as a sounding board for his right to food questions. Find Michael on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MichaelFakhri
On episode 4, Nadine Almanasfi speaks with artist, storyteller and conservationist Vivien Sansour. Nadine has been trying to grow her own food and vegetable in her small allotment in north London and was very excited to speak with Vivien, who advocates for seed conservation and the protection of agro-biodiversity as a cultural and political act. She is founder of the Palestine Heirloom Seed Library, an interactive arts and agriculture project attempting to record ancient seeds and their stories and put them back into people's hands. To learn more about Vivien and the Palestine Heirloom Seed Library, visit: https://viviensansour.com/Palestine-Heirloom In the podcast, Vivien mentions Esiah Levy, whose legacy you can read about on the Green Conspiracy: https://thegreenconspiracy.com/esiah-levy/ To see the yakteen seed labels that Haya Kaabneh illustrated for the Hudson Valley Seed Co., visit: https://modernfarmer.com/2021/02/palestinian-seeds-come-to-america-stories-and-artwork-included/
On episode 3, Taif Alkhudary speaks with Nawal Nasrallah about the history and development of Iraqi cuisine from Mesopotamia to modern day through her own cookbook 'Delights from the Garden of Eden' and her translation of the medieval Arabic cookbook 'Annals of the Caliphs' Kitchens', an annotated translation of the tenth-century, Abbasid-era cookbook Kitab al-Tabikh by Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq. Nawal is an award-winning food historian of the Arab world, and translator of major medieval Arabic cookbooks hailing from Baghdad, Egypt, and Al-Andalus. Taif is a Research Assistant on the LSE Middle East Centre project 'Managing Religious Diversity in the Middle East: The Muhasasa Ta'ifia in Iraq, 2003–2018'. All artwork by Rawand Issa: www.instagram.com/rawand.issa_
On episode 2, Professor Madawi Al-Rasheed speaks with Faris Sheibani about the history and culture of coffee in Yemen, and how the drink can be used to connect with, and sustainably support, Yemeni farmers. Faris is a British Yemeni social entrepreneur and founder of Qima Coffee, a Yemeni social enterprise that uses coffee as a vehicle for livelihood generation in Yemen. Learn more about Qima Coffee here: https://www.qimacoffee.com/. Madawi is a Visiting Professor at LSE Middle East Centre and Fellow of the British Academy. Her research interests include history and politics of the Middle East with special reference to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, gender and state, religious transnational connections, and Islamist movements. Learn more about Madawi's work here: https://www.lse.ac.uk/middle-east-centre/people/madawi-al-rasheed. All artwork by Rawand Issa: www.instagram.com/rawand.issa_
In this first episode, Fadi Kattan speaks with Sara Masry about everything from Palestinian cuisine in Chile and Haiti to why you shouldn't make chocolate and beetroot hummus. Fadi is a Franco-Palestinian chef from Bethlehem. He opened his own restaurant, Fawda, in Bethlehem in 2016. Alongside his restaurant, he pioneered the region's first food tours. Fadi's approach to food is informed by his passion for sharing the stories of the localforagers, gardeners, farmers and cooks that have shaped the culinary heritage of Palestine. Sara is an actor, writer and a partner at Basima's Kitchen, where she and her sister Alia serve up dishes from their Saudi and Palestinian heritage, inspired by their late grandmother Basima.
On this special episode of Instant Coffee as part of our 10-year anniversary celebrations, we spoke with renowned food writers Claudia Roden and Sami Zubaida reflecting on all things gastronomic in the Middle East! Claudia Roden is a food writer and cultural anthropologist. Born and brought up in Cairo, she is best known as the author of Middle Eastern cookbooks including 'A Book of Middle Eastern Food', 'The New Book of Middle Eastern Food' and 'Arabesque—Sumptuous Food from Morocco, Turkey and Lebanon'. Sami Zubaida is Emeritus Professor of Politics and Sociology at Birkbeck, and also holds posts as Professorial Research Associate at the Food Studies Centre at the School of Oriental and African Studies. Born in Iraq, he is the co-author of 'Food, Politics and Society: Social Theory and the Modern Food System' and co-editor of 'Taste of Thyme: Culinary Cultures of the Middle East'.
On the final episode of this season's Instant Coffee, Co-producer of Instant Coffee, Ribale Sleiman-Haidar, talks to Wafa Mustafa about her father's enforced disappearance and why the world should be doing more to help. Wafa is a Syrian activist, campaigner and journalist. She is a survivor of detention and member of Families for Freedom, a group of women-led Syrian families demanding freedom for all of the country's arbitrarily detained and forcibly disappeared citizens. Families for Freedom: syrianfamilies.org/en/
On this episode of Instant Coffee, Co-producer of Instant Coffee, Nadine Almanasfi, talks to Omnia Shawkat about arts and culture in Sudan, and the country's unique position between Africa and the Arab World. Omnia is co-founder of Andariya, a bilingual digital cultural platform from and on Sudan, South Sudan and Uganda. www.andariya.com
On this episode of Instant Coffee, Sandra Sfeir, Projects Manager at the LSE Middle East Centre, talks to Aida Al-Kaisy about the growth of independent media in Iraq in the age of disinformation. Aida Al-Kaisy is a media development consultant and researcher who focuses on supporting ethical practices in the media industry.
On this episode of Instant Coffee, Sara Salem talks to Ghiwa Sayegh about resistance politics during a global pandemic. Ghiwa Sayegh is a feminist writer and researcher. She is editor-in-chief of Kohl, a journal for body and gender research produced in Beirut, Lebanon. We recorded this episode on the 3rd of August 2020, a day before the explosion in Beirut. We decided to release it as is because we believe it provides a good framework for understanding what led to the explosion. Website: kohljournal.press/ Twitter: @kohljournal, @feministswrite
On this episode of Instant Coffee, Marral Shamshiri-Fard talks to Moshtari Hilal about locating Afghanistan in the 'Middle East', as well as her own artistic practice. Moshtari Hilal is a visual artist and researcher working from Hamburg and Berlin. Website: www.moshtari.de/ Instagram: @moshtarimoshtari
On this episode of Instant Coffee, Isabel Käser talks to Houzan Mahmoud about the state of feminism in Kurdistan and Culture Project, a platform for writers, feminists, artists and activists from Kurdistan and the Kurdish diaspora to freely express their ideas. Houzan, a Kurdish feminist and public lecturer is co-founder of Culture Project. Culture Project: cultureproject.org.uk/ Kurdish Women's Stories (edited by Houzan Mahmoud): www.waterstones.com/book/kurdish-wo…//9780745341132
On the fifth episode of Instant Coffee, LSE Middle East Centre's Muna Dajani talks to Salem Barahmeh about technology and activism in Palestine. Salem is Executive Director of the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy (PIPD) and an advocate for Palestinian freedom and rights. You can find the PIPD on: Facebook: www.facebook.com/ThePIPD/ Twitter: twitter.com/thepipd Instagram: www.instagram.com/thepipd/?hl=en Youtube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCI1faJEQ…PLIBIS-g/featured
On the fourth episode of Instant Coffee, LSE Middle East Centre's Jack McGinn talks to Alon-Lee Green about the future of the Israeli Left. Alon-Lee is National Director of Standing Together, a Jewish-Arab grassroots movement organising in Israel. You can find Standing Together on: Facebook: www.facebook.com/standingtogetherenglish/ Twitter: twitter.com/omdimbeyachad Instagram: www.instagram.com/standing.together.movement/ Youtube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCEE8M44MkYm6wqN8HN98jnA
In episode 3 of Instant Coffee, Rasha Obaid Ba Sabih (@Rasha7Rasha) talks to Hafez Al-Bukari of the Yemen Polling Centre (@yemenpolling)about the challenges of researching in Yemen. The Yemen Polling Centre is an independent research centre which aims to impact local and international policymaking with the ultimate goal of improving the living conditions of the Yemeni people.
On the second episode of Instant Coffee, Sinéad Murphy (@DrS1neadMurphy) talks to Ahmed Masoud (@masoud_ahmed) about 'Obliterated', the play that never happened. Ahmed is a Palestinian & British writer from Gaza, living in London/UK. Author of the mystery novel Vanished & The Shroud Maker.
On this first episode of Instant Coffee, Omar al-Ghazzi (@omar_alghazzi) talks to Jean Kassir about covering the Lebanese revolution in times of Coronavirus. Jean is co-founder of Megaphone news, an independent media platform covering Lebanon and the region. You can find Megaphone on: Facebook: www.facebook.com/megaphone.news/ Twitter: twitter.com/megaphone_news Instagram: www.instagram.com/megaphonenews/
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