Local author Najah Shuqair is trying to help people discover the joys of eating homemade Middle Eastern cuisine while raising money for the Women’s Interval Home of Sarnia-Lambton.
The Jordanian-born woman, who moved to Canada in 1987, was working towards completing her designation as a Distinguished Toastmaster for Toastmasters International when she decided to do something that benefits her community, as a requirement of that program.
Marrying her love of cooking with her love of writing and poetry, Shuqair compiled 40 of her favourite recipes from Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Turkey – including Lentil Soup, chicken and beef shawarmas, Baklava, Tabbouleh salad, Arabic salad, and eggplant dip – and added her short poems to every recipe, creating a captivating cookbook featuring ingredients that can be purchased locally.
With chapters on dairy recipes, desserts, soups, appetizers as well as beef, chicken and fish meals, Shuqair’s Quick and Easy Cookbook: A Recipe and a Poem cookbook is a must-have for people craving a taste of popular, delectable and healthy Middle Eastern dishes, the author said.
“Canada is a multicultural country, so I learned how to cook Chinese, Italian, Japanese, Irish and Canadian meals when I first came here,” Shuqair said. “People love eating multicultural food … people here in Sarnia love chicken shawarmas and falafels.
“I’ve been here for 35 years, and I’ve shared my food with my neighbours and my friends, and once they try it, they just love Middle Eastern cuisine. They keep asking me every year, ‘When are you going to make us something else to eat?’” she said with a laugh. “So what I did in the recipe book was make recipes for things that people will eat. And I’m sure that they’ll eat these dishes.”
With the help of husband Sam (who donated half the money towards the book) and her son Sal, her colleagues at Toastmasters, the Bluewater Writers Group, Margaret Bird and a grant from the Creative County Grant Program (the other half of the funding for the book), Shuqair put in months to create a cookbook that not only provides simple instructions but also lists which local stores have products needed for the recipes as well as variety of substitute suggestions for those with allergies or different tastes.
Though busy since 2016 volunteering, interpreting and assisting Syrian refugees living in Sarnia-Lambton while also involved with Toastmasters, Shuqair put aside time to write the book in the fall. She finished it a few weeks ago.
As the pandemic has forced people to improve their home cooking skills, Shuqair said her cookbook will allow amateur chefs and those with little or no experience to make healthy, hearty meals, snacks, and desserts with a delicious Middle Eastern twist.
“(Middle Eastern) food is very healthy – low in sugar, low in salt, low in fat because we mostly use olive oil,” she said. “Since COVID, many people – including many students and young people, I’ve noticed – have gone back to the basics, making healthy food at home with products that don’t cost much money. This book will help them create delicious meals for not much money.”
As with her previous two published poetry books, 2008’s Enter My Heart: Poems for the Soul and 2014’s Sarnia, You Are In My Heart, Shuqair will donate half of the proceeds of her book to a local charity.
Shuqair said the Women’s Interval Home of Sarnia-Lambton will receive the funds This time.
“It’s such a wonderful resource for women of all backgrounds,” she said. “They help so many people in the community, so I decided to support them at this time.”
To purchase Shuqair’s Quick and Easy Cookbook: A Recipe and A Poem, it can be ordered directly from the author at najah137@hotmail.com (Shuqair will send an e-transfer link and the book will be mailed out) or Amazon.