Sifratna by Amjaad Al-Hussain

While I am waiting for my copy to arrive in the mail, I wanted to share an EYBDigital preview with our members. This preview will take you inside Amjaad’s gorgeous book and features the introduction and three recipes. I spent some time scanning through the electronic copy and find myself even more eager for the print copy to arrive. Recipes range from Hareesh (Cracked wheat porridge with chicken and gravy), Bint Alsahn (Yemeni layered pastry) to Zalaabeya (Yemeni beignets) in this photograph heavy book. The author shared a full description of Sifratna which we added to the detail section of our library record.

As The Washington Post article states, the recipes aren’t perfect with some ingredients not listed in the order of use and others needing more details but I find appreciation in a cookbook that is written out of love for one’s heritage. I can forgive the very minor issues while basking in Amjaad’s cuisine.

The author is donating profits from the first 100 books sold to famine relief efforts in Yemen. “I’m talking about cooking and these people are starving to death, so it just made sense,” she stated.  Recently, she announced on Instagram that the title is available digitally to the public for $25. This digital copy will be in the form of a PDF.  “100% of profits from the digital copy will be donated to those suffering from the ongoing famine in Yemen. The UN has warned that Yemen is facing “the worst famine in the world”. A UN humanitarian coordinator in October 2018 said: “We predict that we could be looking at 12 to 13 million innocent civilians who are at risk of dying from the lack of food.” Since March 2015 the country has deteriorated into what the United Nations (UN) has labeled the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.”

For additional ordering information, please see Amjaad’s site. For information on donating to the crisis in Yemen, please see this helpful website and this New York Times article.