Emirates Lit Festival 2022

Living in the UAE is like living with a confluence of myriad different cultures, which we all learn to embrace enthusiastically. But each of us has special bonds with our home country, unique memories that hold significance for us. Food is an important part of that bond, a nostalgic link to our home countries and a way of keeping our heritage and traditions alive.

On Wednesday, February 9, 2022, twelve expat women living in the UAE came together to celebrate their diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds and their personal relationship to the recipes they love. In the process of writing their book Memorable Flavours together, they also shared what they’ve learned from each other and how that expands their experiences. The discussion was held at the Emirates Literature Festival, where the authors took us on a trip down memory lane and shared stories about their cultures and food traditions.

Congratulations to all of our authors:

Anita Shirodkar
Beibei Huang
Deepa Vinayy
Dina Spahi
Gaia Moncada Di Paterno’
Hanifa Meslem
Hend Saeed
Jannie Smerup Nielsen
Jumana Kazim Al Tamimi
Riwa Dabbagh
Naouel Chaoui
Oumkeltoum Mejbar Berrada

Click to Watch Discussion