The story of Palestines food is really the story of its people. When the events of 1948 forced residents from all regions of Palestine together into one compressed land, recipes that were once closely guarded family secrets were shared and passed between different groups in an effort to ensure that they were not lost forever. In Falastin (pronounced fa-la-steen), Sami Tamimi retraces the lineage and evolution of his countrys cuisine, born of its agriculturally optimal geography, its distinct culinary traditions, and Palestinian cooks ingenuity and resourcefulness. Tamimi covers the territory between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan RiverEast Jerusalem and the West Bank, up north to the Galilee and the coastal cities of Haifa and Akka, inland to Nazareth, and then south to Hebron and the coastal Gaza Striprecounting his upbringing with eleven siblings and his decision to leave home at seventeen to cook in West Jerusalem, where he met and first worked with Yotam Ottolenghi. From refugee-camp cooks to the home kitchens of Gaza and the mill of a master tahini maker, Tamimi teases out the vestiges of an ancient culinary tradition as he records the derivations of a dynamic cuisine and people in more than 130 transporting photographs and 120 recipes.