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São Paulo – Arab dishes cooked by matriarch Nadia are a must in any Sahão family meetings in Londrina, Paraná. Her four children, four grandchildren and great-grandchild, plus friends and acquaintances, are the biggest fans of delicacies like lamb’s leg, Arab rice with chicken, and the traditional hummus and baba ghanoush, and other choice dishes that the Lebanese descendant cooks up.
At the suggestion of her children and friends, Nadia Abib Sahão pulled together over 100 of her own recipes for Receitas da Cozinha Libanesa (Recipes from Lebanese Cuisine), whose second edition has just come out. “The book was born with the purpose of teaching my grandchildren how I go about preparing my dishes, but friends of mine and my son Ricardo suggested we gather up those scraps from my notebook and into this book,” Nadia recounts.
The first edition came out three years ago and it sold out fast, with proceeds going to charities. Now, Nadia has revised the book and added new recipes. It’s available from bookstores like Curitiba and Martins Fontes, as well as online.
“Ricardo took care of everything,” explains Nadia, a native of Ibitinga, São Paulo. “He found the publisher, the photographer, and Chef Taico, who’s very well-known around these parts,” she says. Taico, a chef de cuisine and gastronomy teacher with a Youtube channel, helped out with the writing, especially the measurements that go into each recipe.
A few weeks ago, crates containing the second edition came in from the printing company, making Nadia very happy. “I’m very glad, because these recipes are not my own, they’re part of Lebanese culture,” she says.
Born in 1928, Nadia Sahão is the daughter to Lebanese immigrants who’d arrived in Brazil eight years earlier. Her mother was born in Beirut and her father, in Hasbaya – cities she made a point of seeing during a trip to their parents’ homeland. Apart from Nadia, her parents – who lived in Londrina from 1950 on – had four other children.
But that’s not all when it comes to Nadia’s connection with Lebanon: she married Assad, who’s also Lebanese-born. She had four kids with him – he’s since passed away –, who gave her four grandchildren and one great-grandchild. They all live in the same city as Nadia, who’s now in the process of planning out the next banquet, right after New Year’s Eve: “In a month I’ll be 90 years old, and we’ll have a party with lots of Lebanese food,” she warns, while making plans of what dishes to cook.
Quick facts
Receitas da Cozinha Libanesa
Hardback, 200 pages
Where to get it: Livraria Martins Fontes, Avenida Paulista, 500, São Paulo
Or online at http://www.receitaslibanesas.96.lt/
Email: receitaslibanesas@gmail.com
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
