{"id":393956,"date":"2025-08-21T11:30:52","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T14:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/?p=393956"},"modified":"2025-08-21T11:31:35","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T14:31:35","slug":"stories-celebrating-arab-cuisine-in-a-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/stories-celebrating-arab-cuisine-in-a-book\/","title":{"rendered":"Stories celebrating Arab cuisine in a book"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 The book Brimos \u00e0 mesa: hist\u00f3rias da culin\u00e1ria \u00e1rabe no<\/em> Brasil [Brimos at the Table: Histories of Arab Cuisine in Brazil] (F\u00f3sforo<\/a> publishing house), by journalist Diogo Bercito, was launched on Wednesday evening (20) at the headquarters of the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce<\/strong> (ABCC) in S\u00e3o Paulo. The book signing event was accompanied by a cocktail served by the restaurant Ar\u00e1bia and a discussion with its owner, Leila Youssef, about cuisine and memories of immigration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brimos \u00e0 mesa<\/em> portrays the origins of recipes referred to as Arab in Brazil but that actually emerged in various regions of the Middle East. More than just recovering the history and original preparations of dishes such as kibbeh, sfiha, and tabbouleh, among many others, Bercito also examines the evolution of these recipes, how they were adopted and spread in Brazil, and how they contributed to preserving the memories of Arab immigrants.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The
The book launch was accompanied by a cocktail at the Arab-Brazilian Chamber headquarters in S\u00e3o Paulo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cThe book emerges from this desire to weave together the history of Arab immigration and the Arab community through spices, dishes, recipes, and restaurants. One of the surprising things during the making of the book is confirming, realizing, that food has been a central element of the Arab community,\u201d Bercito told ANBA. He is also the author of Brimos: imigra\u00e7\u00e3o s\u00edrio-libanesa no Brasil e seu caminho at\u00e9 a pol\u00edtica <\/em>[Brimos: Syrian and Lebanese Immigration in Brazil and Its Path to Politics].<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the book, the author, a journalist for Folha de S. Paulo<\/em>, Middle East specialist, and PhD candidate in history at Georgetown University in the United States, recovers and documents iconic figures of Arab cuisine, whether individuals or restaurants that have become references in the field. One of the cases featured in the book is Ar\u00e1bia, a famous S\u00e3o Paulo establishment specializing in dishes such as falafel and raw kibbeh. Its owner, Leila Youssef, shared her family kitchen memories with the audience at the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She shared that when she was a child living in the countryside of S\u00e3o Paulo, her mother worked \u201cmagic\u201d with the few ingredients available. She recalled that her father was a lover of fine dining and that he never sat down to eat without a few randomly chosen companions when the house was empty. \u201cEating is not something you do alone, and an Arab custom is to arrive for a meal without announcing that you\u2019re coming,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the book signing night, the chef shared her testimony and memories around the table. In addition to her, other chefs, entrepreneurs, families, and stories in Bercito\u2019s narrative highlight the bonds of the Arab community in Brazil, passed down from generation to generation, years after the arrival of the first immigrants. The event was also attended by the Vice President of Marketing of the ABCC, Silvia Antibas, and the institution\u2019s Treasurer-Director, Mohamad Abdouni Neto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quick Facts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brimos \u00e0 mesa: hist\u00f3rias da culin\u00e1ria \u00e1rabe no Brasil<\/em>
Diogo Bercito
288 pages
F\u00f3sforo publisher
Prices: BRL 99.90 (e-book BRL 69,90)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more<\/em>:
The paths of Arab cuisine in Brazil<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Translated by Guilherme Miranda<\/strong><\/p>\n

Marcos Carrieri\/ANBA<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Journalist Diogo Bercito launches his second book in S\u00e3o Paulo, Brimos \u00e0 mesa, with a cocktail and discussion at the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2317,"featured_media":393959,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46537],"tags":[48478,54108,2093,9534],"class_list":{"0":"post-393956","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arab-brazilian-chamber","8":"tag-arab-brazilian-chamber-of-commerce-2","9":"tag-arabia-3","10":"tag-book","11":"tag-brazil-en"},"wps_subtitle":"Journalist Diogo Bercito launches his second book in S\u00e3o Paulo, Brimos \u00e0 mesa, with a cocktail and discussion at the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2317"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=393956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393956\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/393959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}