Shared by Annabel Rabiyah
Recipe Roots: Baghdad, Iraq > New York > Newton, Massachusetts > Boston

As the daughter of an Iraqi-Jewish emigre, Annabel Rabiyah says she grew up with a politicized identity. In her community, outside of Boston, “The idea of being both Jewish and Iraqi, or Arab, at the same time,” wasn’t always accepted or understood, she says. “Some people think those are two separate things — that you can’t be both at the same time.”

Her father Khuthur was born in Iraq where the Jewish community traces its roots to 722 BCE. “For the most part, until the very end, they led a lush life,” says Annabel. “They had positions of power and influence in the country and had friends across religious lines.” When her father and grandparents lived in Baghdad, the city was progressive and their life was calm. But, tensions and anti-Jewish sentiment grew in the 1940s and reached a fever pitch in 1967 with the Six-Day War in Israel.

Annabel’s grandfather Gourgi, uncle Samir, grandmother Rachel, father Khuthur, great-grandmother Nana, and aunt Yvette in the late 1970s or early 1980s.

The family, including her father, who was 12-years-old at the time, moved to North America never to return. “While we weren’t connected to our homeland, we were connected to each other,” Annabel says. Like in many diasporic communities, she adds, “food was the primary way they held onto their culture and history.”

Those recipes were a hallmark of her family home. On the weekends, her father would host brunch serving eggplant, eggs, and salads. The eggs were cooked slowly overnight with Iraqi tebeet, a whole chicken plunged into a pot full of rice. “We are blessed to have our entire family here and many people have been keepers of recipes in our family,” Annabel explains.

Her father and his brother learned those recipes as their mother Rachel was nearing the end of her life. She resisted teaching them for a time, telling them “men don’t cook.” But, ultimately agreed. The trio would spend time together in the kitchen and Khuthur and his brother would write down the recipes on index cards. “That’s the main record,” of her recipes, says Annabel.

On Rosh Hashanah, since Annabel was little she’s helped her father prepare Rachel’s kubbeh, an Iraqi dumpling often served in soup. “He would enlist me to hand roll them… there are different flavorings and shapes that go with each stew,” she says referring to the many variations on the soup which can be tinged pink by beets, made green with okra or green beans, or sour with the addition of lemon to the broth. “That was my main memory of Rosh Hashanah,” she says. They would invite friends and family over and serve the kubbeh alongside roasted eggplants with beef and tomatoes called ingriyeh and timmin, or slow-cooked rice, with h'kaka, or a crisp outer layer.

Her father’s cooking and their family’s culture inspired Annabel in 2017 to co-found Awafi Kitchen, which celebrates the cuisine through pop-ups, online cooking classes, and other events. “We wanted to see our family’s food featured in the public sphere,” she says, “I have a lot of very rich memories about Iraqi food and it felt important to show those stories.” They are a gateway into sharing the essence of her identity as an Arab Jew and the culture of her community.

Beef Kubbeh and Fasoulia Stew

Serves: 4
Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients

For the kubbeh:
½ pound ground beef or lamb (vegan: substitute minced sauteed mushrooms)
½ medium onion, finely diced
¼ cup loose packed parsley, finely chopped
1 ½ tablespoon + 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1 teaspoon ground dried lime
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 ½ cups semolina or ¾ cup each of semolina and farina

For the fasoulia stew:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon tomato paste
4 cups broth of choice
½ pound fasoulia (green beans), trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 whole dried limes, washed and pierced all over with a fork
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
Juice of ½ lemon

Directions

Make the kubbeh: In a medium bowl, mix the ground meat, onion, parsley, 1 ½ tablespoons salt, dried lime, and pepper until fully incorporated.
In a separate bowl, mix the semolina, remaining 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 tablespoon of the meat filling. Add ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons of water until the dough forms a ball and can be molded easily, and knead for 1-2 minutes.
To shape the kubbeh, flatten a small circle of dough in your palm, about 1 heaping tablespoon, as thin as possible while still workable. Cover the unused dough with plastic wrap or a damp cloth to prevent it drying out. Scoop a heaping teaspoon of the meat mixture into the center of the dough, and wrap the dough around the filling, forming a ball. Make sure it is well sealed, and transfer to a plate. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling until you have 16 kubbeh.
Make the stew: In a large pot, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and salt, and saute until they soften, about 7 minutes. Add the tomato paste and stir frequently, until it darkens to a dark brick color. Add the green beans, stirring to incorporate, then add the broth and dried limes.
Gently add the kubbeh to the broth, making sure they are fully covered. Add more broth if needed. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer and cook for 20 minutes, until the kubbeh are fully cooked. Try not to stir the broth at all for at least the first 5 minutes so the kubbeh don’t break apart.
After the kubbeh has finished cooking, burst the dried limes by pushing them against the wall of the pot with a spoon. Add the lemon juice, mix, and serve hot.

Ingriye (Roasted Eggplant with Tomatoes and Ground Meat)

Serves: 8 -10
Time: 2½ hours

Ingredients
5 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
3 medium eggplant
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for broiling
1 pound ground beef or veal
6 oz tomato paste
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ cup fresh mint, roughly chopped
3 small bell peppers, sliced into ¼-inch rings
1 ½ pounds tomatoes (about 3 medium), chopped or processed in a food processor
Juice of 1 lemon

Preparation

Slice the eggplant into ¼-inch rounds and place in a colander. Sprinkle the slices evenly with 3 teaspoons of salt. Let sit for 30 minutes to drain. Lightly rinse and pat dry with a paper towel.
While the eggplant is draining, preheat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. When the oil shimmers, add the beef and cook until nicely browned, about 10 minutes. Once browned, add the tomato paste, 2 teaspoons of salt, and pepper. Cook until the tomato paste turns a dark brick red, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, and stir in the mint. Set aside to cool slightly.
Preheat the oven to broil. Lightly coat the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish with olive oil. Working in batches, dip the eggplant slices into the oil on both sides. Arrange the eggplant in the baking dish in a single layer. Working in batches, broil the eggplant until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate, and repeat with remaining slices.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and assemble the ingriye: Line the bottom of the baking dish with half of the eggplant, browned side down. Then spread the browned beef mixture in an even layer, followed by the sliced bell peppers, and ⅔ of the tomatoes. Shingle the remaining half of the eggplant on top, browned side up. Spoon the remaining ⅓ of the tomatoes on top.
Cover with tinfoil and bake at 350°F for 1 hour. After an hour, uncover and add the lemon juice. Cover and bake for another 30 minutes. Remove from the oven, uncover and let cool for 15-20 minutes. Serve with rice and salad, or on its own.

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