Baladi: A Celebration of Food from Land and Sea in Palestine by Joudie Kalla

A heartfelt tribute to the flavors—and resilience—of Palestine Baladi means “my home, my land, my country,” and that spirit runs through every page of this stunning cookbook. In her follow-up to Palestine on a Plate, Joudie Kalla brings us deeper into Palestinian cooking, highlighting regional dishes rooted in land, sea, and season. The recipes are both traditional and reimagined, drawing on family roots and personal creativity—like tamarind-laced lamb meatballs, fried fish with minty yogurt, and za’atar-swirled brioche twists. More than a cookbook, Baladi is a love letter to a place and people too often defined only by conflict. With sweeping photography of daily life and landscapes, it reminds us of what’s worth preserving: culture, connection, and the act of feeding each other well. As violence in Gaza continues and Palestinian lives remain at risk, cookbooks like this one offer a powerful reminder that a people’s identity is more than headlines. It’s preserved in stories, in ingred