Lebanese Palestinian Cooking class with Hisham Assaad

I’m thrilled to announce that the talented cookbook author Hisham Assaad is coming to Enoteca Marilu to teach a hands-on cooking class! He is a food stylist, photographer, graphic designer, culinary guide for Taste Lebanon, humanitarian clown (this may be the thing I love most about him!), spreading love and laughter, and the author of the blog, Cook in 5m2 and two stunning cookbooks, Beyrut: The Cookbook and Taboon: Sweet and Savoury Delights from the Lebanese Bakery.

Raised in a food-loving family who were expelled to Lebanon from their village in Palestine in the 1940s, Hisham grew up in Dbayeh, a Palestinian refugee camp on the outskirts of Beirut. He learned about Levantine food by watching his mother and father in the kitchen from a young age.

As Hisham writes, “My love for food has been influenced by my family’s passion for food, particularly my mom who, by the testimony of those who tasted her food, is an amazing cook (traditional Levantine recipes, if I may specify) and my dad who comes from a whole family of butchers. Having Lebanese and Paletinian roots only helped in diversifying and intensifying my identity and tenacity for preserving my culture and traditions.”

We will start with a welcome drink and some tasty nibbles, then Hisham will teach recipes from both of his cookbooks that we will make and enjoy together with natural wines, such as:

• Msakhan rolls, the classic palestinian dish but the Lebanese mezze version

• Tray-bake Kibbeh Bil Sayniye and kibbeh balls with a yogurt stew (it can be made vegan with pumpkin).

• Tabbouleh

• Nammoura, a semolina and coconut yogurt cake

Class details:

When: Wednesday, 22 October 2025, 10am-3pm (roughly)

How much: 190 euro per person

Where: At Enoteca Marilu, San Miniato

Read more about Hisham’s work in this wonderful interview with Dan Lepard.