The Bazaar Cookbook · Chef Tarek Thoma’s recipes

Food as memory

Every recipe begins somewhere.

The taste of maklouba takes Tarek back to his mother's kitchen, the scent of lamb and onions and the excitement of waiting for dinner. A fish dish recalls Cairo market mornings with his father, who always bought more seafood than the family needed.

These are not recipes chosen simply because they look beautiful on a plate. They explain where the cooking began — and how family traditions have developed alongside decades of professional craft.