In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Reviewed by:
  • Arab Cooking on a Prairie Homestead and Recollections from a Syrian Pioneer by Habeeb Salloum
  • Abla Hasan
Arab Cooking on a Prairie Homestead and Recollections from a Syrian Pioneer.
By Habeeb Salloum. Foreword by Sarah Carter. Regina: University of Regina Press, 2017. v + 346 pp. Illustrations, references, index. $34.95 CAD/$29.95 USD paper.

The new edition of Arab Cooking on a Prairie Homestead and Recollections from a Syrian Pioneer not only addresses the unknown experience of the first Syrian homesteaders and Arab immigrants to seek better conditions in North America, but also addresses the current global crises in which thousands of Syrian refugees found themselves forced to leave behind their country, their culture, their Arabic language and heritage, and their shared pride in the Arabic cuisine. The rich multicultural experience of the author brings light to the long history of Arab settlers in Canada in the early twentieth century and the hard conditions they had to overcome in their attempts to adapt to the challenging life conditions in the prairies. The work invites the reader to rethink any remaining prejudices some might still have against the new waves of Syrian refugees and immigrants, a goal Habeeb Salloum himself thoughtfully imbedded in his preface to the new edition.

The book, through an interesting as well as a lively personal family-saga narration, uncovers how pioneer Arab settlers made their own history in North America and had their own share in building this nation. It explains how first Arab immigrants turned the extended dry Saskatchewan lands into a place to call home, by way of running their own restaurants, overcoming the Depression years, and by introducing to Canada foods like chickpeas and lentils. Through the book, Salloum uses his mother's healthy, affordable, and delicious recipes not only to introduce one of his favorite cuisines but also to reclaim a forgotten heritage largely ignored by westerners and commonly forgotten by Arab immigrants who seemed to have lost a significant part of their heritage through the process of their Canadianization, a process they seemed to have longed for at the time more than anything else. However, the delightful lists of authentic recipes, grouped together according to their main ingredients, and the culturally inherited collective wisdom Salloum shares by way of Arabic proverbs and sayings, don't omit actual acknowledgment of the bitterness over the feelings of inferiority first Arab immigrants had to live with. In addition, as his childhood memories uncover, first Arab settlers, like others at the time, seemed to have shared "real" Canadians' ignorance of the fact that what they called their home was a stolen land. He acknowledges, as others have done, that stories of the Indigenous people of the Plains were never known or discussed in his family circle.

The book provides a unique opportunity to remember the past and the many forgotten contributions of pioneer Arab immigrants. It provides also an invitation to rethink modern intolerance new Arab immigrants still face at some places. Furthermore, the book provides a useful guide to traditional Arabic cooking, nutritious recipes and Arabic wisdom. Arab Cooking on a Prairie Homestead and Recollections from a Syrian Pioneer is a beautiful documentation of Salloum's ninety-four years of multiculturalism, and a practical reclamation of the forgotten legacy of first Syrian immigrants of the early twentieth century. [End Page 437]

Abla Hasan
Department of Modern
Languages and Literatures
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
...

pdf

Share