Instant Coffee

In this episode, we speak about veganism both around the world and in Iran with Mana Shamshiri. Mana is a philosophy graduate and creator of the website and Instagram platform 'The Iranian Vegan'. She wanted to showcase the diversity of Iranian cuisine as well as provide a space for vegans of colour and those who aren't from traditionally vegan backgrounds.  

Follow Mana's work here: https://www.instagram.com/theiranianvegan/ https://theiranianvegan.com/

‘UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food’ - who wouldn’t want that job title? When we read about Michael, we knew we had to interview him to learn about what he had to do to get this cool job and to know what it actually entails. He talked to us about why food is a human right and how  he uses the case of Lebanon, his home country, as a sounding board for his right to food questions.   

Find Michael on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MichaelFakhri

On episode 4, Nadine Almanasfi speaks with artist, storyteller and conservationist Vivien Sansour. Nadine has been trying to grow her own food and vegetable in her small allotment in north London and was very excited to speak with Vivien, who advocates for seed conservation and the protection of agro-biodiversity as a cultural and political act. She is founder of the Palestine Heirloom Seed Library, an interactive arts and agriculture project attempting to record ancient seeds and their stories and put them back into people’s hands.   

To learn more about Vivien and the Palestine Heirloom Seed Library, visit: https://viviensansour.com/Palestine-Heirloom   

In the podcast, Vivien mentions Esiah Levy, whose legacy you can read about on the Green Conspiracy: https://thegreenconspiracy.com/esiah-levy/     

To see the yakteen seed labels that Haya Kaabneh illustrated for the Hudson Valley Seed Co., visit: https://modernfarmer.com/2021/02/palestinian-seeds-come-to-america-stories-and-artwork-included/

On episode 3, Taif Alkhudary speaks with Nawal Nasrallah about the history and development of Iraqi cuisine from Mesopotamia to modern day through her own cookbook 'Delights from the Garden of Eden' and her translation of the medieval Arabic cookbook 'Annals of the Caliphs’ Kitchens', an annotated translation of the tenth-century, Abbasid-era cookbook Kitab al-Tabikh by Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq. 

 Nawal is an award-winning food historian of the Arab world, and translator of major medieval Arabic cookbooks hailing from Baghdad, Egypt, and Al-Andalus.      

Taif is a Research Assistant on the LSE Middle East Centre project 'Managing Religious Diversity in the Middle East: The Muhasasa Ta'ifia in Iraq, 2003–2018'.   

All artwork by Rawand Issa: www.instagram.com/rawand.issa_

On episode 2, Professor Madawi Al-Rasheed speaks with Faris Sheibani about the history and culture of coffee in Yemen, and how the drink can be used to connect with, and sustainably support, Yemeni farmers.  

Faris is a British Yemeni social entrepreneur and founder of Qima Coffee, a Yemeni social enterprise that uses coffee as a vehicle for livelihood generation in Yemen. 

Learn more about Qima Coffee here: https://www.qimacoffee.com/.  

Madawi is a Visiting Professor at LSE Middle East Centre and Fellow of the British Academy. Her research interests include history and politics of the Middle East with special reference to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, gender and state, religious transnational connections, and Islamist movements. Learn more about Madawi’s work here: https://www.lse.ac.uk/middle-east-centre/people/madawi-al-rasheed.  

All artwork by Rawand Issa: www.instagram.com/rawand.issa_

In this first episode, Fadi Kattan speaks with Sara Masry about everything from Palestinian cuisine in Chile and Haiti to why you shouldn't make chocolate and beetroot hummus.  

Fadi is a Franco-Palestinian chef from Bethlehem. He opened his own restaurant, Fawda, in Bethlehem in 2016. Alongside his restaurant, he pioneered the region’s first food tours. Fadi’s approach to food is informed by his passion for sharing the stories of the local foragers, gardeners, farmers and cooks that have shaped the culinary heritage of Palestine.  

Sara is an actor, writer and a partner at Basima's Kitchen, where she and her sister Alia serve up dishes from their Saudi and Palestinian heritage, inspired by their late grandmother Basima.

On this special episode of Instant Coffee as part of our 10-year anniversary celebrations, we spoke with renowned food writers Claudia Roden and Sami Zubaida reflecting on all things gastronomic in the Middle East!  Claudia Roden is a food writer and cultural anthropologist. Born and brought up in Cairo, she is best known as the author of Middle Eastern cookbooks including 'A Book of Middle Eastern Food', 'The New Book of Middle Eastern Food' and 'Arabesque—Sumptuous Food from Morocco, Turkey and Lebanon'.  Sami Zubaida is Emeritus Professor of Politics and Sociology at Birkbeck, and also holds posts as Professorial Research Associate at the Food Studies Centre at the School of Oriental and African Studies. Born in Iraq, he is the co-author of 'Food, Politics and Society: Social Theory and the Modern Food System' and co-editor of 'Taste of Thyme: Culinary Cultures of the Middle East'.

On the final episode of this season's Instant Coffee, Co-producer of Instant Coffee, Ribale Sleiman-Haidar, talks to Wafa Mustafa about her father's enforced disappearance and why the world should be doing more to help. Wafa is a Syrian activist, campaigner and journalist. She is a survivor of detention and member of Families for Freedom, a group of women-led Syrian families demanding freedom for all of the country’s arbitrarily detained and forcibly disappeared citizens.  Families for Freedom: syrianfamilies.org/en/

On this episode of Instant Coffee, Co-producer of Instant Coffee, Nadine Almanasfi, talks to Omnia Shawkat about arts and culture in Sudan, and the country's unique position between Africa and the Arab World. Omnia is co-founder of Andariya, a bilingual digital cultural platform from and on Sudan, South Sudan and Uganda.  www.andariya.com

On this episode of Instant Coffee, Sandra Sfeir, Projects Manager at the LSE Middle East Centre, talks to Aida Al-Kaisy about the growth of independent media in Iraq in the age of disinformation.  Aida Al-Kaisy is a media development consultant and researcher who focuses on supporting ethical practices in the media industry.