Club Mexicana is proud to present an evening of Levantine cuisine; an abundant banquet of authentic food from the home of the Palestinian people, cooked by our guest vegan chef, Sandra Guimaraes.

Sandra, originally from Brazil, spent five years living in Bethlehem, working at the Aida Refugee Camp founded by Noor Women's Empowerment Group. Sandra is passionate about all things Palestine: its food, its people, and its culture. In her words:

"Palestinian cusine has its own distinctive identity, as well as sharing characteristics with the Levantine cuisines of Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. Palestinian food has an abundance of fresh herbs, vegetables, chickpeas, lentils, fragrant spices and a healthy dose of olive oil! Palestinian food is bright, zesty, colourful - and it deserves to be discovered. Sharing this vibrant cuisine with people who never had the chance to try it before is my small contribution to demonstrating the rich culture of the Palestinian people

- Menu -

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Muta'bal: Smoky chargrilled aubergine dip

Bandora Ma Za'atar: Fresh tomato dip with with Palestinian wild thyme and sesame seeds

Zeitune Ma Loz: Palestinian olive, raisin and almond tapenade

Toasted pita bread

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Shoraba Adas: red lentil, rice and lemon soup

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Maqluba: chargrilled cauliflower, aubergine, caramelised carrots with rice coked in fragrant Levantine spices and fresh parsley

Salata Arabyie: arabic salad with fresh herbs with a creamy tahini dressing

Zeit u Za'atar: pita bread toasted with za'atar and Palestinian olive oil.

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Basbussa: a traditional coconut and yogurt cake, served with a strawberry and rose water compote.

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As Anthony Bourdain said during his recent tour of Palestine: "The world has visited many terrible things on the Palestinian people, none more shameful than robbing them of their basic humanity." The cooking, eating and sharing of traditional Palestinian food demonstrates this humanity in abundance.

In the words of the Palestinian chef, cookbook write, journalist and activist Laila El-Haddad: "Food is an interesting way to be able to tell the Palestinian story. Being able to discover its lost History, the Palestinian past.... plus, it's really damn good!"

Our thoughts exactly.