Arab-American Heritage Month will be celebrated with a free, delicious online discussion of “Arab Culinary Traditions” starting at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 24. The panel will be hosted by music promoter Mary Knieser and will feature an array of community members invited to share their own family food memories.
Arab Culinary Traditions is being presented by Silver Spring Town Center, Inc. To join the event via Zoom, go to Meeting Registration - Zoom.
The organizers are still looking for a few more potential panelists with Arab heritage to join the discussion. Anyone who would like to share their own family culinary traditions should contact Lisa Martin at lisa@silverspringtowncenter.com.
Mary Knieser grew up listening to her father's stories about her grandparents and the other immigrants who came from Lebanon to the United States in the 1890s and early 1900s—and the struggles they faced. Although many worked in factories, others, like her grandmothers, became peddlers and walked hundreds of miles, selling clothing and linens to the farmers and their families in western New York and northwest Pennsylvania. One of Mary's great uncles, "Sammy The Peddler," was still traveling the same back roads in the early 1960s.
From her mother and grandmother, Mary and her brothers learned traditional Lebanese cooking that included the sweet pastries served on holidays. Her father was an expert at making soft, paneer-like cheese and canning cracked olives. Their household usually had a crock of milk, wrapped in towels and fermenting, soon to be yogurt, and a batch of dough waiting to be rolled thin and baked. Her mother often invited friends to dine with the family, introducing them to traditional Lebanese food like hummus, grape leaves and kibbee. Now, with her own grandchildren, Mary is sharing some of the same food, pastries, and of course, the stories.