Imad will introduce us to the delicious flavours and techniques of the Syrian kitchen – showing you just how easy this wonderful cuisine can be.

Start by washing the lentils, rice and freekeh together in a large sieve until the water runs clear.Anyone who wants to know what it means to be a refugee will be staggered by Alarnab's harrowing account. Imad's Syrian Kitchen is a bustling tour through 90 traditional and adapted Syrian dishes that can be made in the comfort of your own home.

The only complaint I have, is that when water needs to be added (to lentils, bulgar wheat etc) we are directed to add enough to come so many centimetres above the dried food.

A celebration of flavours, the recipes are all accessible, straightforward and completely unforgettable. In early 2020, his friend, Asma Khan, chef and owner of Darjeeling Express – based again in Kingsley Court – informed him that a space had opened up. Tom Webb, Monocle’s deputy head of radio, guides us through the delicious drinks offering at the London leg of The Monocle Christmas Market. There are a lot of very nice photographs of the completed recipes, and also some of the preparations and intermediary stages, where extra help might be needed. Later on, he talks of the frustrations of Syrian refugees, who believe the plight of their countrymen have been forgotten by many in the West.

Imad’s Syrian Kitchen (HQ) is no ordinary cookbook in the way that the restaurant of the same name is no ordinary eatery. Since then I have eaten a field full of roast cauliflower in every permutation and didn’t really need anymore. The book's design and illustrations evoke warmth, paired with appealing food styling and photos of Alarnab in his kitchen.My favourite recipes were ‘Katif Ghanam’ (slow cooked marinated lamb shoulder baked in a parcel with herbs, carrots, potatoes and onion), ‘Mujadara’ (bulgar wheat and brown lentil salad) and ‘Muhammara’ (a red pepper and walnut chunky paste). How a British Pakistani volunteer had given him a small stove and gas canisters so he could cook for himself and 14 friends. Spread the cheer with a perfect gift for foodie friends Cookbooks are the perfect gift for Christmas – they not only provide easy reading by the fireside during the festive season but are the sort of present that can be used all year ahead. He expresses this love and affection through his cooking – gifting London with his successful restaurant, and now with his cookbook, containing favourite recipes, and notes on Syrian culture and its relationship to its food.

In 2015, chef and restaurateur Alarnab fled his home in war-torn Syria and began his perilous journey to the UK.Join Monocle’s deputy head of radio, Tom Webb, as he takes us on a whistle-stop tour of this year’s Monocle Christmas Market in Zürich. Louise McKeever, editorial director, acquired world all language rights to Imad’s Syrian Kitchen: A delicious culinary love letter from Damascus to London from Rachel Mills at Rachel Mills Literary.