There’s a building in North London, built from equal parts brick and tahini, with walls coated in olive oil and floors stained with spice. This is the Ottolenghi Test Kitchen, where a group of individuals meet and eat, cook and write, tear and share and gather with just one motive: to create good food with good ingredients, and to share it with the world.

Chef and author Noor Murad joined the Ottolenghi Test Kitchen in 2018, eventually becoming its head and the writer of its books, “Shelf Love” and “Extra Good Things.” Bahrain-born, London-based and New York-trained, Noor’s own recipes have been featured in the New York Times, and she’s cooked on BBC's Saturday Kitchen. Her Middle Eastern roots have a strong influence on her cooking, with Arabic, Indian, and Persian flavors making a prominent appearance in her recipes.

Noor joins Google to discuss her book “Lugma: Abundant Dishes & Stories from my Middle East.” Lugma is an Arabic word that means, “a bite.” The book offers over 100 recipes as an ode to the food she grew up eating—traditional flavors and modern dishes from Bahrain, the surrounding Middle East, and beyond.

Watch this episode at youtube.com/TalksAtGoogle.

Phone-a-friend: Doreen St. Félix