I really recommend this book – both as a cookbook with very tasty recipes, and as the story of a man who risked everything to come to London. The recipes, which have traditional roots but are adapted for the modern home kitchen, rely on building a solid pantry of ingredients and spices to deliver big flavors.

Tom Webb, Monocle’s deputy head of radio, guides us through the delicious drinks offering at the London leg of The Monocle Christmas Market. 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. Ebooks fulfilled through Glose cannot be printed, downloaded as PDF, or read in other digital readers (like Kindle or Nook).

Start by washing the lentils, rice and freekeh together in a large sieve until the water runs clear.

But the beating heart of this cookbook is the saga of Alarnab’s escape … Anyone who wants to know what it means to be a refugee will be staggered by Alarnab’s harrowing account. Instructions are clear and thoughtful throughout, but it’s the author’s personal experiences that make this heartfelt cookbook shine. In a taxi to a safer part of the city his family were caught up in a massive bombing and he was certain they were dead. 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.Here, Imad will introduce us to memorable flavours and teach us how to cook Syrian food at home, simply. This was a very long way from the food Imad cooked on a hot plate in Calais, where during his 64 days living in the refugee camp, he cooked for some 400 people a day. 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. This was served with sahan khudra, otherwise known as the green plate – Turkish green peppers, onion, herbs, spring onion and so on, the idea is that you help yourself to items from the green plate while eating your meal. He wants his story to be known, to be an encouragement to other refugees as to what can be achieved.

Situated in Kingsley Court, Carnaby Street, the restaurant is in the heart of vibrant London, where counter-culture has been the rage for decades. How he didn’t want to carry a knife and appear dangerous so he broke the vegetables up with his hands, and how a local Calais resident had been annoyed with them fishing close by, until one day Imad offered him some of the dish he had made with the fish, and from then on, he allowed Imad and his friends to charge their phones at his house.From Imad: “From the traditional dishes that my mother first taught me to cook, to the imaginative food that has become my own, my recipes tell my story.

Making his way from Lebanon through Europe, Imad shared his skills cooking for other refugees, up to 400 at a time. My daughter's birthday is not complete without a huge plate of dolma [made with minced lamb] and these are addictive. Imad Alarnab is a Syrian chef, entrepreneur and refugee who ran three successful restaurants, several juice bars and cafes in Damascus. But that is his reality, the light and the dark sitting incredibly close, and one that thankfully most of us will never have to endure.Expect delicious and colourful mezzes, hearty mains, a killer wine list and warm Syrian hospitality. This episode is brought to you by Skin + Me - a personalized skincare solution that has not only transformed my skin, but also my packing experience wherever I’m going. I never make moussaka the traditional way because I don’t often cook meat at home and the required béchamel sauce is a faff, but this was a Syrian moussaka which is much less work and I put it together with ease in my lunch hour.