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Food and Music Pairings, MENA edition

Try a recipe or two and listen to some great music. Celebrate National Arab Heritage Month (NAAHM) or MENA Middle Eastern (Levant, Arabian Peninsula, Anatolia Egypt, Iran and Iraq) and North African (Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, Western Sahara) Heritage Month. Experimental psychologist Charles Spence and researchers at the Crossmodal Research Laboratory at the University of Oxford found there may be clear associations between taste and pitch. Their research has suggested there may be implicit associations between taste and pitch. High pitched sounds are mainly associated with sweet and sour tasting foods while low pitched notes are more commonly paired with more bitter and umami tastes. Start here with just a small sampling, feel free to take a deeper dive and find a pairing that takes you on a journey of discovery.

33 items

  • Amir Mohamed el Khalifa has been on our airwaves a lot lately. He’s a Sudanese-American rapper with more than 10 digitally released EPs, compilations, instrumental albums and several international collaborations and tours. A beat-maker &…
    Web resource
  • Ahmed Gallab (known as Sinkane) is a Sudanese-American artist and multi-instrumentalist based in New York City. The heart-throb singer smoothly blends funk, jazz, afro-beats, reggae and rock to create funky psychedelic melodies with…
    Music CD[New York] : DFA, [2014] — MA SINK ML S26CD
  • Two Niles to Sing a Melody

    the Violins & Synths of Sudan

    Two Niles to Sing a Melody – The Violins & Synths of Sudan is a superb collection of music produced during the golden age of modern music Sudanese in the country’s capital Khartoum, in the 1970s and 1980s.
    Music CD[Place of publication not identified] : Ostanato Records, [2018] — Q SUDA TNS A13CD
  • Music CDLondon : World Music Network, p2005. — Q SUDAN SUD W52CD
  • Electrified, amplified and fueled by creative fire, the Paris-based quartet charge towards a psychedelic horizon; slaloming through rock, dance, electro, hip hop, world and other music— blazing a trail with raised fists, a hand brake turn…
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  • Oriental Blues' mission is to compile music from diverse countries of the Orient and focuses on ballads and blues. These songs address the issue of current political changes in the geographical region and are untouched by any form of…
    Music CD[Place of publication not identified] : Network Medien, 2013. — Q EAST OB W46CD
  • Music CDLondon : World Music Network, p2002. — Q EAST ARA W93CD
  • Palestinian oudists Samir, Wissam and Adnan Joubran are masters of ‘the king of instruments’. It’s not hard to close one’s eyes and quickly drift off into the magical musical tapestry that the Joubrans skillfully knit with melodies that do…
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  • Interbellum is the musical project of Lebanese singer-songwriter Karl Mattar. The project blends elements of folk, noise pop, garage rock and ambient music into an idiosyncratic mix centered on Mattar's songwriting.
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  • The London-based Palestinian collective debuted their distinctive sound — an ingenious brew of traditional Arabic instruments, chobi and mijwiz wedding music, and Egyptian electro-shaabi — on the exhilarating, crowd-funded, “Shamstep.”…
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  • A London-based singer/songwriter with a hushed, moody tone, Nadine Khouri was born in Lebanon where she lived until she was nine. An early devotee of shoegaze and the noir-ish melancholia of bands like Mazzy Star and Low, Khouri began her…
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  • Flavors of Africa

    Discover Authentic Family Recipes From All Over the Continent

    Aki, Evi,
    BookSalem, MA : Page Street Publishing Co, 2018. — 641.596 AKI
  • In Bibi's Kitchen

    the Recipes & Stories of Grandmothers From the Eight African Countries That Touch the Indian Ocean

    Hassan, Hawa, 1982-
    BookCalifornia : Ten Speed Press, [2020]
  • Modern Israeli recipes influenced by flavors from Southern Spain, North Africa, and the Levant The Michelin Bib Gourmand-winning London restaurant The Palomar has won fans the world over for its elevated Middle Eastern cooking inspired by…
    BookNew York : Clarkson Potter, [2016] — 641.5956 PAS
  • With recipes by 41 popular chefs and food writers such as Alice Waters, Yotam Ottolenghi and Marcus Samuelsson, this cookbook focuses on the many uses of date syrup. Date syrup has been central to Iraqi cooking and home life for centuries.…
    BookLondon : Art Books Publishing, 2019. — 641.6462 RAK
  • At Home

    Middle Eastern Recipes From Our Kitchen

    Packer, Sarit,
    Brought to you by the award-winning chefs behind the Honey & Co. empire, this book presents simple and delicious Middle Eastern dishes that are easy to make, and a pleasure to serve. "Just the sort of food I want to eat: welcoming,…
    BookLondon : Pavilion, 2018. — 641.5956 PAC