Soup for Syria

Short Summary

Barbara Abdeni Massaad combined both culinary interests and photography to create her first book Man'oushé: Inside the Street Corner Lebanese Bakery, winner of the Gourmand Cookbook Award 2009 and The Lebanese Academy of Gastronomy 2009.

Mouneh: Preserving Foods for the Lebanese Pantry, winner of the Gourmand Cookbook Award 2010 and Prix de la Litterature Gastronomique 2010, continues Barbara's quest to discover and preserve Lebanese culinary heritage.

Mezze: A Labor of Love, winner of the Gourmand Cookbook Award 2013, extends her exploration of our local food traditions.

Barbara is a founding member of Slow Food Beirut and a delegate of the International Terra Madre Community. She hosts a television program every week introducing viewers to regional food and village folk. She has worked as a food consultant developing menus for local and international clients who seek knowledge of Lebanese cooking techniques.

The book Soup for Syria is her contribution to help people in need in times of war regardless of nationality. Because we are all human beings with the same needs (food, shelter, love). This book is dedicated to feed the body and soul of the poor refugees living in miserable conditions all over Lebanon and other countries. It's cry for help: with photography, recipes, stories, and much more. Had I been a barber, I would have cut all the refugees hair for free. I am dedicating one year of my life to document, cook, and publish this work to help using my expertise with the help of talented and caring people and friends.

What We Need & What You Get

We want to print 3,000 copies to sell them for 30 USD to raise money for our cause.
The costs are:
-Printing: 15,500 USD
-Graphic Designer: 3,000 USD
-Writer / photographer/ recipe costs: 3,000 USD
-Event to launch the book (photo exhitbit) + commission to Zoomal: 3,500 USD
Total cost is 25,000 USD to carry out the project of the book.

The Impact

Because publishing a book is expensive, we need your help. By contributing to this project you would be part of this humanitarian effort that would ultimately help others. Our aim is to publish the book and with the proceeds if possible, build a communal kitchen to help refugees cook healthy meals for their children. The rest would go to buy foodstuff, medicine and toys for them at  wholesale price and distribute to families. No one in this century should suffer because of malnutrition while others suffer from obesity. It's a crime.

Other Ways You Can Help

If you can't contribute, please spread the word. Use the Zoomal share tools to make everyone know about this campaign.