My name is Ahmad Yasin and I own Yasin Culinary, an Arab catering company in Watertown, Massachusetts, where I conduct classes in Arab cooking. I was the owner of a Middle Eastern restaurant, also in Watertown, which served fine Arab food from 1984 to 2000. It was called Kareem, an Arabic word meaning high quality that is generous in flavor.

Kareem quickly won acclaim from culinary professionals and press alike. Boston Magazine awarded Kareem Best of Boston 1993, and Best Middle Eastern Restaurant in 1995. The Boston Globe published highly favorable reviews: "The food is artfully prepared," wrote one reviewer. New England Monthly wrote, "the food possesses culinary integrity." I was awarded Zagat's Certificate of Distinction in 1999.

Since the age of 12, I have delighted in inviting my friends to eat my family's food, and my friends have kindly admired my preparations for their presentation, color and art of blending herbs. I came to Boston to study pharmacology at Northeastern University, but here, as in Syria, I invited friends home to my meals; my American friends encouraged me to open a restaurant to share my passion for the art of food with everyone.

Pam Richardson, a friend at Northeastern, was the first to detect my passion for food. "You are born a chef," she told me, and added that I should open a restaurant because of the way I handled food, my special attention to cleanliness and freshness, and my knowledge of preparation and complementary dishes.

I was lucky to be in America where I had the opportunity to open a business, because it was at Kareem that my life really came together in the joy of cooking Arab foods. My customers returned again and again, and many became friends. Today some have become customers of Yasin Culinary, my catering company.

Red peppers drying in the sun, Syria.

Figs, olives, and peppers at market.

Ahmad uses fresh herbs in his cooking.

Growing Up

I have heard "Can I have this recipe?" more times than I can say, so for the past two years, I have been writing down my recipes to create a cookbook. The cookbook will reflect my family heritage; I was born in Syria, where my grandfather and my father grew wonderful vegetables.

My grandmother and mother prepared meals they had been taught to make by generations past, and that culinary legacy inspires me every time I eat or cook. Both sides of my family had such a love for farming and providing our table with the finest vegetables and fruits. The meals that we shared at our table, the fruit of our long labors planting, harvesting, and then cooking in the kitchen, brought us all such joy.

Often customers and friends can feel the energy in the dishes I make that descended from my mother, who was an extraordinary cook, to me and on to them. I hope my family's enthusiasm for farming and cooking will inspire you as much as it has inspired me.

My parents' families were in farming for many generations, and the farm was not far from where we lived. We walked on foot or rode on the back of a donkey or horse. I often brought lunch to the farm, and my dad and I would sit in the shade under the fig or olive tree and eat, admiring the vegetable fields. In the evening, we brought home the freshest vegetables. My mom knew just what to do with them once they entered the kitchen — and she was confident she could please us, especially my father, with her skill at transforming ingredients into superb meals.

Of course, she had to cook for 11 of us. We always entertained our relatives and friends, for whom she would make an array of splendid, much admired dishes. My dad was extremely fussy. He would only buy the best olive oil, finest native butter, and freshest lamb. Because my father was intent on eating well and pleasing our guests, my mother was constantly striving to make excellent meals.

My dad taught us to eat for pleasure, and that both intellectually and spiritually food can be understood as a work of art. I learned to cook watching my mom prepare the food, and of course eating it over and over. A cuisine cannot be created in the kitchen if it's not desired at the table.

Learn more: Arabic cuisine: philosophy and culture