Sydney woman Sue Dahman is a home cook spreading her love for Lebanese and Mediterranean cuisine to students in her cooking classes.
“If you want to do hommus, you do it the traditional way, don’t call it hommus otherwise, do whatever you like but don’t call it hommus,” she says.
“You want to do tabbouleh, do the tabbouleh the proper way, but if you want to add different ingredients please don’t call it tabbouleh, because it is not tabbouleh.”
Ms Dahman runs her own business called 'Tayta’s Lebanese Kitchen', which runs classes out of her Sydney home.
Sue Dahman Source: SBS Arabic24
She teaches traditional Lebanese and Mediterranean dishes, the way they're supposed to be cooked.
Dishes that she specialises in include tabbouleh, hommus, shish tawook and Nammoura among many others.
The word “tayta” means grandmother in Arabic, and she recalls how her mother used to tell her that she’ll love her grandchildren more than her own children someday.
“The best sound in the world is when my grandchildren call me tayta. 'Tayta can you cook this, can you give me that', it’s the best sound.”
She wants Lebanese cooking to transcend cultures and nationalities and believes she can do that through her classes.
Sue and her students in the cooking class. Source: SBS Arabic24
“Basically I want to bring people together, as you see we got different nationalities in my class, people from different backgrounds, and I think through these classes I just want most of all bring people together, and spread the good quality of Lebanese food through the Australian nation to show them how good Lebanese food is, and how easy it is to actually to make Lebanese food and enjoy it.”
In her cooking classes, the students learn more than just preparing dishes. Ms Dahman personalises the experience and shares stories from her upbringing.
Sue showing her students how to cook Kibbeh. Source: SBS Arabic24
Student Jen Rowling has taken two cooking classes with Ms Dahman. She said she learned a lot during her first lesson and although she admits to not being a seasoned cook, she has managed to cook easy-to-prepare meals for her family.
“My family really likes those meals and I make them quite often maybe every couple of weeks, so today learning some new dishes I will be able to add to those Lebanese meals that I can already do and give my family a little bit of a treat, a little surprise.”
Ms Dahman was born in northern Lebanon and grew up in a family that gathered together with cuisine as a focal point.
Sue Dahman with her students Source: SBS Arabic24
“Food in Lebanon is (..), we live for food, for every family gathering, there is always food,” she said.
“When you break bread with a person that person will be your friend forever, for life. Lebanese food is about making you feel at home, it is associated with a lot of things like together, that why we embrace different cultures as well.
“I would love everyone to know about Lebanon and the Middle East, it’s good all across the world (…) we are good people, we are hospitable, we love people.”
