I believe that one dream can light the world, and my dream (unbeknownst to me) was to be the “ambassador” for Lebanese cuisine and culture in America. I suppose that it is no coincidence that my childhood nickname became my brand/stage name, and I am graciously grateful that God dreamed this dream for me that would become my destiny.
As a first-generation and full-blooded Lebanese-American born to an immigrant Catholic Lebanese family I was immersed in learning, making, and sharing Lebanese cuisine and culture all of my life. Lebanon lives in my heart, soul, and spirit. I set out to share our warm and welcoming ways, heartfelt hospitality, fresh and flavorful foods, generosity and giving nature, resilient spirit, and positivity of the people that are so proud to be Lebanese, and most of all the beautiful and breathtaking land of Lebanon that I love so much. I do not live in Lebanon but Lebanon lives in me. My cookbook is my love letter to Lebanon, to my Mother, to my Sitto (grandmother), and to my whole loving Lebanese family. Ana Bahebkoun, I love all of you!
My heartfelt thanks to Our Lady of Lebanon, Saint Harissa, our beautiful blessed Mother Mary for supporting and seeing me through, I send all of my love to you. To my special sanctuary, The Basilica and National Shrine of Our Lady Lebanon in Youngstown, Ohio, for always bringing me peace, positivity, and prayers. To my whole large, loyal, and loving Lebanese community in my birthplace city, Utica, New York, and to my church St. Louis Gonzaga, Father John, Deacon Paul, the St. Mary’s Guild, and the annual Taste of Lebanon! I would like to thank God, Jesus, Saint Anthony, Saint Joseph, Saint Sharbel, Saint Rocco, and all of my special Saints that shed their shining light upon me and uplift me from the inside out.
My dream of writing my debut Lebanese cookbook would not be created or completed without my amazing Mother, Hind Sageer VanDusen, for joining me on this journey from day one, nearly ten years ago, and never wavering or leaving my side, standing by me, supporting me, smiling at me, and most of all giving me the strength to see this special project through. Thanks so much for allowing me to become a sponge. For sharing all of your wisdom, words, wonderful ways in the kitchen, patiently teaching me how to cook correctly and the “Lebanese way.” Your tips, tricks, and techniques, secrets and special Sitto stories, I shall hold close to my heart. I could have never done this without you. With all of my heart, soul and spirit, I am truly thankful and graciously grateful to you for all of my days. This will live within me and last with me a lifetime. To my generous grandmother, my special Sitto, Josephine Nassour Rawda for courageously sending my Mother to this country and for founding our “fresh is best” food philosophy so many centuries ago in the old country, I wish I could cook for you today. Along with all of my family still living in Lebanon today, my aunts, uncles, and cousins I miss you much with all my heart.
To my guardian angel in heaven, my father, Edward B. Sageer, I think about you every day and I know that you are dancing up in heaven celebrating with me. To my dearest other father here on earth, Richard L. VanDusen, for always being there for me no matter what and taste-testing, too!
To my sweetest sister, Selma, you make my heart smile and when I see hearts I see you. I always appreciate your two-sense to my vegetarian recipes and spicy sense of humor. You are my best friend. To my older brothers, Freddy and Eddie Jr. (a.k.a. bodyguards!) for being proud of me, protecting me, and providing me with the courage to always stay true to myself and to stand up strongly for what I believe in, you both are my backbone. You are the best brothers in the whole wide world. It’s real nice and we really did it! To my beautiful and bright nieces, Sophie Honey and Lola, for being the light in my life, and for loving lemon, zaatar, and manoush (a.k.a. Lebanese pizza) so much! You both bring joy to my world and I love you to the moon and back, and to their beautiful mother Jami, for raising such smart, talented, and thoughtful young girls.
Julie Taboulie wouldn’t exist today without the man that gave me my nickname, my Uncle Dominick! You are like another father to me, thank you for helping to raise me into the proud Lebanese woman that I am today. To his lovely wife, my Auntie Layla, for always offering your sound advice and for beautifully handwriting the absolutely amazing Arabic script for the chapter and recipe names in my book, it is beautiful, just like you! To their children, my first cousins, Odel and Danielle, I thank you both for always being there with supportive smiles. To my Auntie Mona, words cannot express the way you make me feel when I hear your vibrant voice, see your smiling face, or feel your warm embrace. You have been like a Godmother to me. Yalla, Yalla, Yalla already I hear you say…I’m hurrying up Auntie! To my Aunt Marcelle, you have always been such a strong matriarch in our family, and for this, I am forever grateful, and for sacredly sharing your Syrian string cheese method with me. I shall always cherish that special day together and I will always think of you. To the Rawda, Sageer, VanDusen, Karrat, and Karam families for being my family first and foremost and for your friendships.
Sometimes the stars align and kismet occurs which is faithfully what happened when I talked to my angel agent, Sharon Bowers. Thank you for believing in me, my brand, and this book from our very first phone call; this cookbook wouldn’t be made possible without you. My endless thankfulness to you for your gentle guidance, gumption, and gusto to get this to our happy home of St. Martin’s Press. To my lovely writer, Leah Bhabha, for editing my headnotes, recipes, and remarks so fluently and for always keeping my voice on the page so vibrantly. Your patience is much appreciated always. Here’s to our mutual love of pickles!
To my happy home of St. Martin’s Press! I am so proud to be one of your authors and publish my first cookbook together with you and your highly talented and tenacious team. My utmost thanks to my senior editor, BJ Berti, you are like a breath of fresh air, and I cannot thank you enough for seeing something special in my story, in me, and in my recipes, right from the start, and for shaping this manuscript into the special and beautiful book that it is today. Michelle McMillian, Courtney Littler, and Vicki Lame for recognizing my authenticity. For the delightful design by Jan Derevjanik, your creative direction is as delicious as my recipes. Brant Janeway, Erica Martiano, and the entire marketing and sales team for making this happen. Bravo to all of you and all that you do in getting behind this book in the store, on the shelves, and online. St. Martin’s Press you mean the world to me.
To American Public Television for providing such a pioneering and premiere platform to present my cooking shows and for successfully distributing and supporting my series nationwide to public television stations. Special thanks to Tom Davison, Judy Barlow, Hilary Finkel Buxton, Erin Bowles, Lauren Mills, Erin Djerf, Colette Greenstein, Jamie Haines, Dawn Anderson, Cynthia Fenneman, and her entire talented team at APT. To Create TV, Chris Funkhouser, WNET New York and WGBH Boston in association with NETA and PBS and the sensational staff for “creating,” launching, and growing such a strong and successful television channel to share my show with American audiences. Special thanks to all of my loyal and loving viewers who watch my show so religiously, I send smiles to all of you, your families, and friends that share and spread the word of my wonderful program with the world.
My series would not be possible without Visit Syracuse. Special thanks to the valued visionary David Holder, clever Carol Eaton, and powerhouse Nikita Jankowski for making it possible for me to “do my thing” so successfully with your sponsorship and support. I am so humbled and honored to call Syracuse, New York, my home. To my copilot, my director, Brian Anelli, for all of your natural talents that you bring to the table, you are invaluable. To “Team Taboulie” and crew for crafting such a colorful and creative cooking show series from unscripted to the screen so seamlessly. Debra George for always being the calm in the storm, your quiet strength, listening so intently, your loyalty, for being such a steady sound board, and for always being there any time of day, and for your great taste of all my vegetarian dishes.
My series would also not be possible without my kitchen sponsors who carefully created, crafted, designed, and developed my Lebanese kitchen for the show. Candlelight Cabinetry, KichenAid, MacKenzie-Childs, and to my local Syracuse sponsors Kitchen Express, Tile & Stone, Vallar’s Tile and Marble, VP by Innovations, and especially my interior designer, Dava Schmidt plus all of the countless construction and crew, I can’t thank you enough. Cazenovia Cutblock for providing the custom crafted cutting boards for my show, my book, and my brand, I am blessed to be working with you. In your founder’s famous words…it’s sick! Melissa’s produce, thank you for providing the freshest produce possible for our show, cookbook, and special events…Melissa’s truly is “the freshest ideas in produce.”
Ahem, to the amazing Alexandra Grablewski for your kind friendship and for taking such fabulous photos of my food. Over the four-week shoot of my cookbook somewhere between Baba Ghanouj and Baklawa, we became family. You will always hold a special place in my heart and in our family. You are naturally gifted and I am grateful for your sharing your gift in this book. I poured my heart, soul, and spirit into the cooking of this book and you had the foresight to bring my food to full life and capture my soul on each plate. Therefore, my food and these photos have feeling and that is because of how you translated them through your lens.
Last but not least I am leaving off where I began ten years ago with the one simple mission statement “to teach people how to make Lebanese cuisine.” My many thanks to all of my “people” particularly Jean Forster and my very first cooking class students in Marcellus, New York, and to Carol Johnson at the Marcellus Free Library for giving the go-ahead and allowing me to teach the community. To meeting Carrie Lazarus so serendipitously that one sunny summer afternoon on the sidewalks of Skaneateles, New York, and bringing me on your morning talk show “Bridge Street” for my very first “Cooking with Julie Taboulie” live cooking segment! I’ll always remember my very first sponsors Peter Guinta & Sons Produce, Mediterranean Specialty Foods, and Samir’s in Syracuse, New York, thank you for supporting me right from the start to help me to get to where I am today, you are all truly treasured.
Finally, God bless my glorious land of Lebanon. Ana Bahebak Ya Lebnan, I love you Lebanon!