Chef Salam Daqqaq, the Palestinian chef behind the MICHELIN Bib Gourmand restaurants Bait Maryam and Sufret Maryam, has brought her debut cookbook, Bint Maryam, to English readers. The book was first published in Arabic in January 2026, and both editions are on sale at bintmaryam.com for AED 247.
Bint Maryam means “daughter of Maryam”. The recipes are the ones Chef Salam learned beside her mother, whose name her restaurants carry, and she has kept them exactly as she received them. Dishes such as musakhan and maqluba sit alongside the stories that belong to them, from her childhood to her kitchens in Dubai.
“This book is my identity,” said Chef Salam. “These recipes were given to me, and I felt a responsibility to write them down the way I learned them, so they stay with our families.”
From “a little” to exact measures
For most of her life the recipes lived in her hands. Working with her daughter and business partner, Nada Darraj, Chef Salam spent two years turning “a little” and “measure with your heart” into exact quantities any home cook can follow. The book also sets out to protect nafas, the soul a cook brings to food by tasting, smelling and trusting herself.
In her family’s village of Tarshiha, kibbeh was pounded by hand on stone for weddings and honoured guests, and her mother’s kibbeh stone still has a place at Bait Maryam. “Our food tells you how we celebrated, how we gathered and how we welcomed a guest,” she said. “When a family cooks these dishes at home, that story stays alive.”
Why an English edition
The Arabic edition drew a personal response across the Gulf, with many readers telling her it took them back to their mothers’ kitchens. “The Arabic edition reminded people of their mothers,” said Chef Salam. “With the English edition, I want our children and grandchildren, wherever they grow up, to know how Palestinian food tastes and where that taste comes from.”
The English edition was celebrated earlier this month with a brunch at Sufret Maryam. Bait Maryam opened in Jumeirah Lakes Towers in 2017 and has held the Bib Gourmand every year since 2022; it now also has branches at 06 Mall Sharjah and City Centre Mirdif. Sufret Maryam, at Wasl 51, has held the Bib Gourmand since 2025.
Bait Maryam is one of the JLT favourites named in our story on DMCC’s Best of JLT Awards. For more places to eat, see our guide to Lebanese and Middle Eastern restaurants in Dubai.
Bint Maryam: Details
- Where: Online at bintmaryam.com, with delivery across the UAE and international shipping
- What: Cookbook by Chef Salam Daqqaq, in English and Arabic
- Price: AED 247
Image: courtesy of Chef Salam Daqqaq.