Salma Hage

Salma Hage is a Lebanese author and cook whose work presents Lebanese home cooking as something learned through family transmission, daily routine, and practical knowledge. Born on 8 January 1942 and raised in the Kadisha Valley in Northern Lebanon, she learned from her mother, grandmother, and in-laws, and from the food culture of the region itself. Her cooking is rooted in season, household habit, inherited method, and an understanding of what belongs on the table.

Her professional path began in kitchen service. She worked as a Kitchen Hand in Wimbledon, south London, UK, where the work depended on repetition, preparation, and the unseen labour that supports service. She later became Head Chef at a large catering organisation in the UK, gaining responsibility for production, organisation, and the management of a larger kitchen system. That range, from ground-level kitchen work to leadership in catering, shaped the practical character of her later authorship.

Hage became an author at The Lebanese Kitchen in London, then at The Middle Eastern Vegetarian Cookbook in London, The Middle Eastern Mezze Cookbook in London, Middle Eastern Sweets in London, and The Levantine Vegetarian in London. Across these books, her focus remains close to Lebanese and Middle Eastern cooking, with recipes for vegetables, mezze, sweets, and Levantine dishes presented as usable home cooking rather than as display pieces.

Her books bring together family instruction and professional discipline, making inherited food knowledge accessible without removing it from its Lebanese context. Her work also reflects a consistent view of sweets as part of the same domestic and culinary tradition as the rest of the repertoire. She has said, “For me, sweet things represent love and care,” and in Middle Eastern Sweets she expressed a wish to show that Lebanese sweets and desserts can be simple and easy to make.

That approach matches the larger purpose of her books, which is to keep the food approachable while remaining faithful to the methods and associations that give it meaning. Family remains central to her cooking. She has said, “My family are my inspiration for the food I cook and always have been.” That influence is visible in the named dishes associated with her, including Nan’s Kibbeh, Grandma’s eggplant dip, pistachio and apricot baklava, mujadara, and Chickpea Kibbeh.

These dishes anchor her repertoire in family, pulses, grains, vegetables, and sweets, with lineage and everyday use carrying as much importance as technique. Recognition for her work includes a James Beard Award in the Vegetable Cooking category for The Middle Eastern Vegetarian Cookbook. This recognition reflects one of the defining strengths of her books: making vegetables, grains, and legumes clear and useful within Lebanese and Middle Eastern cooking for home cooks who want straightforward recipes.