Published in The National weekly magazine M

Mark Dougherty only intended to visit Syria for ‘a couple of days’ at the end of his travels. But the young chef fell in love with its ancient culinary traditions and stayed on. He tells Rasha Elass about the cookery book the country has inspired him to write.

Mark Dougherty keeps a duckling named Ful on his terrace. It is an experiment, he explains, much like the pigs raised in the south of Spain that are fed a diet of herbs and acorns. They end up as Iberico ham, which is renowned for its exquisite taste. “So Ful the duck has now been on a strict diet of basil and chilis to see if he will have a special taste,” Dougherty says.

But already there is a problem. Ful, which means fava bean in Arabic, is too cute ... Read more