ONCE UPON A SPICE: An Heirloom Memoir and Novel of Lebanese Cuisine and Heritage (Fabled Feasts)

⭐ PREMIUM COLLECTOR’S EDITION 200+ Full-Color photographs + Memoir + Novel + 60 Recipes — First Edition A Culinary Quest. A Time-Travel Portal. An Epic Love. A Kitchen Revolution. A Fabled Feast of Memory, Myth, and Mediterranean Food “Prose that lingers on the tongue—rich as saffron, sharp as lemon, layered as Lebanese phyllo. A novel to be savored, in the tradition of Madeline Miller, Diana Abu Jaber, and Elif Shafak.” ⭐ A NOVEL YOU CAN TASTE. ⭐ A COOKBOOK YOU CAN READ LIKE MYTHOLOGY. What if your family recipes held a secret older than time? When chef Noura El-Qaysi climbs into her family's Beirut attic, desperate to save her failing restaurant, she discovers a talisman that shatters every boundary she knows. One heartbeat, she’s drowning in debt and her mother’s quiet nostalgia. The next, she’s barefoot in the spice markets of ancient Phoenicia — a world where food is power, prophecy, and the only currency that matters. To survive, Noura must cook her way into belonging. To return home, she must unlock a divine lineage hidden in recipes she thought she knew. To understand herself, she must taste 3,000 years of memory — one meal at a time. ⭐ WHAT YOU’LL FIND INSIDE • 60+ heritage recipes that truly work • 684 pages of full-color storytelling, art & design • A sensory time-travel novel rooted in Phoenician myth • A mother–daughter memoir of culture, love & belonging • Ancient techniques, spice lore & Rouh wa Nafas philosophy • For readers of Circe, Like Water for Chocolate & The Language of Baklava ⭐ A GENRE-SHATTERING MASTERWORK IN THREE ACTS THE FOOD MEMOIR A daughter learns identity isn’t inherited — it’s simmered, shared, kneaded into existence. THE MAGICAL REALISM NOVEL From Beirut to the temples of Astarte, Noura cooks to survive, barters to belong, and discovers a love older than empires. THE LIVING COOKBOOK Recipes travel old sea routes — sesame, sumac, wheat, oil — carrying myth. Guided by Rouh wa Nafas, you cook with stories. Your kitchen will learn: • freekeh’s forgotten flame • the scent-path of sesame • the bread rituals of Byblos ⭐ THIS BOOK FINDS YOU IF YOU… → ache for a heritage just out of reach → love immersive novels that read like spells → want a book worthy of a long conversation and shared table → believe food is memory, identity, and quiet revolution ⭐ INSIDE YOUR COLLECTOR’S EDITION: Over 200 full-color photographs & vintage collages Heritage portraits & Mediterranean design elements Recipes shaped as rituals — food as memory, medicine & myth ⭐ EARLY PRAISE “Myth, memory, and Lebanese food. Rouh wa Nafas is ancestral. This book made me feel seen.” — Karelle Nasser, Restaurateur, Eden Haus (Lusaka) “A poetic, precious book of food, memory, and identity. It now sits beside my most loved authors.” — Dr. Sana Assad, Law & Arab Women’s Studies PhD (Beirut) ⭐ ABOUT THE AUTHOR Dinah Elmars is a South African–Lebanese author and cultural storyteller whose work preserves heritage through memory, food, and myth. ⭐ YOUR STORY IS WAITING — BUT ONLY FOR A LITTLE WHILE This limited first edition (only 1,000 copies) is a rare gift for those who cherish Lebanese roots, Mediterranean memory, and the stories that anchor us. Perfect for Christmas, engagements, weddings, or as a blessing for a new home. Begin the journey — step into the kitchen where time bends and every recipe carries your name. Book 1 of the Fabled Feasts Series