Samara Cuisine was inspired by my new baby girl, Samara. Samara's favourite Lebanese food is hoummous and black olives. The name Samara has many meanings; In Arabic, the origin of the word is Samar, which means entertainment, particularly at night. It conjures images of sitting in the Sahara with friends and family beneath the stars enjoying a great feast, smoking fruit-infused hubbly bubbly and drinking aromatic coffee. In latin, Samara means an Elm Tree, while in Hebrew it has several meanings all to do do with being in a high place like a mountain-top or somewhere with a panoramic view. If you look on the internet, you will see that there are two big cities called Samara - one in Iraq and one in Russia.
 
There's also a famous story about Samara - which gave the title to the book by the American author, John O'Hara, Appointment in Samara. The story tells of a man meeting a woman in black in a market in Baghdad and realising that the woman is Death. The woman looks at him with surprise and lets him go. Scared that she's come to take him away, he finds the fastest horse he can and rides all night to the city of Samara. The next day, he is walking through the streets when he sees the same woman dressed in black. This time, she approaches him. He asks her how she can be here when only yesterday he saw her in Baghdad. She replies that she was equally surprised to see him in Baghdad the day before - as she had an appointment with him today in Samara.