Book tip: KANAAN – Cooking without borders
When friendship determines the flavor
01 March 2026
It is more than a cookbook. Kanaan – Cooking without borders is a manifesto for understanding, compassion, and what good food has always been able to do: bring people together. Every day at the Kanaan restaurant in Berlin, Israeli Oz Ben David and Palestinian Jalil Dabit demonstrate that cuisine speaks a universal language – and that where there is cooking, understanding begins.
INFO
Kanaan – Cooking Without Borders
Authors: Oz Ben David, Jalil Dabit
Photography: Elissavet Patrikiou
Publisher: Südwest Verlag
Length: 192 pages
ISBN: 978-3-517-10429-4
Price: €28.00 (Germany) / €28.80 (Austria) / CHF 38.50
Recipes that extend far beyond the borders of the Levant
Together with friends and companions from a wide variety of backgrounds, they invite guests into their kitchen for dialogue. The result is recipes that extend far beyond the borders of the Levant—aromatic dishes full of warmth, soul, and symbolic power.
“For us, it's not just about preparing good food and being wholehearted hosts,” say Oz and Jalil. “We want to keep writing new stories – with every good moment we experience together.”
Hope, respect, and belief in shared values
In their book, they cook with Berlin's governing mayor Kai Wegner, women's rights activist Seyran Ateş, pastor Maike Schöfer, Muslim theologian Kübra Dalkilic, and Jewish education officer Rebecca Rogowski, among others. Their conversations and dishes represent what resonates in Canaan: hope, respect, and belief in shared values.
Photographer Elissavet Patrikiou translates these culinary encounters into impressive images. With a keen sense of authenticity and atmosphere, she captures those moments when food becomes emotion—honest, sensual, and deeply human.
