It doesn’t matter what you cook, as long as you smother it in a rich sauce of passion and love.
So say celebrity chef Eva Rihani and her daughter Emily, stars of the cookery show Cooking With My Mom, a 15-part series screening on Yahoo! Maktoob.
Eva says cooking could and should be a lovely, loving activity that …
Eva says cooking could and should be a lovely, loving activity that consolidates the relationship between a mother and her child.
“You need to create a friendly, chatty atmosphere while preparing a recipe with your daughter,” she says. “You can even ask her to invite her friends and create a pleasant ambience."
Architect and teacher
Emily indeed lures her friends to the family kitchen - where the series was filmed - by preparing their favourite sweets.
And she says it’s easy getting them to cook with her once they see that it doesn’t take much to prepare the same plates.
Eva and Emily had “a great experience working on the show” – which they say felt just like an extension of everyday family life.“One time Emily couldn’t stop herself from munching a strawberry while we were shooting. I smacked her hand to let it go, as if she were a kid. We had to repeat the scene!” Eva recalls.
Eva and Emily with CWMM cast
The Jordanian originally studied architecture before working as an English language teacher for a while – both fields, she says, actually being close to ‘the art of cooking’.
Dubai restaurant
As a teacher, she used to teach her young students to prepare light meals during classes.
The original idea for Cooking With My Mom came from a book Eva was planning to write and publish. Eva loves to spend time in the kitchen with her two daughters – and so the idea became a show.
Eva’s passion for cooking is now so ingrained in Emily that she is helping her mum establish her new restaurant in Dubai.Pasta and sweets are Emily’s favourite things to cook. Eva is always keen to try out new recipes and food from various cultures - but Arabic cuisine will always be her top choice.
“Our Arabic platters will always top the world’s cuisines. Nothing matches taboula,” she says.
A new episode of Cooking With My Mom airs every Monday on Yahoo! Maktoob Screen.