Middle Eastern diet links young Arab-Americans to their ancestors

The Mediterranean diet is today considered one of the healthiest on the planet, but in the 1930s and 1940s - Ralph Nader’s youth - it was considered by many Americans as strange. 

For Nader and his siblings, this didn’t prevent their mother, Rose, from serving the family homemade, healthy meals–dishes from her homeland of Lebanon. Rose didn’t simply encourage her children to eat well, she took time to discuss and explain her approach to food; she used family meals to connect all of her children to the traditions of their ancestors. 

Ralph Nader and his family share recipes inspired by his parents’ commitment to maintaining connection to their homeland of Lebanon. As NPR state: “Growing up in Winsted, Conn., Ralph Nader would often help his mother cook–kneading the bread dough, chopping fragrant spices to prepare dishes for the family table from his parents’ native Lebanon.” 

The Ralph Nader and Family Cookbook shares the cuisine of Nader’s upbringing, presenting Lebanese dishes that will be known to many, including hummus and baba ghanoush, as well as others that may be lesser known, such as kibbe, the extremely versatile national dish of Lebanon, and sheikh al-mahshi–“the ‘king’ of stuffed foods”.