Kitchen Confessionals

with Zaynab Issa | a look inside her kitchen & her new cookbook.

Mar 28, 2025

good morning & happy friday! i’m kicking off a new series called Kitchen Confessionals — a space to explore people and their kitchens, not just in terms of design or food, but emotion. kitchens are where so much life happens: cooking, crying, dancing, arguing, dreaming. they’re as much about memory as they are about meals.

the first guest is my friend Zaynab Issa. she is a cookbook author, recipe developer, and content creator. her work explores culture through food with depth and beauty, and her debut book Third Culture Cooking comes out next week (pre-order it here!). & if you’re in NYC, you better snag a ticket to her pop-up dinner at HUDA!!!

in the interview below, Zaynab talks about her kitchen, the book writing process, and her way of celebrating Ramadan. also!! she has graciously offered up one of her delicious recipes from the book for you all; scroll all the way down to enjoy it!

BTW! BAY AREA FOLKS! Zaynab and i will be in conversation at Blackbird Bookstore on april 22nd. get your tickets here!!!!

if you have someone you’d like to see featured in the next issue, drop a line below!

step inside Zaynab’s kitchen with me

you have such a rich background in the food world—can you share a bit about your journey?

First and foremost, I grew up around so many smart, strong women who love to eat, feed, and cook. They are the source of my passion and interest.

My parents are Khoja from East Africa and immigrated to America in the 80’s. My sisters and I were born in Buffalo, NY and we moved to New Jersey when I was 4. I spent most of my childhood between New Jersey and my Khoja community center in Queens and they both really influenced my cooking style. As you can imagine, the contrast between quiet, suburban northern New Jersey and one of the most diverse cities in the world created quite a bit of cultural tension, and I mean that in the best way.

In college, as my design thesis project, I ended up creating a zine documenting the recipes I grew up eating, mostly Khoja classics. It also discussed the themes of sharing culture and the idea of pursuing togetherness despite unfamiliarity.

After college, I published that zine and at the same time was regularly sharing what I cooked on social—those aligning sort of jumpstarted my professional career in food. Shortly after, I set my sights on pursuing a more traditional path in food media. I loved writing the zine, and the whole experience was so meaningful. I was like, ‘oh I can do this regularly in a more serious way if I start contributing recipes to media outlets’. I ended up full time at BA shortly after, and that’s where I really honed my recipe developing skills. There’s a lot more in between, but that’s the short of the long.

tell us about your kitchen. is it chaotic or calm? do you keep everything perfectly organized, or is it more of a mess? what little details make it feel like yours?

It’s both; I’m a type A planner and type B executor, so there’s absolutely an organized chaos happening. It is also why I love recipes—recipes are precise, but cooking isn’t always so neat.

I also don’t have a massive kitchen so things naturally get a little tight and all over the place but I know it very well so it’s comfortable for me. I also think the size and close proximity to everything I need makes cooking really efficient.

if your kitchen had a personality, who would it be?

It’s an INFJ, Virgo sun, Libra moon, and Pisces rising—my kitchen is fortunately and unfortunately just a reflection of me. Isn’t everyone’s?

your book, Third Culture Cooking, celebrates the intersection of cultures through food. if you had to pick one dish that best represents your personal identity, what would it be and why?

This also happens to be one of my favorite photos in the book. But the Jugu scones are so inspired by all my different influences. There’s a nod to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, scones, and jugu cake (peanut cake rusk).

for those who aren’t familiar, can you give a quick rundown of Ramadan? what’s the energy in your kitchen at iftar? who’s there, what’s on the table, and what’s the first thing you reach for when breaking your fast?

Ramadan is the name of a month in the Islamic Calendar. The month holds a lot of weight spiritually and the ritual of fasting from food and water from sunrise to sunset is observed all month long. The energy at iftar is very anticipatory, I’ve likely been picturing the moment the entire day. Dates are customary and make a lot of sense, they quickly restore blood sugar levels without a crazy glucose spike. My favorite dates for eating straight are Barhi dates or fresh medjool dates. Next is water.

The meal before I start fasting is arguably more important if I’m being honest. This Ramadan, to accommodate my work load, I’ve been waking up before sunrise and having my go-to caffeinated smoothie (in the book called, A Different Date Shake) at the very least and often a full blown breakfast. This way I’m fueled and energized for at least a very productive morning of work. The 3pm slump hits hard.

i imagine writing Third Culture Cooking came with its fair share of stress. when you were at the end of your rope, was there one pantry (or fridge) ingredient you always turned to?

So much stress. I alternated between weeks of writing and weeks of cooking to help balance the workload, and when I was in a writing phase I was barely cooking. Thank god for instant ramen.

what's the craziest thing that's happened in your kitchen?

This is a regular, very irritating kitchen occurrence. My apartment has a smoke alarm less than 15ft from the stove. Trying to fan down the alarm and while searing a steak is truly comical. We’ve remedied it by taping over a takeout container which worked until it didn’t and now it’s wrapped in cling film. Don’t try it at home.

catch Zaynab in your city on her book tour — tickets here!

A Different Date Shake

Serves 2 to 4 (makes 4 cups) | 10 minutes

A shake worth getting out of bed for.

A date shake, akin to a milkshake, in its traditional preparation, consists simply of dates, milk, and ice cream. While it’s delicious, it doesn’t exactly scream “balanced breakfast.” So, to make this dessert-for-breakfast a little more fruitful (pun intended), I’ve reimagined the classic with the addition of blueberries, bananas, and coffee.

Even though this is technically a smoothie, I didn’t want to use the name because it is so much more complex in flavor than what comes to mind when I think of one. While it’s fruit forward, it’s deeper and richer than your average smoothie thanks to the salt, vanilla, and cocoa powder (try to use Dutch-process; it really does make a difference). Salt and vanilla in a smoothie are non-negotiables for me—they take any smoothie to an irresistible, milkshake-like place.

As someone who can’t start their day without caffeine, coffee in a morning smoothie just makes sense. Nescafé instant coffee granules are easy to find and are always in my pantry, so I developed this recipe using those, but feel free to use 1 1/2 cups (360 ml) of your favorite chilled or cooled coffee instead and forgo the water from the ingredient list.

You can absolutely throw everything into the blender and give it a good whirl, but blending the dates before adding any frozen fruit ensures a smooth drink with no chewy bits of floating dates.

3 Medjool dates, pitted
1 tablespoon Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 tablespoon instant coffee granules,* such as Nescafé
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
1¼ cups (180 g) frozen banana pieces, from about
2 medium bananas
1 cup (155 g) frozen blueberries*

*INSTEAD OF . . .

Instant coffee granules, use 1½ cups (360 ml) chilled coffee (omit the water) or 1½ teaspoons instant espresso powder
Frozen blueberries, use another frozen berry

method

Combine the dates, cocoa powder, instant coffee, vanilla, salt, and 1 1/2 cups (360 ml) water in a blender and blend on high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the frozen bananas and frozen blueberries and blend on high speed until smooth. Taste and thin with more water as needed to your desired consistency.