When Lana Hand sat across from me at Heartbreak Coffee, something about her was immediately familiar. She reminded me of the older women I had known growing up in Lebanon—the tetas of Beirut, with faces that seemed to carry generations of family history. Then Hand began to speak, her voice unmistakably Mississippi, and the resemblance became more complicated.
Hand has never been to Lebanon or Syria. Yet the food of both places has followed her throughout her life.
On October 27, Hand will bring the Lebanese recipes passed down through her family to Oxford, where she will lead a hands-on cooking class organized by the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council (YAC).
“I started cooking when I was in my twenties after watching my parents,” Hand said. “Most of what I know is from watching my parents cook, and then I decided I needed to learn for myself.”
Hand explained that some recipes can be shared over the phone, while others are best learned through observation. “I can tell you how to make the taboule, but the rest of it you really need to watch,” Hand said.
“My dad did not use recipes or measurements in his cooking, he would just taste it.”
As she got older, Hand became less willing to taste the raw meat mixture used to prepare kibbeh, a traditional dish made with ground meat and bulgur wheat. Hand tasted the “perfect” kibbeh at a party and asked the woman who prepared it to share the recipe. The woman provided precise seasoning measurements, allowing Hand to prepare the kibbeh without tasting the raw mixture.
“She gave me the amount of the salt and pepper, so that’s how I got the full recipe,” Hand said.
In Hand’s family, cooking was something learned through observation, taste, and practice. Now, she’s bringing that same approach to a new generation of cooks in Oxford.
Hand’s family particularly loves spinach pies, fried kibbeh, and kusa (stuffed squash).
Among the dishes participants will prepare are vegetarian stuffed grape leaves. Hand uses plenty of lemon in her cooking, an ingredient central to Lebanese cuisine.
The class will also prepare kibbeh and baklava, a dessert made with layers of phyllo dough and nuts, topped with sugar syrup. Hand usually bakes her kibbeh, but because the oven will be occupied with baklava, she plans to fry it for this class. Hand emphasizes that the class will be hands-on, with participants preparing the dishes under her supervision.
“I always call it hands-on cooking with Lana cuz you will be participating,” Hand said.
Hand is no stranger to Oxford. She lived here 13 years ago and taught a free cooking class. She saw an advertisement from the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council seeking instructors and decided to apply.
In her hometown of Vicksburg, her church, St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church, has been hosting Lebanese dinners for more than 60 years, Hand said. “I helped serve while in high school but later on I helped prepare the food and serve at different times,” Hand said.
Hand’s Lebanese cooking class will take place Tuesday, October 27, from 6 to 9 pm at the Lafayette County Multipurpose Arena in Oxford. Registration costs $80 for YAC members and $85 for nonmembers. The deadline to register is October 25.
“She is one of three new teachers this cycle as we added a yoga class and photography class,” said Wayne Andrews, executive director of YAC. Andrews believes the class will be both educational and entertaining, offering participants an opportunity to learn about the culinary traditions of Mississippi’s Lebanese diaspora.
“She has structured the class so everyone takes part in the process and then everyone shares a meal. So you are learning new skills, making new friends, and tasting wonderful food,” Andrews said.
For Andrews, the class reflects the Arts Council’s larger mission of bringing people together through shared experiences. “The Arts are really about building community and understanding other people,” Andrews said.
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