🌙 As Ramadan approaches, we prepare to enter our most communal season. The streets become more crowded, the supermarkets are filled with shoppers, and plans for iftar and sohour begin to take shape. There’s no doubt that “gathering around food” is an important part of fostering our cultural and social connection, particularly in Ramadan.

EnterpriseAM sat down with food consultant, cookbook author, and podcast host Yasmine El Gharably (LinkedIn) to talk about her ever-evolving journey as a food entrepreneur, what makes a gathering special, and her favorite Ramadan food traditions.

Under the umbrella of “Tastes and Tales,” El Gharably has created a unique universe of ventures in the culinary and cultural experience sectors. The platform is the formal entity for her consulting work, cookbooks, digital platforms, and the immersive event curation business that she has pioneered.

“If you look at my CV, you’ll think this is someone who can’t decide what to do,” jokes El Gharably, who has set herself up for an afternoon of meetings and calls at a communal table inside Cake Cafe in Zamalek. The setting, filled with an eclectic array of desserts and delicacies, is very fitting of the LSE-educated entrepreneur, who has done everything from FMCG brand management at Unilever in Alexandria to strategy consulting at Bain in Dubai and heritage preservation and cultural brand launches in Cairo and London. The throughline of all these endeavors is food.

A self-described home cook (not chef), El Gharably explains that she first became interested in food early in her career at Unilever. Managing the Unilever brands Knorr and Fine Foods, involved going out in the field and conducting market research, which meant visiting Egyptian women in their homes. “The women inspired me. With a very limited budget they were creating amazing feasts. I learned so many tricks and tips from them,” she says.

Cairo Cooking, a digital recipe platform, was born in 2015 out of a desire to simplify and preserve Egyptian culinary heritage. “My partner Shahdan Niazi and I wanted to bring back dishes like bessara, khobeiza, and molokhia. Simple, clean recipes that our grandmothers made,” El Gharably says. The website, which remains a trusted go-to source of easy-to-follow Egyptian recipes in Arabic and English, expanded through social media and was later turned into F&B consulting, including services like menu development and costing.

In 2021, El Gharably co-authored the best-selling cookbook Bilhana with her sister, interior designer and fellow food enthusiast Shewekar El Gharably. “My sister and I joined forces to come up with regional recipes that rely on fresh seasonal produce and local spices. We worked with food photographer Yehia El-Alaily and an amazing food editor from London for two years to put together something that we are really proud of,” she says. Now on its fourth print run, the AUC press cookbook is sold worldwide. “It still brings me to tears when I see Bilhana at Waterstones in London or Barnes & Noble in the US.”

The cookbook inspired a podcast by the same name, Bilhana Foodspaces, a show that includes interviews with chefs and food entrepreneurs such as Khufu’s Mostafa Seif and Karim Abdel Rahman (Avec Karim). For season 3, El Gharably is casting her net a bit wider and focusing on celebrity chefs from around the world now based in Dubai.

What makes gatherings special?

Tastes and Tales is known for creating immersive cultural “experiences” that go beyond traditional event planning. El Gharably has curated several high-profile experiences for heritage brands like El Kahhal Looms at the GEM and Azza Fahmy on the North Coast, Cairo, and London. She has also been involved with historical preservation projects like the 500-year-old Beit Al Razzaz, where she created a charity event to help raise funds for restoring the Mamluk home’s roof.

When asked what makes events memorable, El Gharably says it’s a combination of storytelling and connecting people through shared cultural narratives. “Every touchpoint of an event is designed with a clear, specific purpose. What makes an event memorable boils down to details, authenticity, and creating a sense of effortlessness,” she explains.

El Gharably’s events are anything but cookie cutter. For the launch of the Azza Fahmy store in London’s Burlington Arcade in the spring of 2025 she put together an “Egyptian Sham El Nessim” themed bash with lotus flowers, papyrus plants, and a menu of renga (smoked herring) and Roumi cheese, not the typical fare that you would expect to find between Bond Street and Picadilly.

The art of gathering in Ramadan

Ramadan events are festive but shouldn’t be overly complicated. “I like to bring out my nicest tableware and decorations and have everything cleaned, polished, and ready to go,” El Gharably says. Personally she enjoys hosting, but prefers smaller gatherings to large parties, particularly in Ramadan, so guests can be seated comfortably. “The best iftars are the ones that linger with everyone relaxed and sitting around the table talking, eating dessert and sipping tea.”

We may eat simple food all year, but Ramadan is the time to bring out the family recipes and traditions. Some of El Gharably’s favorites are dates soaked in milk to break the fast, bourek (a savory filo pastry stuffed with minced meat and eggs), her mother’s yogurt soup, and garri (a Moroccan soup with freekeh and vegetables, similar to harira).

And let’s not forget dessert. Homemade is best, and again it doesn’t need to be complicated. “Things like aish saraya shami, which is toast soaked in syrup with a bit of red food coloring and topped with mahalabia bel mastika, is an easy crowd pleaser. Chewy and crispy at the bottom and creamy on top. Another quick dessert pleaser is mastika ice cream topped with halawa sha3r and caramelized pistachios. It looks extravagant but can be prepared in minutes,” El Gharably explains.

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