, Updated 15 Mar 2021, 16:28 GMT Reem Kassis is the author of The Arabesque Table: Contemporary Recipes from the Arab World. Photograph by Dan Perez Photograph by Dan Perez The Arabesque Table? I wanted to capture the evolving and cross-cultural Arab table, and I realised that to understand this modern way of eating, one had to understand the culinary history of the Arab world. At its core, food is more closely tied to language and religion than arbitrary political boundaries. I wanted to use the history of our cuisine to demonstrate how food often transcends the boxes we put it in. Can you explain the idea behind the title?