The Beekeeper of Aleppo
In March of 2011, a group of teenagers in Daraa, Syria were arrested for creating anti-government graffiti. In response, many public demonstrations were formed and were met with violent suppression from government forces. This misuse of power quickly escalated into a Civil War that is the cause of one of the largest refugee crises to date. These true events, paired with her experience working with refugees in Athens, were the inspiration for Christy Lefteri’s novel The Beekeeper of Aleppo.
Nuri is a humble beekeeper who enjoys his life in the countryside filled with quality time with family and friends. His wife, Afra, is a talented painter who uses the beautiful landscape around them as inspiration. However, the peaceful rolling hills and airy open markets soon become a thing of the past as their precious homeland is torn apart by war. Slowly, the people they love are either forced to flee or are killed by violent government soldiers or police. Finally, after suffering a horrible explosion that leaves Afra blinded, the couple has to flee their home to head towards Britain without their son.
On the perilous journey to Britain, Nuri is guided by a few people including his cousin Mustafa whom they are trying to meet in Yorkshire. Mustafa’s e-mails are full of promise and tell of an apiary he has helped develop to teach other refugees beekeeping. Meanwhile, Nuri also befriends a boy named Mohammed in a migrant camp in Turkey. This relationship causes him to wrestle with the post traumatic stress he has been suppressing since the horrible incidents they witnessed in their home country.
The novel also switches timelines between the couple in Britian seeking asylum with an assigned social worker and the journey it took for Nuri and Afra to reach the United Kingdom. The journey is not just geographical, but is also a journey of the mind and soul as the main characters come to grips with their new reality. While your heart is racing for Nuri as they are crossing the tumultuous waves on an overflowing raft with refugees, you are also jumping timelines and witnessing how Nuri is trying to heal his trauma through his relationship with bees. The perilous journey to a new home mixed with a turbulent road to acceptance of tragedy offers beautiful metaphors for healing physically and spiritually through cataclysmic events.
Some aspects I enjoyed about the book is the plain language and how easy it is to follow the story. However, it is no secret that this is not considered an “easy read” due to its difficult and unnerving subject matter. However, I gave this book a five star rating on my GoodReads account because I learned so much about the lives of Syrian refugees. This book consistently morphed my perception of fiction and reality with how attached I became to the characters. There were several times I had to remind myself Nuri and Afra were not real people while also knowing this is the lived experience of millions of Syrians.
The writer also chose Nuri to be an unreliable narrator, which better illustrates the impact of trauma on humans. There are times in the book you start to question what is fact in the storyline versus what is a thwarted reality the characters have created. Both Nuri and Afra have responses to civil war that manifest into physical ailments that are crippling throughout the novel. At times I started to question if these physical ailments were from bodily trauma or internal trauma. Towards the end, all of this comes to light and there are tiny glimmers of hope even though the couple has been dealt such a harsh hand.
I actually read this book with my book club and everyone across the board thought it was a fantastic read. I am very grateful to the ladies of the book club who volunteered to be my taste testers for this recipe. With the main character being a beekeeper, of course I had to incorporate honey throughout the recipe. While searching for inspiration on Instagram, I also decided baklava somehow needed to be incorporated within the recipe as well since it hails from Greece, Turkey, and the Middle East. In the end I created these delicious baklava cupcakes. Phyllo dough and honey are some of the main pillars of this dessert and I used them in both the base and toppings of the cupcakes. Turkish baklava is also known for incorporating pistachios, so the extra salty crunch really ties this recipe to Nuri and Afra’s journey. For the cupcake I ended up mimicking a spice cake and cream cheese frosting since that is typically an American crowd favorite. I hope you all enjoy both the book and the recipe.
Baklava Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Yields: 1 Dozen Cupcakes
“Baklava” Topping
8-10 sheets of phyllo pastry
¾ stick of melted butter
Honey
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Melt the butter in a bowl and use a pastry brush if possible. Brush butter on a baking sheet. Put down one piece of phyllo dough then brush with butter and drizzle with honey. Repeat 8-10 times until phyllo is layered on top of each other and covered in butter and honey. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy. Once slightly cooled, cut into 16 small squares. Save 12 of the squares for topping and crush up four of the squares as the bottom layer for the cupcakes.
Cupcakes
¾ cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 cup maple syrup
½ cup butter (softened) or coconut oil (melted)
3 eggs
½ cup greek yogurt
⅔ cup milk
½ cup crushed pistachios
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Whisk together dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon). In a separate bowl, mix maple syrup, butter/coconut oil, and eggs. Then, add in greek yogurt and milk. Once mixed together, add in dry ingredients and blend until incorporated. You can add some extra pistachios in the batter or save them all for the bottom of the cupcakes.
To assemble cupcakes, spoon in crushed up “baklava” and crushed pistachios on the bottom of the cupcake tins. There should be plenty to cover the bottom of each cupcake. Add in cupcake batter on top. Bake for approximately 25 minutes, or until cupcakes are firm and golden brown. Let cook before applying frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting
1 pack (8oz.) of cream cheese, softened
1 stick of butter, softened
2 cups of powdered sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla
Use a mixer to combine cream cheese and butter until fully incorporated. Sift or whisk powdered sugar before adding to cream cheese and butter mixture. Mix on high, adding vanilla, for approximately four minutes or until frosting is creamy and fluffy. Pipe frosting on cupcakes and top with “baklava”. Sprinkle with crushed pistachios.
Like Nuri and Afra, there are over 14 million Syrian refugees that have been forced to flee their home. Over 70% of this country’s population is in need of humanitarian assistance. If you feel so compelled, feel free to donate to World Central Kitchen, which is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that provides meals in times of natural disaster and crisis. While WCK is not necessarily seeking to feed all Syrian refugees all the time, they have continuously been making an effort to provide meals to those affected by the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. Please click the link here to learn more and donate.