This is no ordinary cookbook, it is also a memoir that begins in Israel and winds its way from the streets of Philadelphia, to Italy, back to Israel, and finally to the heart of the South, New Orleans. Complete with stories of place, of people, and the food that connects them all. From rice and beans cooked on the New Orleans streets during Hurricane Katrina, to roasted chicken with harissa and speckled trout with tahini and pine nuts, SHAYA follows the course of the flavors Alon has tried, the places he has visited, and the lessons he has learned.