'Something Phenomenal': Singer Dua Lipa dishes up Palestinian cuisine while in coronavirus lockdown

'Something Phenomenal': Singer Dua Lipa dishes up Palestinian cuisine while in coronavirus lockdown
The British-Kosovar singer has tried her hand at cooking Palestinian food during the Covid-19 lockdown.
2 min read
22 April, 2020
Lipa learned the recipe from her boyfriend's father, Mohamed Hadid [AFP]
Millions of Britons are taking up new hobbies from baking to crocheting to pass the time while in coronavirus lockdown.

Pop star Dua Lipa is no exception, and has earned the lot of love of Arabs worldwide after lending her hand to try cooking Palestinian cuisine.

Over the weekend, the British-Kosovar singer shared photos of her and boyfriend Anwar Hadid making maqlouba, a traditional Palestinian meal consisting of rice, meat and fried vegetables.

The name of the delicious dish literally means "upside-down". It is so named as the pot is turned upside down before serving.

Lipa learned the recipe from Hadid's father Mohamed, a Palestinian-American real estate developer and father to models Gigi, Bella and Anwar.

Palestinian social media heaped praise on the "honourary Palestinian" after she shared the photos on Twitter and Instagram.

"SISTER DUA," tweeted Palestinian-American journalist Sara Yasin. Palestinian journalist Omar Ghraieb asked: "Icon much?"

Radio producer Meha Ahmed added: "Dua Lipa out here attempting something I still haven't done: making maqloubeh without the help of a Palestinian mother in attendance. BRAVE."
Others poked fun at Lipa's unusual spelling for the dish, "maeloubah". "I assume she wrote it like that because it's how we Palestinians pronounce it," one Twitter user explained.

It is not the first time Lipa has shared in Palestinian culture.

On a charity trip to Lebanon last year to visit Palestinian and Syrian refugees, the singer was pictured performing the traditional Palestinian dabka dance.

The singer-songwriter's Kosovar-Albanian parents fled the Balkans in 1992 due to conflict. Lipa returned to Kosovo with her family when she was 11-years-old.

"This is personal for me. My parents fled a war-torn region and built a life for themselves in a new place. And each one of the refugee children I met has parents just like my own, who have tried to make the best decisions they could for their families," she said last year.


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