Yes, the colour purple was only worn by royal personages, and selected wealthy persons to indicate their social class.
don’t have a Top Ten, why don’t I do one? And that’s what happened, that’s how the idea was born. So I became the very first Disc Jockey in Lebanon.
Well, in this case, I think the purple is deservedly worn on the front of your cookbook... Elaine, just explain to people what you were doing in Lebanon, apart from authenticating recipes for your two other sisters who co-wrote the book with you – you were there for other reasons – that you fell in love, was one of them, let’s be honest, and you married a man in the old home country... But you were also on the radio there, weren’t you?
That is fantastic! So what was your name on the radio?
Yes, because my surname, my married name is Jahar, I called myself Elaine J – “Elaine J with you all the way!” That is great. Elaine, it’s been an absolute pleasure to talk to you about your family and your life, and the food that has been bound up in both those things...
Yes, I joined Radio Lebanon in the mid-sixties... The Original Lebanese Cookbook is published by And what were you doing on Radio Lebanon? Allen and Unwin
They told me that I needed to give them an original idea – and so I thought to myself, they don’t have a “Top Ten.” I’d just come from Australia, and there was a Top Ten going on there, and I thought they
This interview is published with the kind permission of ABC Radio National. The audio of the interview can be downloaded from: http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/rnfirs tbite/from-cowra-to-beirut---food2c-music-andfamily/4647080