SERIES 3: EPISODE 3: Samantha Ellis: Nostalgia for an unknown place

Samantha Ellis, an Iraqi Jew and second-generation refugee, has never been to the country she longs to see. Her new memoir, Chopping Onions on My Heart, is a personal story of her family's flight from Iraq as well as a reckoning with the loss of their language of Judeo Iraqi Arabic. It's a deeply intelligent book which wrestles with the idea of home and how we preserve culture. Samantha and I took a walk in a place of her choosing - the place where she's tried to create a sense of belonging for her young son. 

 

Samantha Ellis in her son's favourite North London park

The three kohl pots which Samantha's brought from Iraq

Making makhboose or date pastries at Samantha's table