The Gaza table

Gaza cooks differently from the rest of Palestine, and the dill tells you before anything else does.

Maftoul is the large hand-rolled couscous, steamed over broth with chickpeas, cooked with chicken. Sumagiya is a stew of chard, chickpeas, and lentils soured with sumac and enriched with tahini, finished with fried bread. Dagga is tomatoes, garlic, and green chilli pounded with dill and lemon, scooped with bread. And there is fish, because Gaza is the only Palestinian coast; the port sold it grilled whole, with hot pepper in everything.

The sandy soil of Beit Lahiya grew strawberries famous enough to export.