Abu Julia
Muhammad Sbeita (Arabic: محمد اسبيتة), aka Abu Julia (Arabic: أبو جوليا), is a Palestinian chef and social media star. He is notable for creating cooking videos, and was described by Al Jazeera as "the most famous Arab chef on Facebook".[1] As of November 2021, he had 5.4 million followers on Facebook, and over 600 million views on his videos.[1]
Life
Sbeita was born in Gaza, Palestine, and lived there continually until the age of 27. His father is a blacksmith, with whom he worked for around 12 years.[1] He learned to cook at the age of thirteen, with the help of his grandmother, during a period where his mother was unwell.[2] He has a degree in English literature, and has worked as a translator and editor.[1][2] He moved to London in 2017, to be with his wife, who is a doctor completing a postgraduate medical degree in the UK.[2]
During his time in London, he has worked as a translator, though his interest in cooking led him to work in one of Jamie Oliver's restaurants for a year and a half.[2]
Online Career
Sbeita published his first video under the pseudonym Abu Julia (after his daughter) to Facebook on August 17th, 2020.[3][4] He describes video editing as a skill he had learned during the first Covid-19 lockdown in the United Kingdom.[1][5][2] Prior to this, he describes experimenting with short phone-recorded videos on a personal account.[2]
Many of his videos demonstrate dishes from across the Arab world, with a particular focus on Levantine cuisine, though he also cooks a range of European and Asian dishes.[3][6] He said he was initially encouraged to focus on Palestinian cuisine, but he decided otherwise in order to broaden his audience, saying that the biggest propaganda for Palestinian cooks would be for him to reach notoriety through cooking a range of foods.[2] He has discussed the tension between preserving traditional recipes and techniques, and adapting new versions, particularly with regard to allergy sufferers, and people living in the diaspora without access to traditional ingredients.[1] He has also described the difficulty he has faced in publishing videos on traditional dishes such as tabbouleh and mansaf, both of which garnered criticism from Lebanese and Jordanian followers respectively for being insufficiently authentic.[1]
Sbeita's followers are international, with the greatest number from Egypt, Jordan, Palestine and Iraq, and are predominantly women. [1][2] He has been interviewed by a range of Arabic-language media platforms, including Al Jazeera,[1] Sky News Arabia[5], Al-Quds Al-Arabi[2], Amman TV[7], Al-Arabiye[8] and Al-Mamlaka.[9] He is known for using the phrase "our dear ones" (Arabic: "حبايبنا اللزم", romanized: ḥabaibna al'lazm) in his videos, a term of endearment and affection in the Gazan dialect.[1][10] He also often speaks about living conditions in Gaza, and to support the Palestinian cause, as a prominent member of the diaspora.[11][4]
In October, 2021, Sbeita worked with the World Food Program to promote its work in Palestine.[12]
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 Jamal, Sarah. "Behind the scenes of Abu Julia's kitchen.. when cooking turns into joy". AlJazeera. AlJazeera. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Anas, Lamis. "Palestinian chef Abu Julia tells "Al Quds Al Arabi" the story of his success". Al-Quds Al-Arabi. Al-Quds. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Abu Julia Kitchen". Facebook. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "كواليس مطبخ الشيف الفلسطيني أبو جوليا في 'Shaer'". قناة الغد (Al-Ghad TV) (in العربية). 2021-12-10. Retrieved 2021-12-23. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 5.0 5.1 Nassar, Carolina. "#influencers: "Abu Julia" reveals the details of his social media success". Sky News Arabia. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
- ↑ "Abu Julia Instagram Page". Instagram.
- ↑ "أبو جوليا "حبيبنا اللزم" يكشف سر اسمه . . وأسرار نجاح وصفاته - ضيف الأسبوع". Amman TV. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
- ↑ "أبو جوليا.. شيف نجم على وسائل التواصل ضيف صباح العربية". Al-Arabiye. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
- ↑ "أبو جوليا صانع محتوى يقدم وصفات الطعام وطريقة تـناولها". Al-Mamlaka TV. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
- ↑ al-Nsour, Basma (2021-12-06). "المرأة التي فقدت عقلها (The woman who lost her mind)". Al Araby (in العربية). Retrieved 2021-12-23. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Agency, Sanad (2021-05-02). "بالفيديو.. الشيف الفلسطيني "أبو جوليا" يتحدث عن سر قصف الاحتلال لأبراج غزة". www.aljazeera.net (in العربية). Retrieved 2021-12-23. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "WFP Palestine Country Brief, October 2021 - occupied Palestinian territory". ReliefWeb. Retrieved 2021-12-23.
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