Aref Shatarah wheels out a cart full of dishes that his wife, Magida Shatarah, just prepared. Among them is kufta with tahini. Are those a few straggling fries sticking out of the appealingly murky sauce? Yes, and when I slide in a spoon, I lift out richly seasoned ground beef that’s been baked in the bottom of the pan. Lemon blazes through the tahini. Every dish reveals similar exacting definition. Since 2021, Al Baraka has distinguished itself among the culinary riches of Anaheim’s Little Arabia with a repertoire of Palestinian dishes more commonly seen in home kitchens than at restaurants. Whatever else you order — tabbouleh that tastes as bright as it looks, molokhia (a soothing soup of pureed jute mallow), kubba laban (beef and bulgur croquettes in satiny yogurt sauce) — scan the list of daily specials. Saturdays, for example, mean mshakhan: roast chicken, browned from spices and heat, piled on flatbread with sumac-stained onions. This is an autumn feast to taste the year’s first local pressings from the land’s ancient olive groves. Magida’s skillful cooking safeguards such traditions. — B.A.

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