The Rocketeer is a new animated TV series aired on Disney Junior. It follows a 7-years old girl Katherine Secord – goes by the name Kit throughout the series – who receives a jet pack for her birthday.
Kit discovers that the jet pack is actually the first asset of becoming The Rocketeer superhero.
Using the jet pack gift, the female protagonist becomes the superhero of the show with a secret identity and a flying gear.
The Rocketeer Disney Junior is a remake of the 1982 comic books and the 1991 action movie.
The comic books and the movie were so successful that Disney decided to revive the story of Kit the Rocketeer in their new series.
An episode recently aired on January 24th and 25th represented Lebanon and the Lebanese cuisine throughout the episode, with a plot following Kit’s Lebanese family roots and traditional food.
The episode also portrayed Lebanese dialogues that are so close to reality we could all easily relate. The episode is the 9th episode of the series and is titled “Recipe for Disaster.”
According to the Disney Wiki, the plot summary is as follows: “When Kit and Sareena refuse to expose the secret ingredients in their renowned family recipes, Cast-Iron Chef tries to steal them.”
Sereena, voiced by Lebanese-American actress Kathy Najimy, is Kit’s mother and is also the owner of a local diner that serves Mediterranean food.
In the first minutes of the episode, Kit greets her late grandma, calling her sitti, which means ‘my grandma’ in Lebanese, and announces that it is “Lebanese Lunch Day.”
She then proceeds to take out her grandmother’s cooking book which had Lebanon’s iconic emblematic cedar on the cover.
A song with an oriental beat is then heard playing in the background, sung in both English and Lebanese.
It speaks of the most famous dishes of the Lebanese cuisine (Kibbe, Baba Ghanouj, Hummus, etc.) by using the Lebanese words of hospitality: Ahla w sahla! Welcome! And saha w hana! Enjoy your meal!
Emmy-nominated songwriter Beau Black chose the Lebanese-American musical artist Leila Milki to compose and perform the original Lebanese song, named “Enjoy Your Meal.”
The SUPER catchy song was played as Kit and Sereena prepare their teta’s famous Baba Ghanouj recipe.
Baba Ghanouj is a Levantine appetizer of mashed cooked eggplant and is usually mixed with tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, and various seasonings.
However, Kit’s grandma’s recipe is too special that Cast-Iron Chef is shown throughout the episode dying to steal it.
Kudos to Leila Melki for representing Lebanon and its cuisine with the sweetest and most catching song, to Kathy Najimy for representing the proud daughter of a Lebanese mother, and to Disney for giving respect to the magic taste and grace of Lebanese food and culture!
