Traditional almond macaroons for Passover were never my thing: too sweet and not chewy enough. Then I met Eileen Dangoor Khalastchy, a Jew who traces her roots to ancient Babylonia, and tried her macaroon recipe from Iraq.

Ms. Khalastchy, 86, left Baghdad for London in 1974, but the spices of her Middle Eastern homeland (cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, cardamom and turmeric) still perfume her kitchen. This winter, I watched her make and mold the macaroons and listened to her stories of growing up beside the Tigris River in a household of 20. She told me how she helped pluck the chickens for the Sabbath t’beet, made tomato paste by letting tomato pulp dry on the roof, and ground almonds with a mortar and pestle for cookies and other treats.

“Today these macaroons that I bring all my friends as a hostess gift remind us of our life in Baghdad,” she said. “I wish that we took photos. Maybe we can find them on the Internet.”