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How to Cook dishes from the Middle East
The Middle East is a large region that encompasses Southwest Asia and parts of North Africa (the
exact definition used by different people does vary). The region was home to some of the oldest
ancient civilizations, and is also the location from which three of the world's major religions,
namely Christianity, Islam and Judaism, originate.
The Middle Eastern region is home to a variety of different cuisines, which reflect the cultural
and religious traditions of the various people of the region. Despite differences between countries
and cuisines, it should also be said that there are also common elements shared between many of the
cuisines - for example, chickpeas, honey, mint, parsley, sesame seeds, sumac, and unleavened flatbread
all common to the region.
On this page, you will find a selection of Middle Eastern cookbooks.
Or you can select from one of the more specialist recipe subcategories:
By Claudia Roden
Knopf
Released: 2000-09-26
Hardcover (528 pages)
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In this updated and greatly enlarged edition of her Book of Middle Eastern Food, Claudia Roden re-creates a classic. The book was originally published here in 1972 and was hailed by James Beard as "a landmark in the field of cookery"; this new version represents the accumulation of the author's thirty years of further extensive travel throughout the ever-changing landscape of the Middle East, gathering recipes and stories.
Now Ms. Roden gives us more than 800 recipes, including the aromatic variations that accent a dish and define the country of origin: fried garlic and cumin and coriander from Egypt, cinnamon and allspice from Turkey, sumac and tamarind from Syria and Lebanon, pomegranate syrup from Iran, preserved lemon and harissa from North Africa. She has worked out simpler approaches to traditional dishes, using healthier ingredients and time-saving methods without ever sacrificing any of the extraordinary flavor, freshness, and texture that distinguish the cooking of this part of the world.
Throughout these pages she draws on all four of the region's major cooking styles:
- The refined haute cuisine of Iran, based on rice exquisitely prepared and embellished with a range of meats, vegetables, fruits, and nuts
- Arab cooking from Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan--at its finest today, and a good source for vegetable and bulgur wheat dishes
- The legendary Turkish cuisine, with its kebabs, wheat and rice dishes, yogurt salads, savory pies, and syrupy pastries
- North African cooking, particularly the splendid fare of Morocco, with its heady mix of hot and sweet, orchestrated to perfection in its couscous dishes and tagines
From the tantalizing mezze--those succulent bites of filled fillo crescents and cigars, chopped salads, and stuffed morsels, as well as tahina, chickpeas, and eggplant in their many guises--to the skewered meats and savory stews and hearty grain and vegetable dishes, here is a rich array of the cooking that Americans embrace today. No longer considered exotic--all the essential ingredients are now available in supermarkets, and the more rare can be obtained through mail order sources (readily available on the Internet)--the foods of the Middle East are a boon to the home cook looking for healthy, inexpensive, flavorful, and wonderfully satisfying dishes, both for everyday eating and for special occasions. |
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By Claudia Roden
Knopf
Released: 2006-10-31
Hardcover (352 pages)
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In the 1960s Claudia Roden introduced Americans to a new world of tastes in her classic A Book of Middle Eastern Food. Now, in her enchanting new book, Arabesque, she revisits the three countries with the most exciting cuisines today—Morocco, Turkey, and Lebanon. Interweaving history, stories, and her own observations, she gives us 150 of the most delectable recipes: some of them new discoveries, some reworkings of classic dishes—all of them made even more accessible and delicious for today’s home cook.
From Morocco, the most exquisite and refined cuisine of North Africa: couscous dishes; multilayered pies; delicately flavored tagines; ways of marrying meat, poultry, or fish with fruit to create extraordinary combinations of spicy, savory, and sweet.
From Turkey, a highly sophisticated cuisine that dates back to the Ottoman Empire yet reflects many new influences today: a delicious array of kebabs, fillo pies, eggplant dishes in many guises, bulgur and chickpea salads, stuffed grape leaves and peppers, and sweet puddings.
From Lebanon, a cuisine of great diversity: a wide variety of mezze (those tempting appetizers that can make a meal all on their own); dishes featuring sun-drenched Middle Eastern vegetables and dried legumes; and national specialties such as kibbeh, meatballs with pine nuts, and lamb shanks with yogurt.
Claudia Roden knows this part of the world so intimately that we delight in being in such good hands as she translates the subtle play of flavors and simple cooking techniques to our own home kitchens. |
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By Najmieh Batmanglij
Mage Publishers
Hardcover (440 pages)
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This is a treasury of 240 classical and regional Iranian recipes. 120 colour photographs intertwined with descriptions of ancient and modern ceremonies, poetry, folk tales, travelogue excerpts, and anecdotes make "New Food of Life" not just a collection of recipes but also an introduction to Persian art and culture. Each recipe is presented in a format that is brilliantly logical and marvellously easy-to-follow. You will learn how to cook rice, the jewel of Persian cooking, simply yet deliciously. And by combining it with a little meat, fowl, or fish, vegetables, fruits, and herbs, you'll have a balanced diet - colourful, yet healthy, simple yet exotic.Iranian festivals, ceremonies, and celebrations, together with the menus and recipes associated with them are described in detail: from the ancient winter solstice celebration, Yalda, or the 'sun's birthday', which is the origin of such Western holidays as Christmas and Halloween, to the rituals and symbolism involved in a modern Iranian marriage. Like a magnificent Persian carpet, 1,000 years of Persian literature and art have been woven into the book. Food-related pieces from such classics as the "10th century Book of Kings", and "1,001 Nights" to the miniatures of Mir Mussavar and Aq Mirak, from the poetry of Omar Khayyam to the humour of Mulla Nasruddin are all included. Now with the ingredients for Iranian food available in most US cities, "New Food of Life" makes accessible one of the world's oldest - yet least known - culinary traditions where the first recipes were written 4,000 years ago in a cuneiform script on clay tablets. |
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By Poopa Dweck
Ecco
Released: 2007-08-21
Hardcover (400 pages)
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When the Aleppian Jewish community migrated from the ancient city of Aleppo in historic Syria and settled in New York and Latin American cities in the early 20th century, it brought its rich cuisine and vibrant culture. Most Syrian recipes and traditions, however, were not written down and existed only in the minds of older generations. Poopa Dweck, a first generation Syrian–Jewish American, has devoted much of her life to preserving and celebrating her community's centuries–old legacy. Dweck relates the history and culture of her community through its extraordinary cuisine, offering more than 180 exciting ethnic recipes with tantalizing photos and describing the unique customs that the Aleppian Jewish community observes during holidays and lifecycle events. Among the irresistible recipes are:
•Bazargan–Tangy Tamarind Bulgur Salad
•Shurbat Addes–Hearty Red Lentil Soup with Garlic and Coriander
•Kibbeh–Stuffed Syrian Meatballs with Ground Rice
•Samak b'Batata–Baked Middle Eastern Whole Fish with Potatoes
•Sambousak–Buttery Cheese–Filled Sesame Pastries
•Eras bi'Ajweh–Date–Filled Crescents
•Chai Na'na–Refreshing Mint Tea Like mainstream Middle Eastern cuisines, Aleppian Jewish dishes are alive with flavor and healthful ingredients–featuring whole grains, vegetables, legumes, and olive oil–but with their own distinct cultural influences. In Aromas of Aleppo, cooks will discover the best of Poopa Dweck's recipes, which gracefully combine Mediterranean and Levantine influences, and range from small delights (or maza) to daily meals and regal holiday feasts–such as the twelve–course Passover seder. |
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By Diana Abu-Jaber
Anchor
Released: 2006-03-14
Paperback (352 pages)
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Diana Abu-Jaber’s vibrant, humorous memoir weaves together stories of being raised by a food-obsessed Jordanian father with tales of Lake Ontario shish kabob cookouts and goat stew feasts under Bedouin tents in the desert. These sensuously evoked repasts, complete with recipes, in turn illuminate the two cultures of Diana's childhood–American and Jordanian–while helping to paint a loving and complex portrait of her impractical, displaced immigrant father who, like many an immigrant before him, cooked to remember the place he came from and to pass that connection on to his children. The Language of Baklava irresistably invites us to sit down at the table with Diana’s family, sharing unforgettable meals that turn out to be as much about “grace, difference, faith, love” as they are about food. |
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By Greg Malouf
Chronicle Books
Hardcover (356 pages)
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With terrain from rugged mountains to idyllic coastline Turkey has become a sought-after travel destination enjoyed not only for its beauty but its culinary wonders. In Turquoise Greg and Lucy Malouf visit spice markets and soup kitchens enjoy fish sandwiches on the Bosphorus and drink in ancient teahouses. The recipes inspired by their travels capture the enticing flavors that define Turkish cuisine from the ancient ruins of Pergamum to modern day Istanbul. Some are traditional favorites such as Little Kefta Dumplings in Minted Yogurt Sauce while many more—from Roast Chicken with Pine Nut and Barberry Pilav Stuffing to Pistachio Halva Ice Cream—are Greg's own flavored with his years of experience cooking Middle Eastern food. With its hundreds of luscious photographs Turquoise is a chance to share in this unforgettable Turkish journey. |
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By Paula Wolfert
William Morrow Cookbooks
Released: 1987-02-18
Paperback (368 pages)
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Since it was first published in 1973, Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco has established itself as the classic work on one of the world's great cuisines. From the magnificent bisteeyas (enormous, delicate pies composed of tissue-thin, buttery layers of pastry and various fillings) to endless varieties of couscous, Paula Wolfert reveals not only the riches of the Moroccan kitchen but also the variety and flavor of the country itself. With its outstanding recipes, meticulous and loving research, and keen commitment to the traditions of its subject, this is one of the rare cookbooks that are as valuable for their good reading as for their inspired food. |
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By Madelain Farah
Running Press
Paperback (192 pages)
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As a young girl, Madelain Farah spent hours watching her mother cook. Capturing her mother's "a pinch of this" technique, she has re-created recipes for everything from Arabic Bread, Lentil Soup, and Eggplant Salad, to Baked Fish with Tahini Sauce, Supreme Lamb Stew with Kibbi, and the classic Cucumber Yogurt Salad. |
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By Janna Gur
Schocken
Released: 2008-08-26
Hardcover (304 pages)
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In this stunning new work that is at once a coffee-table book to browse and a complete cookbook, Janna Gur brings us the sumptuous color, variety, and history of today’s Israeli cuisine, beautifully illustrated by Eilon Paz, a photographer who is intimate with the local scene.
In Gur’s captivating introduction, she describes Israeli food as a product of diverse cultures: the Jews of the Diaspora, settling in a homeland that was new to them, brought their far-flung cuisines to the table even as they looked to their Arab neighbors for additional ingredients and ideas. The delicious, easy-to-follow recipes represent all of these influences, and include some creative interpretations of classics by celebrated Israeli chefs: Beetroot and Pomegranate Salad, Fish Falafel in Spicy Harissa Mayonnaise, Homemade Shawarma, Chreime–North African Hot Fish Stew, Roasted Chicken Drumsticks in Carob Syrup. With favorite recipes for the Sabbath (Sweet Challah Traditional Chopped Liver, Chocolate and Halva Coffeecake) and for holidays (Balkan Potato and Leek Pancakes, Flourless Chocolate and Pistachio Cake), this book offers a unique culinary experience for every occasion. All of this is enriched by Paz’s gorgeous and vibrantly colored photographs and by short narratives about significant aspects of Israel’s diverse cuisine, such as the generous and unique Israeli breakfast (which grew out of the needs of Kibbutz life), locally produced cheeses that now rival those of Europe, and a dramatic renaissance of wine culture in this ancient land.
“In less than thirty years,” Janna Gur writes, “Israeli society has graduated… to a true gastronomic haven.” Here she gives us a book that does full, delectable justice to the significance of Israeli food today–Mediterranean at its heart, richly spiced, and imbued with cross-cultural flavors. |
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By Ana Sortun
William Morrow Cookbooks
Released: 2006-05-02
Hardcover (400 pages)
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On a trip to Turkey as a young woman, chef Ana Sortun fell in love with the food and learned the traditions of Turkish cooking from local women. Inspired beyond measure, Sortun opened her own restaurant in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the award-winning Oleana, where she creates her own interpretations of dishes incorporating the incredible array of delicious spices and herbs used in eastern regions of the Mediterranean. In this gorgeously photographed book, Sortun shows readers how to use this philosophy of spice to create wonderful dishes in their own homes. She reveals how the artful use of spices and herbs rather than fat and cream is key to the full, rich flavors of Mediterranean cuisine -- and the way it leaves you feeling satisfied afterward. The book is organized by spice, detailing the ways certain spices complement one another and how they flavor other foods and creating in home cooks a kind of sense-memory that allows for a more intuitive use of spice in their own dishes. The more than one hundred tantalizing spice categories and recipes include: * Beef Shish Kabobs with Sumac Onions and Parsley Butter * Chickpea and Potato Terrine Stuffed with Pine Nuts, Spinach, Onion, and Tahini * Crispy Lemon Chicken with Za’atar * Golden Gazpacho with Condiments * Fried Haloumi Cheese with Pear and Spiced Dates Absolutely alive with spices and herbs, Ana Sortun’s recipes will intrigue and inspire readers everywhere. |
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