Showing posts with label middle eastern. Show all posts
Showing posts with label middle eastern. Show all posts

Come Into My Kitchen: Old-World Armenian Recipes and International Favorite Cuisines Review

Come Into My Kitchen: Old-World Armenian Recipes and International Favorite Cuisines
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For many years I enjoyed lunch and some dinners at a wonderful Armenian Restaurant. The restaurant went out of business because the proprietor, due to health issues, could no longer sustain the business.
I always wondered how I could obtain some of the terrific dishes that were served there.....cheese beoreg, lamb shank, tulumba and so many more. Now I know. The mystery is solved with this marvelous book filled with easy-to-read directions for assembling delicious dinners. And not just Armenian dishes. This book provides many international recipes for dishes that will surely delight both you and your guests. Try it...you will really like it!

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If your everyday efforts in baking and cooking have not gotten you the raves you would like to hear, perhaps this book will be of help to you. In Come Into My Kitchen, this first-time writer, Dorothy Ajdaharian-Arakelian includes her all-time favorite Armenian and International recipes, inspired by her families' needs and her gastronomic taste buds. The author's Armenian upbringing and pride in her heritage enables her to write about old-world Armenian recipes that were handed down from her Mother, along with International favorite recipes she has accumulated over the years. An interesting feature that makes this book different from a standard cookbook is that the writer has strived to separate the Armenian recipes from the International, thus, enabling the reader to conveniently choose from a variety of cuisines at a glance. The author's introduction and step-by-step methods for preparing dough from scratch and various labor-intensive appetizers and entrees should prove to be fun and accessible, even for the non-expert. From suggested guides for an elegant dinner party for four or forty, to simple short-cuts for make-ahead and one-pot meals for the busy homemaker who has to balance a career. Dorothy has shared that it took many years to transform her second nature knowledge of recipes, ingredients and processes into easy-to-follow instructions for others to understand. As with all good processes, nothing is exact and Dorothy encourages her readers to experiment with seasonings and flavors to extend the recipes in her book to each individuals' personal preference. Come Into My Kitchen will allow the novice cook or seasoned homemaker to have a wealth of information at his or her fingertips. "Enjoy"

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Annals of the Caliphs' Kitchens Review

Annals of the Caliphs' Kitchens
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Annals of the Caliphs' Kitchens
English Translation with Introduction and Glossary by Nawal NasrallahMassive and impressive and marvelous are some of the adjectives that come to mind when attempting to describe this book. For the first time we can hold in our hands an English translation of the complete text of the Kitab al - Tabikh or (Book of Dishes or Book of Cookery) a cookery book by Ibn Sayy'r al-Warr'q. This means that 600 plus recipes dating from the tenth century are now available. This edition is drawn from and cross-checked through the three surviving manuscripts which are located in England, Helsinki, and Istanbul.
In translation, the work begins on page 65 of this volume and extends through page 519. This results in 455 pages of recipes for dishes ranging from stews, cold and hot poultry dishes, dips and sauces, boiled dishes, porridges, vegetables, fried dishes, roasted kid and other meats, puddings, pastries, confections, and beverages. The text also includes discussions of the utensils needed, the spices, foods for the elderly and very young, the humors, numerous food poems, manners and decorum. Footnotes abound to guide the reader and point out differences between the texts.
The editor and translator Nawal Nasrallah includes a comprehensive introduction, glossary of Arabic to English and English to Arabic terms, an appendix of important people and places mentioned in the text, and works cited. A full range of five sub-divided indexes, including an ingredients index and a separate index for prepared foods and drinks, compliments the text. The medical terms, recipes, and advice are in yet another index.
The only drawback is the price. The work is being sold at 139.00 / US$ 195.00. I can report that it seems well worth the price. For those of us seriously interested in food and culinary history, this is a volume to treasure and honor with a place on our shelves.
In her Preface, the editor writes that she was most concerned with accuracy and readability. She seems to have accomplished her aims in this fascinating volume about "this most interesting book."


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My Egyptian Grandmother's Mother Kitchen: Traditional Dishes Sweet and Savory Review

My Egyptian Grandmother's Mother Kitchen: Traditional Dishes Sweet and Savory
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The four star rating I gave this book is for the beautiful colored pictures - they are on each and every page! The range of recipes is quite encompassing but I do have some concerns in regard to the directions and flavoring of the dishes. You will need to have some basic knowledge of Middle Eastern cooking/spice mixes, etc., to have these recipes come out as they should. The pictures are a great help to show the completed product. One example of poor instructions/spices is the recipe for Macaroni Bechamel. It originally is quite a tedious recipe and the recipe contained in the book is not clear. Also, there are problems with translations; tomato juice is listed in numerous recipes when it should probably read "tomato sauce", the recipe for veal sweetbreads is shown as "thyroid glands" instead of thymus glands. Also, it lists ingredients like "gullash", "rugag" and "quata'if". Gullash would be the same as our phyllo (filo) dough. But, rugag is a type of cracker bread and quata'if is a small pancake. It's too bad that she didn't include recipes on how to make these. Fortunately, I have recipes for both these items but the reader new to this cuisine would be confused. I would only give two stars for the recipes themselves. It's a wonderful book to read for the "armchair cook". I am happy with my purchase!

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In this beautifully illustrated volume, Magda Mehdawy has gathered in one book the most complete collection of Egyptian recipes ever assembled. Drawing on the traditional recipes she learned from her grandmother and other members of her generation, Mehdawy offers a surprising range of sumptuous recipes and unusual flavors that are part of Egypt's millennia-long cultural heritage. She also reveals the historical depth of the national cuisine, beginning with a section on food and wine-making techniques used by the ancient Egyptians. For readers interested in more recent traditions, Mehdawy provides lists of typical menus served on Islamic holidays and feasts, and a fascinating overview of traditional beliefs regarding vegetables and spices.While covering regional dishes from all over Egypt, Mehdawy emphasizes the cuisine of her native Mediterranean city of Alexandria, providing a wide selection of seafood dishes, such as baked sardines and shrimp kufta with rice. Grouped by food categories - including Broths and Soups, Stuffed Vegetables, Poultry, Pickles, Jams, and Desserts - the book helpfully lists detailed health information as well as practical advice on shopping for the best-quality ingredients, and where to find them. Even chefs already familiar with Egyptian cuisine will find new dishes here. With copious illustrations in full color throughout, this compendium is a great introduction to the rich flavor and variety of the traditional Egyptian kitchen.

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In a Persian Kitchen: Favorite Recipes from the Near East Review

In a Persian Kitchen: Favorite Recipes from the Near East
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Though a new cook, I'd already grown tired of boring chicken dishes & pastas and wanted to try something new. I can't believe how tasty the recipes are in this book. When my dinner companion and I sat down to eat the Chicken in Pomegranate Sauce (chosen because the author said it was her favorite), we actually started laughing. It was so tasty it actually made us silly and we giggled while we ate (maybe because we couldn't believe I had produced this gem). I'm going to try the meatballs next. What an incredible book.

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With colorful notes that reflect her familyÆs traditions, Maideh Mazda offers readers the possibility of creating the delicate flavors of Persian cuisine. Maideh prioritizes economy and availability of ingredients, while at the same time offering wholly authentic recipes for such delicacies as Pomengranate Sauce, Ashe Reshte—a hearty beef noodle and lentil soup scented with cinnamon—and Ashe Torsh, a delicate dried fruit soup with cinnamon and mint. Notes on preparation and reflections on her experience of Persian food and eating customs growing up in a traditional Azerbijian household make this book ôa pleasure to readö —The New York Times.

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The North African Kitchen: Regional Recipes and Stories Review

The North African Kitchen: Regional Recipes and Stories
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I'm a bit of an armchair traveler, and this cookbook has allowed me to travel from my kitchen! Fiona Dunlop visits the homes of chefs throughout North Africa for her recipes. She recounts stories about each dish, family, and area, and the accompanying photographs are absolutely gorgeous! The dishes are unusual and fun to make but it is one of those cookbooks that is as much fun to read as it is to cook from.

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Behind closed doors, North African home cooks are taking the region's food to new heights. Traditional dishes such as tagines, stews, soups, and salads are being adapted and refined, and new dishes are being created using classic ingredients such as fiery spices, jewel-like dried fruits, lemons, and armfuls of fresh herbs.The North African Kitchen is the result of Fiona Dunlop's long fascination with the region. She visits eight of the best home cooks in Morocco, Tunisia, and Libya, shopping and cooking with them, and learning their favorite recipes and cooking tricks. Simplicity is at the heart of the private medina kitchen. The exotic fuses with the domestic to produce dishes that are highly flavored yet quick and easy to prepare. Tunisian cuisine is perhaps the hottest of the region-due in large part to the popularity of the fiery chili paste harissa. As well as a strong French influence, pasta is a passion in Tunisia. Morocco's great forte is its tagines and sauces-with meat and fish being cooked in one of four popular sauces. And Libya, although less gastronomically subtle than Tunisia and Morocco, excels in soups and patisserie.This culinary journey creates a vivid and sensual picture of how food is really shopped for and cooked in the private kitchens of some of the world's most extraordinary gastronomic cultures.

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Persian Cooking for a Healthy Kitchen (4th Ed. Paperback)) Review

Persian Cooking for a Healthy Kitchen (4th Ed. Paperback))
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Although I grew up in Bagh-e Ferdows in north Tehran and Gholam-Ali khan was a great cook, I never knew that Persian cooking had so many wonderful, low-carb, low-fat recipes for fish and kababs. This book is also full of regional recipes that have not been so delicately, and temptingly presented since the Safavids ruled Iran--and the recipes are healthy to boot. A must-have-book for every cook who is looking for new ideas and wants to eat healthy at the same time.

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Sultan's Kitchen: A Turkish Cookbook Review

Sultan's Kitchen: A Turkish Cookbook
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This is the BEST cookbook! I am NOT an experienced cook, but I was even able to make the BREAD (from scratch!) for the meat filled pastry (Katmer with Kiymali filling)! I had no trouble understanding the instructions or finding the ingredients (they were ALL available at my local grocery!)! Another great thing about it is the photographs! There are a LOT! (If it looks good, then you want to cook it, right?) I have cooked my way through half the recipes and loved them all! This book made me a much more confident cook! Oh, I almost forgot to say, everything tastes GREAT! I don't even have to go to a Turkish restaurant anymore!

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Tangy egg-lemon soup.Vegetable-stuffed eggplants sauteed in fragrant olive oil.Richly stewed lamb on a bed of pilaf.These are the flavors of Turkey, whose fabled cuisine evolved in Ottoman kitchens: those traditions are rendered by an expert in The SultanÆs Kitchen.Over 130 tantalizing recipes, complete menu suggestions, and stunning images will inspire any cook to create dishes fit for a sultan.

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