The New Book of Middle Eastern Food
Claudia Roden is one of the three great ladies of Mediterranean food writing (the others being Elizabeth David and Paula Wolfert). Merely reading the inside cover was enough to make me drool just a little.
Begin your meal with mezze, derived from the Arabic t’mazza, meaning “to savour in little bites.” Try Cevisli Biber (Roasted Pepper and Walnut Paste) spread on warm pita bread. Serve with Salata Horiatiki (Greek Country Salad) and then move on to a main dish of Roast Fish with Lemon and Honeyed Onions or Lamb Tagine with Artichokes and Fava Beans. The cookbook wouldn’t be complete without sections on rice, couscous, and bulgur–try Addis Polow (Rice with Lentils and Dates) or Kesksou Bidaoui bel Khodra (Beber Couscous with Seven Vegetables). Finish with a traditional dessert like Orass bi Loz (Almond Balls).
The recipe sections in this book are:
* Appetizers, Salads, and Cold Vegetables, such as Stuffed Grape Leaves, Falafel, and Baba Ghanouj
* Yoghurt, with simple instructions on making at home
* Savoury Pies including Tagine Malsouka, Spanakopitta, and other Filo based pies
* Soups, lentils, chickpeas, fava beans, spinach, and carrots
* Egg Dishes, omelettes similar to the Italian frittata or Spanish tortilla
* Fish and Seafood, marinades, kebabs, and North African seafood
* Poultry, pigeons, squabs, quail, ducks, and many varieties of chicken dishes
* Meat, lamb, the famous shish kebab, moussaka, meatballs, and sweetmeats
* Vegetables, artichokes, spinach, zucchini, eggplant, okra, sweet potatoes, and chickpeas
* Rice, pilafs and rice with favas, dates, yoghurt, chickpeas, cherries, lentils, and rhubarb
* Bulgur, Couscous, and Pasta with bulgar pilafs, methods for making couscous
* Breads, pita, pita, and pita
* Desserts, Pastries, and Sweetmeats, citrus fruits, apricots, nuts, cherries, dates, and baklawa
* Pickles and Preserves, preserved lemons, pickled vegetables, chili and tomato sauces
* Jams and Fruit Preserves, citrus, peaches, walnuts, pumpkins, figs, quinces, and eggplant
* Drinks and Sherbet, Lemonade, Laban, coffee, tea, almond milk.
This book is a certifiable classic.