Many food historians believe the Middle East to be the home of the world's first great cuisines. With agricultural techniques honed since the banks of the Nile first overflowed, vegetarian cooking was essential to life itself. In Classic Vegetarian Cooking from the Middle East and North Africa, food and travel writer Habeeb Salloum has gathered more than 330 recipes from throughout the area to demystify this delicious, well-seasoned cuisine.
In the West we think of Middle Eastern cooking as exotic, one that is as deep and labyrinthine as the alleys of the Kasbah itself. Salloum guides us with ease through those pathways, making them less mysterious and more attainable, showing the essential elegance of these cuisines. The author starts with a short list of essential ingredients. Clarifying exotic names, he gives the alternative spellings that have occurred in translating from Arabic languages to the western. This is followed by the few essential dishes and spices that may be called for in a recipe.
The recipe chapters begin with mazas, the great and famous Middle Eastern appetizers, such as Chickpea and Tamarind Appetizer, luscious eggplant appetizers such as Eggplant Dip, Eggplant Pickles, appetizers using olives, tahini or yogurt, others using garlic or pomegranate.
Moving into main courses you will find recipes such as Stuffed Grape Leaves, Yemeni-Style Falafel, stews of vegetables and beans, and, of course, tagines such as Artichoke Tajin, Swiss Chard Tajin, Truffles and Chickpeas. There are soups such as a Lentil Soup from Aleppo or Tunisian Noodle Soup and salads whether as main course dishes, side dishes or appetizers. Desserts range from a cooling Lemon Sherbet to a Honey-Dipped Pastry that reflects the Middle Eastern love of honey. There is even a dessert dish of Candied Eggplant, surely the first sweet use of eggplant that any westerner has seen.
This is a generous book, packed with recipes, but also filled with information relating Arabic culinary traditions, history and lore. There is glossary and a source list for ingredients, one that you will want to use if the products aren't available locally, for these are recipes that have nourished bodies and satisfied palates for centuries.
About the author: Habeeb Salloum is the author of From the Lands of Figs and Olives, a cookbook of Middle Eastern and North African recipes. He is an accomplished food and travel writer for such magazines as Gourmet, Saveur, Christian Science Monitor, Vegetarian Times and others. He lives in Ontario, Canada.
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