eking

for those who use black cardamon in their masala tea - would this be used with or without the pod?

You have been scouring the Mediterranean basin for special recipes for more than 25 years now - all the while, there has been an enormous commercial publishing boom focussing on the region. Your bibliographies in your books (a rare and admirable feature, when you started writing!)have led me to a number of other wonderful authors, but I am wondering if there are any recent books by other authors that you would especially commend to our attention. Or any books you might wish that you had written, Including books on cuisines other than Mediterranean.

A couple years ago I made a recipe from one of your eastern Mediteranean books involving frik and lamb - it was excellent except for a sort of funky, barnyardy taste - now, is this characteristic with frik or perhaps an issue with my having cleaned it insufficiently? Any suggestions would be welcome, and thanks for the work you do and the way you do it!

I love linen tablecloths too, but not hand-ironing them. A big one can take literally hours Seems like I now have a pile of unironed cloths in my closet waiting for the next holiday event... . any suggestions (this is NYC) on speeding up the ironing process or even better, finding a commercial laundry that will take care of these items?