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Middle Eastern Cookbooks


gfron1

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By bean stew, do you mean the one with dry white beans? That vies with okra (murgat bamya in the book) for being Iraqis' favorite dish!

 

Also, mark the one for Tepsi Beitinjan, in case you haven't

Edited by Hassouni (log)
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By bean stew, do you mean the one with dry white beans? That vies with okra (murgat bamya in the book) for being Iraqis' favorite dish!

 

Also, mark the one for Tepsi Beitinjan, in case you haven't

Stew of White Beans  Margat Fasoulya Yabsa

 

The bulgur recipe is Spicy Bulgur Discs of Mosul  Urooqq Mosuliyya

 

Right now I am in Cookies and Sweet Pastries, reading about Nut Filled Crescents  Kroson bil-joz  - - I think my friend  Leah used to make these but with rose water instead of the orange flower water.  They were delicious - she had promised to give me the recipe but had a fatal auto accident. 

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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I'm glad to see Delights from the Garden of Eden getting so much attention and going into a new publication. I have the original paperback version (mine came in good condition), given to me by a friend who met Ms. Nasrallah and loved her stories.  The stories in the book are fun and interesting, and the recipes fascinating.  I can't remember which I've done and which I haven't.  I'll have to pull the book out and start cooking from it again.

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Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
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I'm glad to see Delights from the Garden of Eden getting so much attention and going into a new publication. I have the original paperback version (mine came in good condition), given to me by a friend who met Ms. Nasrallah and loved her stories.  The stories in the book are fun and interesting, and the recipes fascinating.  I can't remember which I've done and which I haven't.  I'll have to pull the book out and start cooking from it again.

I'm now making a list of ingredients I do not have on hand so I can get started on some of these recipes.  The Middle Eastern store is closed today - always closed on Saturday - but will be open tomorrow.   It's easier for me to shop there because I can given one of them the list and they will show me where everything is located and it is not an endless trek as in the supermarkets.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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Yeah! Fasoulya yabsa is the one. By the way, if there are ingredients you can't get, let me know and I'll mail you some.

(Anything to promote the food I grew up with!)

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We have a terrific middle eastern store here in Lancaster and they get some remarkable produce and dairy products and at very good prices.  Many of the things are bulk and packaged by folks in the store so one can buy the desired amount of - grains, nuts, flour, OLIVES and etc., instead of having to buy those little boxes and jars of "specialty" foods that often sit in warehouses for long periods and then on store shelves for who knows how long. 

They also print labels in English on imported foods that are printed in Arabic. 

We have a very diverse population in this area so the store gets a lot of traffic.

They will also try and get items when customers ask - not always successful but at least they try. 

Very nice people, extremely friendly and helpful and great at suggesting recipes and cooking methods.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Delights from the Garden of Eden has finally arrived for me in my local library through ILL.  (Never buy expensive cookbooks sight unseen.)  But if Andie liked it, it should have been good enough for me.  Wonderful book.  So much history and tradition and color.  Wonderful.  Haven't tried anything yet, but I just got it yesterday.

My one 'complaint' is that the book is SO heavy, I can't read it lying down in bed.  Some complaint.

Thanks for introducing it Andie.  I'm going to think seriously about buying it (in my none-cookbook buying mode).

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Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

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Although the contents of Delights from the Garden of Eden are wonderful, I'm afraid I have two more complaints to add to yesterday's complaint of weight.  The size of the print is exceedingly small...and I am getting exceedingly old...even with glasses on and much of the text is fainter than I would like.  What a shame.  It just may be enough for the author to lose one sale.  It all adds up to just a bit too much.  :sad:

Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

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I now have Delights from the Garden of Eden!  The library was kind enough to buy a copy for me so I did not have to go the route of ILL.

 

As it happens I have not yet cracked the cover since I just brought home five or so books on Japanese cookery.  Darienne, if you think Delights from the Garden of Eden is heavy, you should try reading The Photography of Modernist Cuisine in bed.

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Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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I really should see about getting the new edition....

 

 

ETA: Trigger pulled, BookDepository takes PayPal so I used my remaining PP balance. Can't wait!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Steering back west, like others, I love the Ottolenghi and David Mallouf books. Yotam mentioned on his Mediterranean TV series that his "Moroccan" tome was Paula Wolfert's Food of Morocco.

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My copy of the 2nd edition of Delights from the Garden of Eden came in. The content is basically the same, but the format is way better. And the photos are a great help, I would imagine, for people who don't know what the dishes should look like.

 

I haven't really eaten today, and the pictures of dolma and kubba and kabab and rice & stew really aren't doing me any favors!

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  • 8 months later...

There's a new cookbook on it's way (the hardcover that is, kindle is already available): Anatolia by Somer Sivriolu and David Dale.
Seems like an interesting book, but would be curious if someone here has an opinion to share?
 

Somer has a restaurant, Efendy, in Balmain, Australia. Did a search, but have found no posts in the Australia&New Zealand forum about it. Some of his (other?) recipes can be found on the SBS Australia website.

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