A Middle Eastern Feast

by William Kitchiner and Filippo Tommaso Ma

This edition is part of the Great Food series designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith.

Genres: Food, Cookbooks, Nonfiction, Cooking, Food and Wine, Food and Drink, Middle East

102 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Ape · Rating 4 out of 5]

These little penguin excerpt books are great fun. They're a marvellous way to dabble into a lot of different books and writers without having to commit to entire books.They are little paperbacks, and they have to be taken for what they are - no, you will not get the entire book, yes, it will all be over just as you've gotten going, and no, there won't be photographs.

This book made me so hungry. I've got quite a few recipes marked out that I want to try. I think the first thing I'm going to try my hand at is preserved lemons. I've not tried any of them yet, so I can't comment on how good they are. But I am thinking if I find them good, I may be tempted to go for the full book. A word to the cautious though, I did notice on a few of the recipes that she makes comments like, "this will feed 20 people"; "this will make about 40".... maybe consider the quantities before starting anything!

It's also interesting because there is some writing about the cultural importance of some of the dishes, and also how things vary between the different middle eastern countries (as well as similiarities). There's also an introduction to the different spices at the start. All in all really interesting.

There are, naturally, the meat dishes, which I just skip (I don't do red meat). If you do chicken and fish, as I do, there is plenty here for you. To be fair, even if you don't, there's stuff about hummous, couscous, stuffed veg, puddings etc, plus with all the recipes about flavours and so forth, I think a lot could be adapted, so there's things here for proper veggies as well.

[Kaye · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a selection from Roden's A Book of Middle Eastern Food, probably one of my first "ethnic" cookbooks, now one of my "rubberband books" since it's fallen apart. The extracts mostly include writing about the food and places and people, with some recipes included. A very good read.

And that was the end of the series.

[maryam :) · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a native Azerbaijani, what a wonderful book! It was great to have representation of dishes I grew up with. Would recommend to anyone interested in the rich history and culture behind so many delectable Middle Eastern treats

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read, awesome information. Can't wait to try some of the recipes. Pretty sure I can see where some of Nigella Lawsons inspiration comes from with this book. Only downer for me - no pictures to look at if you are unfamiliar with some of the dishes. But google helps there anyway. Great book.

[Nabilah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think it is great for anyone who is not familiar with Middle Eastern cuisine but like the other books in this series, it is too short and there are no photos.

[Katherine Simmons · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely introduction to Middle Eastern cooking, the titbits of stories inbetween are interesting, and there are a few recipes that I will be making soon. The explanations of spicing are great.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like the way Roden writes, it makes you want to cook every recipe right away! Buuut a big downer is the lack of pictures, but I guess that is no problem what with internet...