Maydan: Recipes from Lebanon and Beyond

by Rose Previte

The debut cookbook from Rose Previte, creator of the Michelin-starred restaurant Maydān and the beloved Compass Rose, explores bold flavors, accessible, shareable recipes, and overlapping foodways, spanning from Lebanon to Morocco, from Oman to the Republic of Georgia—cowritten with New York Times bestselling cookbook author Marah Stets.
 
Rose Previte introduces readers to the eclectic cultures of the region spanning North Africa, the Caucuses, and the Middle East through food, offering a nuanced, informed, and yet entirely warm and personal way in. Before opening her beloved Washington, DC, restaurants Maydān and Compass Rose, Previte traveled old spice trade routes to learn from home cooks, and it became apparent how adjacent cooking traditions informed and folded back on one another, creating a constant dialogue.
 
Ancient foodways don’t recognize geopolitical boundaries. For instance, the harissa found in Tunisia is incredibly similar to the adjika used in Georgia, and the lineage of baking bread in clay ovens stretches across the region with strikingly parallel methods. And in that vein, the word maydān has roots in a number of languages and has been crossing borders for generations, from Tangier to Tehran and from Beirut to Batumi. It means “gathering place” or “square,” often located in the middle of a city, and originates in Arabic, but translates to Hindi, Urdu, Persian, Ukrainian, and even Latin. To Previte, it symbolizes how food brings us together and everyone can add a personal twist.
 
Previte’s culinary journey began at home with her Lebanese American mother and Sicilian American father. Many of the recipes and techniques in this book were imparted to Previte by home cooks, often grandmothers, whom she learned from on her travels in the Middle East and beyond. With more than 150 recipes, Maydān offers guidance on how to build our own tables, taking cues from the way Previte’s Lebanese family ate growing up; emphasizing mixing and matching; scaling up or down; making a weeknight meal such as Tunisian Chicken Skewers with Loobieh bi Zeit (Green Bean Salad); creating the ideal spread of Lebanese small plates for entertaining guests; and a project day (the cheesy Georgian bread Khachapuri), all of which can be paired with one of the easy-to-source Georgian and Lebanese wines Rose recommends.
 
Both accessible and delicious, the food in this cookbook is perfectly suited to the home cook because it is not fussy and everything on the table is meant to be shared.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Food and Drink, Lebanon

266 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 7, 2023

Reviews

[Miss✧Pickypants ᓚᘏᗢ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a vey well designed cookbook. If you've been fortunate enough to dine at Maydan and are thinking it will only have recipes from the restaurant given the title, you will be mistaken. The book consists of Middle Eastern recipes collected by the author and her team from travels to the Middle East, as well as Lebanese recipes from the author's family.

The author (with the help of a co-writer) tells interesting stories that paint a impressive picture of her charmed life and the evolution to becoming a Michelin starred restaurant mogul. Having eaten at Maydan I recognized a good number of dishes, the smoked head of cauliflower especially since seeing the heads dangling over the open fire is an indelible image.

Recipes are well written and at times complex, but most are easy to follow. There are pictures of most dishes but not all. If you are a fan of lamb, there is a whole chapter. There is also one recipe for octopus 2 ways, having recently read Remarkably Bright Creatures I couldn't help but sigh heavily, as I am of the camp that we shouldn't be eating these wondrous creatures...but that should not dissuade you from this book if you appreciate Middle Eastern fare. I rate this 3.5 stars but rounded up since half stars aren't an option on GRs..

[T · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to like this cookbook SO. MUCH. So many wonderful Georgian (the country) recipes. Beautiful pictures. A plethora of delicious looking recipes aside from the Georgian (the country) recipes.

But alas. Somewhere along the line of author to editor to proofreader to publication, 2 glaring, egregious mistakes were included and, thus, all credibility was destroyed with me.

1) On pg 75 (Kindle version), the author stated an ancestor’s name was changed at Ellis Island. Sighs in historian. With all due respect to her family and their legends, this is a myth. Ellis Island name changes were 100% not a thing. Sources: my 4 year history degree, access to Google and the ability to search the phrase “ellis island name change myth”, and also google the imminent genealogist and journalist Jennifer Mendelsohn and “No Names Were Changed at Ellis Island: Debunking a Persistent Myth”, housed at rootstech by familysearch.

2) On pg 191 (Kindle version), in the intro to lamb, the author quoted and butchered a famous line from My Big Fat Greek Wedding, “That’s ok, I make lamb” and attributed it to the mother of the character of Toula when it was really Aunt Voula who uttered those sacred words. Source: me, and the many, many, many times I’ve watched that masterpiece and even said the damn quote myself whilst cooking lamb.

I know these can be considered dumb things to nitpick, but it sets an incorrect precedent and, as mentioned above, ruins credibility. Failings on all sides, tbh. Inaccuracies are murder on what could have been an otherwise lovely cookbook.

[Bajidc · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little bit travelogue, a lot of bit recipes. Some ridiculous (Labne with Dried Mint: whisk labne, mint, lemon juice, and olive oil); some no thank you (octopus salad which I thankfully was never offered when I visited Tunisia); some interest-piquing (always interested in upping my shakshuka game).

Superb blurb:
Slice; it's okay if the slices are a little messy.

[Anne]

Just superb.

This cookbook is a wonderful experience. The reading is as much fun as the food. I am going to have to work slowly because I am not a good cook, but the instructions are clear. It will be an adventure.

[Dray · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have had the fortune of reading several great middle eastern cookbooks and this is one of them.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful design and collection of recipes. The handful of recipes I made were delicious but did require some modifications.

The appendix is missing recipes which drove me nuts.

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meat heavy. Some take aways, I'll use some sumac when I pickle onions, and look for Beirut brand tahini when I next make hummus.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great addition to my collection of cookbooks/history books from the Levant-Important to document our food culture to fight against the cultural appropriation that has beset our people

[Charles Eldridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

I yearn to visit the restaurants of this author after reading this cookbook. What a unique culinary presentation of this hard-to-categorize book. The recipes follow the spice trade from the author’s ancestral Lebanon through Syria, Türkiye, Armenia, and finally Georgia. No recipe seems out of place from the others. All look delicious. Each dish that I’ve made so far has turned out beautifully and that speaks to the accessibility of the recipes. The author’s personal stories are engaging and a joy to read with each recipe.

I look forward to exploring all of this book for meals with my family and friends. Definitely one of the best cookbooks I’ve encountered this past year.