Pomegranates & Pine Nuts: A stunning collection of Lebanese, Moroccan and Persian recipes

by Bethany Kehdy

New Cookbook from Former ‘Miss Lebanon’ Explores Modern Middle Eastern Cooking
 
The Middle East cradles an ancient cuisine—one of the oldest in the world. Despite its pedigree, conflict in the region has largely kept it under wraps to a wider audience. Hummus, tabbouleh, and stuffed vine leaves now receive global recognition, but there still exists this vast and distinct culinary heritage that remains wholesome stews, exotic casseroles and a range of home cooking which revolves around humble, yet delicious vegetables and grains. It is these that routinely welcome home hungry school children and soothe the appetites of tired workers. They too must be shared with the world.
 
For the past five years, Lebanese-American Bethany Kehdy has sought to demystify Middle Eastern food through her blog DirtyKitchenSecrets.com and her Taste of Lebanon tours. In her debut book, Pomegranates & Pine Nuts , she provides 100+ new recipes that will introduce you to the wonders of the Middle East and change any thought you might have had that this hearty cuisine is complicated or laborious.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Travel, Iran, Food and Drink

224 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2013

About the author

Bethany Kehdy is a Lebanese-American food author and presenter most notably known by her popular Middle Eastern food blog, Dirty Kitchen Secrets. Born in Houston, Texas to an American mother and a Lebanese father, Bethany grew up in Lebanon during the countryʼs most volatile civil war years.

To shelter from the war, her family retreated to the mountains of Lebanon where her father set up an eclectic farm on the ancestral land. For a great part of her childhood, Bethany helped to water orchards, harvest fruits and vegetables, chase after chickens, make cheese, and even milk the odd cow. Bethany had the opportunity to learn the art of Middle Eastern food preparation, cooking and preserving by watching and learning from her grandmother, aunties, and father in the family kitchen.

Bethany has spent the last 4 years heating up the kitchen and establishing herself as the most provocative Middle Eastern cook online, bringing together her childhood memories of traditional Middle Eastern cuisine and interpreting it in a fresh, modern approach, all the while incorporating her well-traveled palate.

(source)

Reviews

[Dana Al-Basha | دانة الباشا · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is breathtakingly, eye-filling, gorgeous cookbook! When Hamad and I set eyes on it yesterday in Jashanmal we just HAD to get it! It's such a beautiful book filled with creative arabian recipes from Lebanon, Morocco, and Persian cuisines.



Seriously, I can't wait to follow one and get something like the photos; this book is yummy!

[Jenny (Reading Envy) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a review copy of this cookbook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'm always interested to see cookbooks from bloggers, and Bethany Kehdy was known to me from her Dirty Kitchen Secrets blog. The photography alone in this cookbook makes it a worthwhile purchase, truly vibrant and enticing photos.

The cookbook is divided into very practical sections, by meal type, making it simple to use. There is a regional but varied collection of Lebanese, Moroccan, and Persian recipes, with a nice combination of basics and new spins on traditional recipes. I particularly appreciated the vegetarian section, since this area of the world has great vegetarian cuisine! The basics section in the back has a wealth of recipes that would be an asset to any kitchen, including spice mixes, bread recipes, and other staples.

What I've marked to try:

Meze
Dynamite Chili Cigars ("briwat")
Pomegranate and Cucumber Salad
Moroccan Citrus Salad

Vegetarian
Pan-fried Squares
Slow-cooked fava bean and tomato stew

Desserts
Semolina pancakes (called "beghrir" which means "1,000 holes," and ever since seeing a picture I'm so intrigued!)
Turkish Delight (the real kind, with actual flavors!)

Basic Recipes
Arabic bread
Thin Flatbread

ETA: Here's my first attempt at the arabic bread from the basics section

[Jillyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars, rounded up.

Pomegranates & Pine Nuts: A stunning collection of Lebanese, Moroccan and Persian recipes is exactly what the title promises. This is a book filled with tasty sounding dishes, and is divided practically into sections based on courses and meat types.

I'm not all too familiar with cuisines from this section of the world, and that was my motivation for requesting this book on Netgalley when I saw it. That, plus the gorgeous picture on the cover. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that these stunning photographs are also featured inside. I don't utilize cookbooks unless they have at least some pictures in them, so that was a definite plus for this book. I also feel that the author did a great job in explaining what ingredients were and where one is able to get them. I'm glad she didn't assume that we all know entirely what she's talking about, as some cookbooks do.

While I think this cookbook is approachable and delicious sounding to all cooks, I have to say that this book has some great vegetarian dishes. I am a lover of meat, but even I took notice of the amount of meatless dishes that looked just as tasty, so vegetarians- check this one out.

The dishes that I'm most eager to try are: Baklawa (I had been searching for a good recipe for this!), Slumbering Camomile Chicken, Chicken Stuffed with Cherries, & Egyptian Spiced Bread Pudding.

There are some intimidating ingredients used in this book, but don't let that stop you from giving it a go. If you love to cook, try new things, or are looking for vegetarian dishes as well as carnivorous ones, Pomegranates and Pine Nuts is the book for you.

Thanks to Netgalley and Watkins Publishing Limited for my copy. This review can also be found on my blog, Bitches n Prose.

[Toast]

It was a typical rainy, grey UK morning when the postman arrived and dropped this GR's giveaway win through my letterbox. And out popped this festival of colour and I was immediatly transported to the smells, the sights, the flavours of Persia. In this beautiful collection of do-able recipes even I, yes me, can create wonderous bounty. But, first I must do battle ie arm wrestle my big brother for possession of said book, winner feasts on Egyptian spiced bread pudding, wild orchid ice cream and Turkish delight. See, food of the Gods.
Toast

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review to follow

I received an e-copy of the UK edition 'The Jewelled Kitchen' from the publishers for an unbiased review.

I loved it so much that I bought it.

[Sammm · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 for 4.25~4.5

A digitized ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Review WIP.

[Yuliya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't find this cookbook particularly useful. Bethany Kehdy, the American author of Lebanese descent, lumped different regional cuisines into a single cookbook and as a result, none of the recipes feel authentic. This is even more amplified by the fact that most recipes are "her take" on traditional ones. They feel clunky and weird. A note to the editors: you don't need to use the words such as "eggplant/aubergine", "conflour/constarch", and "coriander/cilantro" every time! It's super annoying. Most readers are more than capable of remembering that one means the other, and vice versa.

[Robert Beveridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bethany Kehdy, Pomegranates and Pine Nuts (Duncan Baird, 2013)

full disclosure: a review copy was (temporarily) provided to me free of charge via Netgalley. Short answer: I'm going to end up buying one.

Now, I know what you may be thinking to yourself. “Ho hum, another Middle Eastern cookbook.” We can put that to rest right quick. Sure, there are the usual recipes for labneh and hummus b tahini and foole mudammas, but... scotch eggs wrapped in kefte. Chili cigars. Mussels in arak. (Come to think of it, pretty much anything in arak. Bethany Kehdy is, thankfully, not a teetotaler.) Wild orchid ice cream.

Let me say that again. WILD ORCHID ICE CREAM. While I admit that this is a dish that would be about a thousand times better were it being spoon-fed to one by Carré Otis, come on, it's still WILD ORCHID ICE CREAM. Your argument is invalid.

When it comes to reviewing cookbooks, well, what can you say? As long as it's not the same old recipes that you've got in three out of four of your grandmothers' cookbooks and the “author” didn't just go around scarfing recipes from cooks.com and allrecipes, there's probably going to be something of value for everyone. After that, it's all a matter of personal taste. If your palate does not run to tahini, za'atar, and kibbe nayeh, (a) I pity you, 'cause I can eat that stuff for days, and (b) this is probably not the cookbook for you. If you're a bit more adventurous and/or you grew up around this stuff (or in my case married into a part-Lebanese family), as I intimated above, you'll find a selection of the stuff that you've seen Americanized versions of on every streetcorner, though in a number of cases they won't look much like you're used to, even down to things as simple as Arabic Bread and Chelow Rice. And on the other hand, you might find a few things in this book you've never even heard of before, unless you've got some real traditionalists in the family, or you drop by Palestine once a year and take a restaurant tour. Even then, Bethany Kehdy is probably going to throw you some curveballs. (Okay, let's not wear out wild orchid ice cream's welcome here. And really, she does put everything in arak, to the point where she finally mentions in the intro to one recipe that one just doesn't normally do this sort of thing. Which is, of course, an excellent reason to try it. Oh, and if you're unfamiliar with arak, it's basically middle-eastern Pernod.) There's even a “how to get at those pesky pomegranate seeds” section that, if you didn't come up with that idea yourself, will leave you shaking your head and wondering why. It's simple, logical, and pretty close to perfect.

I've only had the chance to try a couple of the recipes from this book, and before time runs out on my DRMed review copy, I will probably only get a chance to try a few more. But that's not a problem; once it finds its way over to this side of the pond (Duncan Baird is based in London), I have very little doubt that a copy of Pomegranates and Pine Nuts will be finding its way onto my exploding cookbook shelf. There's a lot of fun stuff in here to try (I can't wait to scarf down a few of those kefte-snugged scotch eggs), and I am certain that some of these recipes are going to become standards at Goat Central. Thanks to the vertical-market-ness inherent in the cuisine and the provincialism of some American palates, it's probably not for everyone, but if you even suspect it may be for you, it's worth checking out. *** ½

[Rosemary Standeven · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
This is an aptly named jewel of a recipe book: over 200 pages of recipes for some of the best dishes from the Middle East and North Africa. At the same time as I look at this recipe book, I am reading “The Poisoned Well” about the history of the same geographical area since WWI. Politically much of it is (and has been for many years) a mess, but the one thing that they do incredibly well is the food – as this book attests.
So far I have made about 14 of the recipes, have many more meals from the book planned, and have not met a recipe yet that I didn’t like very much indeed. The salads are all excellent. They use generally common ingredients, but often in new (to me) and interesting combinations. And there are so many exciting things to do with simple lamb mince! I haven’t even started on the fish recipes yet – they all look wonderful too. The names of the dishes are an invitation to cook and set your mouth watering: “Dynamite Chilli Cigars”, “Sumac Scented Chicken Parcels”, “Shaved Beetroot, Radish and Grapefruit Salad”, “Aubergine-wrapped Fingers” – and my favourite title – “Oxtail with Oozing Okra”.
The recipes are all very easy to follow, with extensive instructions, timings, and suggestions for substitutions for difficult to source ingredients. The recipes are not generally expensive to make, and often no more than two are needed for a perfectly balanced meal - though it is easy to get carried away.
Each recipe has the quantities in both metric and imperial measures, which means that everyone can readily use the recipes without having to continually consult a conversion table.
The two frequently used ingredients in these recipes that are not common in Western cooking are Sumac and Pomegranate (molasses and seeds). Sumac is used in tablespoon quantities. I was a bit loathe to use so much at first, but eventually realised that the quantities are correct and that it does not overwhelm – rather complements the dishes. I have generally avoided whole pomegranates as I had in the past found them so messy, and once I had managed to finally extract the seeds I had given up the will to live – or at least to use them in a recipe. This book gives clear instructions on how to quickly, simply and without mess deseed the fruit – a revelation to me, and worth the price of the book, even without the amazing recipes. I am now a confident pomegranate deseeder, and using the seeds all over the place. No spoilers here – buy the book and see.
Not all the recipes are accompanied by pictures, but most are. Also not all are traditional recipes – some have the author’s take on a traditional meal. But they are no less impressive for that.
The book will provide anyone with a range of ideas for simple light meals, banquets and buffets, meat, fish and vegetarian dishes – basically any type of meal you could want. An amazing addition to anyone’s cookbook collection.

[DelAnne Frazee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title: Jewelled Kitchen - A Stunning Collection of Lebanese, Moroccan, and Persian Recipes
Author: Bethany Kehdy
Published: 8-23-2016
Publisher: Nourish
Pages: 224
Genre: Cooking, Food and Wine
Sub Genre: Cookbooks; International Cuisine
ISBN: 13-978-1848992894
ASIN: B01KE3VMFO
Reviewer: DelAnne
Reviewed For: NetGalley
My Rating: 4.5 Stars



I receive a copy of Jeweled Kitchen from the pubisher and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.




For those who have never had the privilege of indulging in middle eastern cuisine your tastebuds are in for a treat with pomegranates & Pine Nuts as well as the spices the Middle East is known for. The region is known for its aromatic and flavorful dishes. I was lucky enough to find a restaurant in Atlanta that served authentic middle-eastern cuisine.


We learn the life history of Bethany Kehdy from when she went to live with her father in Lebanon at the age of 4, then to live with her mother in Houston when war ravaged her homeland. She would later return to her father's homeland. Her heritage was in both worlds and we benefit because of this. She shares her father's rich culinary history with us through her recipes.


Some of the ingredients will need to be found at a specialty stores or if you are lucky you will have a middle eastern market in your neighborhood. For the most part you can find these ingredients and keep them on hand. Believe me it is worth the effort to obtain the odd spice. You will fall in love with the flavors and taste a whole new world. Your family will thank you. There is a world out there to discover so why not start with your stomach.


Everything from the simple Venison and Sour Cherry Nest to Slumbering Camomile Chicken to Semolina Pancakes (So delicious!). These are just three of the many recipes to tempt you, but they are easy to follow recipes so even the newest person to the kitchen will be able to produce the same results that look just like the beautifully displayed ones found throughout the cookbook. My rating is 4.5 out of 5 stars

[DelAnne Frazee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title: Pomegranates & Pine Nuts:
A stunning collection of Lebanese, Moroccan and Persian recipes
Author: Bethany Kehdy
Publisher: Watkins Publishing Limited/Duncan Baird Publishers
Published: 10-1-2013
ISBN: 13-978-1-84899-088-3
E-Book ASIN: B00DJ2IDUU
Pages: 224
Genre: Food & Wine
Tags: Cooking, Regional


For those who have never had the privilege of indulging in middle eastern cuisine you are in for a treat with pomegranates & Pine Nuts. The region is known for its aromatic and flavorful dishes. I was lucky enough to find a restaurant in Atlanta that served authentic middle-eastern cuisine.


We learn the life history of Bethany Kehdy from when she went to live with her father to Lebanon at the age of 4, then to live her mother in Houston when war ravaged her homeland. She would later return to her father's homeland. Her heritage was in both worlds and we benefit because of this. She shares her father's rich culinary history with us through her recipes.


Some of the ingredients will need to be found at a specialty stores or if you are lucky you will have a middle eastern market in your neighborhood. For the most part you can find these ingredients and keep them on hand. Believe me it is worth the effort to obtain the odd spice. You will fall in love with the flavors and taste a whole new world. Your family will thank you. There is a world out there to discover so why not start with your stomach.


Everything from the simple Venison and Sour Cherry Nest to Slumbering Camomile Chicken to Semolina Pancakes (So delicious!). These are just three of the many recipes to tempt you, but they are easy to follow recipes so even the newest person to the kitchen will be able to produce the same results that look just like the beautifully displayed ones found throughout the cookbook. Take a look at Pomegranates and Pine Nuts today. You will be salivating before you get to the checkout.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book, for free, in exchange for an honest review.

I don't have a familial background that gives me a base of rules to inform my cooking (like basil goes well with tomatoes). As such, I am always interested in learning about how I can integrate different cooking ideas/styles into my repertoire. I wasn't sure what Moroccan and Persian food were like and prior to this book my experience with Lebanese food was mostly limited to one restaurant I visited once. Based on this book, I find Lebanese, Moroccan and Persian food to be somewhat similar to the Mediterranean food I am familiar with (e.g. Turkish).

The recipes in this book were largely both interesting and healthy.
This resulted in many more options than I'd get in most cookbooks.
There were many recipes with Phyllo dough which my 4 year old daughter will love and plenty of chickpea based recipes I will enjoy.

While I am not vegetarian, due to health concerns which rule out my normal paleo diet I am currently eating largely vegetarian. As such, I probably can't vouch for this book's vegetarian content as well as a true long-term vegetarian. That being said, I found the vegetarian section to be quite expansive.

Overall, I'd say this book is significantly better than most cookbooks. It is good enough to be your only Mediterranean cookbook, but it probably won't be your main cookbook.

[eyes.2c · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Garlic, lemons and fresh herbs...pomegranate molasses, citrus fruits...yogurt.' Bliss!

'Eat and you shall forget your worries,' a quote from Kehdy's uncle. Certainly her family influences have been extensive. Kehdy's introduction brings alive the sights and smells of the Beirut of her childhood.
Her background explanation of Middle Eastern foods illuminates the path to these culinary delights.
Pomegranate molasses is obviously a key ingredient to keep on your shelf. As is sumac.
As with any cook book there are recipes you might try and leave. Then there are others that join your staple collection to be used and reused.
Whipped humus with lamb, two of my favourite foods, add the pomegranates and I'm in seventh heaven
Corn of the cob with saffron infused butter great for corn in season served with a little difference and a whole lot of flair!
Zucchini and sumac fritters. Wow, I love sumac and now here's a new recipe to use with those zucchini that seem to never stop growing. I'm always finding one that got away and grew into a giant despite my determination to harvest them small.
Spiced lamb flatbread pizza's, Yum!
Not all the recipes are for me but there's certainly enough to make this book a worthy addition to my cookery book shelves.

A NetGalley ARC

[Audiothing · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely book that brought back memories of a Lebanese friend I met when were both working in Wales in the 1980s. He would phone home to his mother and his first question was to ask her what she was cooking for dinner, he missed the food and her cooking so much, particularly dolmas. He would tell me all about the food and now, here they all are!Nicely laid out with chapters according to food type. Some of the ingredients sound so very exotic, yet I am familiar with some but mostly because of food programmes on the television.

I was pleased to see a lovely recipe authentic recipe for tabhouli which calls for masses of parsley and just a small amount of bulgur wheat, so different to our Australian version.

There' is a very useful Pantry section with a very good description of all the ingredients. The author has gone to much trouble to make these recipes as easy as possible for Western cooks to follow, as she explains, she never was taught precise measurements, that cooking for her is more of a sensory experience.

I loved reading her bio, what an interesting life she has so far lived. In fact the only thing I didn't like was the font used for the headers
Copy kindly provided by NetGalley and Nourish in return for an unbiased review

[Penmouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jewelled Kitchen: A Stunning Collection of Lebanese, Moroccan, and Persian Recipes
by Bethany Kehdy contains a nice collection of Lebanese, Moroccan and Persian recipes. I love how Kehdy included basic recipes and methods to help prepare the recipes found in her cookbook; information how to stock your pantry and where to buy supplies through suppliers listed in her cookbook.

Throughout the cookbook are beautiful color photos illustrating recipes.

Some of the recipes you'll find include: Blackened Sea Bream; Slow Cooked Broad Bean & Tomato Stew; Shipwrecked Potato Boats, Corn On the Kobab with Pistachio-Saffron Butter; Jewelled Rice; Carrot Salad with Cumin & Preserved Lemon; Lamb & Herb Stew; Slumbering Chamomile Chicken; Preserved Lemons; Paneer Cheese; Thin Flatbread; Lebanese Clotted Cream with Dulche de Leche & Caramelized Bananas; Pomegranate & Rose Quark Summer Cake; Tahini & Chocolate Brioche.

Recommend.

Review written after downloading a galley from NetGalley.

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very accessible cookbook for Lebanese, Moroccan and Persian cuisine clearly geared for the non-Mediterranean audience which means Kehdy has given a lot of thought to how to make sure you can get the ingredients (for instance substituting the "traditional fish from the Tigris River" with sea bream). Many of the recipes are blends or variations on the traditional so the rice pudding becomes saffron rice pudding and etc. During the meze section I hoped I wasn't in for a disappointment in terms of the vegetarian options but once I got past the poultry and meat sections, there was plenty to tempt even the pickiest vegetarian. My main reserve comes from the availability of certain ingredients which are essential for the 'authentic' flavors-but this is a reserve I'd show for any Middle Eastern cookbook so don't let that stop you from giving this book a go.

[Leyla Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are a lot of Middle eastern cooking book out at present, this one is up there with the best of them. The recipes are easy to follow and very well explained, including a little about the actual dish. The photographs are amazing, and the book is beautifully presented. At the end of the book, there is a short explanation of the more exotic ingredients, which is very useful. I will certainly be making some of these fabulous authentic dishes.
I was amazed at the authors short bio at the start of the book, what a full gambit of experiences, it is easy to see why this is such a great book that show her love and understanding of the meaning of food.
This book was provided to me in return for an honest and unbiased review

[Ceillie Simkiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you know me at all, you know that I love food. This doesn’t necessarily mean that I have a very wide palate, or that I’ve tried very much in the way of cooking on my own. However, my mom lived in Turkey when she was younger, and she has always loved Middle Eastern and Mediterranean food, so when I saw this cookbook, I knew I wanted to give it a try.

I’ll go ahead and say that I was not able to make any of the dishes in this book, because I also have a full-time job. However, the photos in this cookbook are beautiful and look like things that could come out of my kitchen, if my kitchen was ever this clean and organized. I can only imagine how great that photoshoot must have smelled.

[Lizzie Andrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

This cookbook by Bethany Kehdy is amazing. I used to work in a Lebanese restaurant and some of these recipes remind me of the food the cooks used to prepare for the wait staff.

I loved the twists on some of the recipes that I already had from them. This cookbook had easy to follow recipes that are good for even people with no experience cooking.

One of my favorite recipes was the Egyptian Spiced Bread Pudding. It was so delicious, I took it to a company Christmas party. At least five people asked for the recipe.It had such a different taste than normal bread pudding, it was amazing. I can't stress that enough!

[Elizabeth Grieve · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought I would find a lot of dishes I would recognise from having lived in Turkey for 10 years, as there are many similarities in Middle Eastern and Turkish foods. However it was a pleasant surprise to see that most of the recipes were quite new to me, some rather unusual and with what seems to be a modern approach. The introduction was interesting, but would benefit from some judicious editing to change some clumsy sentences and weed out the odd error.

Reviewed in exchange for a preview Kindle copy.

http://ebookproofreader.wordpress.com/
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[Gaye]

Gorgeous book. I thought I might find a good recipe here for using pomegranate seeds. Instead, I found some other recipes and after half a day cooking one dish with a multitude of steps, decided I might not do so much of this cooking. The dish turned out lovely but not so flavorful that I need to spend that much time making it again. I still plan to try the Jeweled Rice recipe. And I was able to use some of the sumac my friend gave me. If you like to browse beautiful cookbooks and you're looking for some variety, check it out.

[Sara Patrin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I expected to like this cookbook. I didn't expect to love it. The recipes are accessible, broad in scope, and clearly written so even a Middle Eastern cooking novice like me can successfully make them.

Kehdy begins the book with an introduction to her relationship with the foods of her Lebanese-American childhood which led, eventually, to the writing of this book. That deep sense of comfort is apparent in the recipes which are delicious feed-people kinds of food and take-to-a-party kinds of food. I'm excited to work my way through the recipes and to see more from Kehdy.

[(a)lyss(a) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This cook book is almost more like a memoir. The author shares vivid stories of her family and growing up and shares them through food. She breaks the recipes down by meal type and shares tips.

Some of the recipes are a bit complicated and there weren't pictures of every recipe, which I like in a cook book. And it seemed to be formatted a bit weird on the kindle so some of the pictures were broken in half between pages, which is unfortunate given how beautiful they were.

Overall it's a pretty standard cook book.

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

So pleased to have won this cookery book in a very recent Goodreads giveaway.

I love to cook and especially enjoy making something different from the norm. This is a wonderful and colourful book with plenty of mouth watering recipes. I do have a sweet tooth and am especially looking forward to making some of the desserts. A couple spring to mind is the Lebanese Clotted Cream, Semolina Pancakes, Fritter Threads and Evaporated Milk Pudding. All the recipes seem easy to follow. Recommended.

[Polly Krize · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A very well-laid out book filled with the author's observations and experiences in Lebanese, Persian, and Moroccan cuisine. Beautiful photographs, especially in the salad section, encourage you to try your hand at these well-explained recipes. Definitely a jewel for your cookbook shelf.

[M. Jane Colette · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my new fave cookbooks. If you pick it up, let me particularly recommend the chicken stuffed with cherries (pg 88 in my version), the monkfish tagine with chermoula (pg 144) and the fava beans, peas and fennel (oh, fennel!) tagine (pg. 164).

And if you cook any of those, please consider inviting me over for dinner. ;)

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goodreads giveaway.

I'm fairly boring when it comes to cooking but love to try new food when I'm eating out so was looking forward to this arriving to shake up my homecoming.

Plenty of lovely looking and sounding recipes and the two I've tried so far were easy to follow and tasted fantastic. I think this is going to be the source of some favourite meals for my boyfriend and I in future.

[Rosann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely, accessible writing, photos, of a topic that is somewhat unfamiliar to me. The author's personal story and take on the cuisine of this area of the world is interesting and encourages me to try out some of these recipes.

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was pleased to have won this recipe book recently from the Goodreads First Reads giveaway.

Cannot wait to try some of these recipes! This book is full of interesting recipes, with lots of colourful pictures and the instructions are easy to follow. Recommended.

[Karina · Rating 5 out of 5]

The introduction reminds me of "Apricots on the Nile", a very special and warm atmosphere.
And the author does not let the reader down afterwards, wonderful recipes,great photographs and lovely (right word for it) introductions to the recipes