Levant: Recipes and memories from the Middle East

by Anissa Helou

Anissa Helou’s Levant is a collection of mouth-watering recipes inspired by Anissa’s family and childhood in Beirut and Syria, and her travels around the exciting regions of the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East.

‘This treasure trove of a book is all you need, really, to cook the food of the Levant. It is as comprehensive and conclusive as it gets, but it also tells charming personal stories and masterfully takes you on a journey to all those enchanted lands.’ Yotam Ottolenghi

Levant, or rising of the sun, is the crossroads where western Asia, eastern Mediterranean and northwest Africa meet. A land that is culturally diverse but united by common culinary threads.

In this personal tour Anissa introduces the stunning food of Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Iran, Palestine and Jordan. She draws them together through the themes of family, farm, souks (markets), restaurants, bakeries and the sweetmakers and attempts to record the food traditions of countries that are changing beyond recognition and at risk of disappearing.

Levant includes 150 inspired recipes for soups and sides, salads and mezze, meats, fish and vegetarian, sweets, preserves and breads. Dishes include Lemony Swiss Chard and Lentil Soup, Fried Eggs with Sumac, Kibbe Balls in Yoghurt Sauce, Cabbage and Tomato Salad, Sweet Pistachio Pie, Wild Chicory in Olive Oil with Caramelized Onion, Grilled Aubergines with Tahini Sauce, Turkish Cheese Pie, Lebanese Morning Bread, Halva, and Milk Pudding.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Middle East

352 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 20, 2013

Reviews

[Madhulika Liddle · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title of this book says it all: this is a work that combines memories of the Levant with recipes from the region. Anissa Helou divides Levant into several sections, each dealing with one particular type of food. For instance, there's the food of the souks, street food; there are typically rural dishes, some of them long and involved, others delightfully rustic and simple. There are the products of the bakers, and those of the sweetmakers. And of course, there is what is made at home.

Helou begins each section with an interesting, very personal recollection of her association with, and her memories of, that particular aspect of food. There are fascinating insights into ingredients, including traditional techniques and equipment (and contrasts with how the changing times have changed all of that too), and then there are the recipes. They are fairly detailed and comprehensive, and Helou makes it a point to suggest alternatives for some ingredients (for instance, what type of filo pastry works best with which recipe). At the end is a helpful and also very detailed glossary of ingredients.

Very informative, and with mouthwatering recipes. I'll be trying some of these out, though others sound just too involved, too fiddly and too much hard work for me.