Lugma: Abundant Dishes And Stories From My Middle East

by Noor Murad

"I adore this book. It’s personal, beautifully written – Noor’s voice draws you in and holds you there – and the recipes are absolutely glorious." – Diana Henry

"There’s an incredible generosity to Noor’s cooking, capturing the spirit of so many cooks across the Middle bold gestures, big flavours, whole universes of food around a single table. Noor is also a unique talent; her cooking reflects the essence of home comfort, plus an unmatched innovative palate." – Yotam Ottolenghi

In Lugma, Noor offers over 100 recipes as an ode to the food she grew up eating – traditional flavours and modern recipes from Bahrain, the surrounding Middle East and beyond.

Lugma in Arabic means a bite, or a mouthful. For Noor, as a chef and the former head of the Ottolenghi Test Kitchen, her whole career has been centred around taking bites of food and analysing them to create the perfect dish. Noor’s recipes pull on many culinary influences – an abundance of herbs, black limes and sour flavours from Iran, liberal spice and chilli heat from India, the elaborate rice dishes of the Gulf and the foods of the Levant – to create a unique and flavour-packed cuisine. 

From Spring Time Fattoush and Stuffed Baby Aubergines to Slow-cooked Fenugreek Lamb with Pickled Chillies and Pistachio Cake with Labneh, these beautiful and inspirational recipes are full of love and warmth to be recreated in your own kitchen.

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

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2025

Reviews

[Mlak · Rating 5 out of 5]

our food is so good it should be enough justification for a pan arab state at this point

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personal stories of Noor Murad's Bahraini upbringing interspersed with recipes complete with beautiful photos of every dish (this is key for a cookbook). The dishes are fairly uncomplicated, easily achievable, home cooking - but include the kind of novel tweaks one comes to expect from a chef that worked at Ottolenghi: Bombay mix as croutons on a Broccoli salad; a salad trifle; fusion food dals, bolognese and lasagna with middle eastern flair; and a chili crisp condiment that compliments arabic flavours.
There are a few more obscure ingredients to find (like black limes) but unlike many cookbooks you are well rewarded for finding them as they are used throughout the book, and not just in one solitary recipe.
I personally love the heavy use of many of my favorite spices: cumin, cardamom, cinnamon, chilies, garlic, sumac and more show up in ample quantities regularly along with lots of fresh herbs.
Altogether, it's unique enough, useful enough, flavourful enough and personal enough that it might be a welcome addition to your bookshelf.

[szreads · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much more than a cookbook! The photos are gorgeous and the stories enthralling.

Mezze, salads, and soups was my fav chapter with rice being a close second.

I enjoyed learning about Bahrain which I previously knew nothing about.

I need black limes after reading this!

[Giovanna Jansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 ⭐️

[Shanyn]

fragrant. Coriander, cinnamon, curry, cumin, saffron, ginger, cloves, mint, lemon, turmeric

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a Ottolenghi test kitchen chef, my sister loves Ottolenghi and also this book, enough that she has requested that it be added to the list of cookbooks to buy and own.

[Mohammed Alshehhi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very nice photos

[Joanna’s Reading Rainbow · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this recipe book. I’m excited to try so many of its delicious recipes.