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Saffron & Sumac: Feasting at the Middle Eastern Table

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From the aromatic tagines of Morocco, to the sweet and sticky pastries that are a legacy of the Ottoman empire, explore the food and rich culinary traditions of the Middle East and the Maghreb with 65 authentic recipes.

The fragrant flavors of the Middle East are steeped in a fascinating history of ancient empires and dynasties, wars, and diverse religions, and the east-west trade routes, all of which have had a lasting influence on the culinary cultures of this vast and turbulent region. The book by award-winning food writer Ghillie Basan chronicles the foods that you would encounter should you travel these ancient lands—they are the recipes that have truly stood the test of time. Recipes include small mezze plates for sharing; meat, poultry, and fish dishes that indulge all of your senses with sumptuous aromas and flavors; vibrant jewel-bright salads, vegetable dishes, and grain bowls, and lastly sweet mouthfuls and drinks influenced by the opulence of the Persian and Ottoman courts make the perfect ending to your Middle Eastern feast.

160 pages, Hardcover

Published October 8, 2019

7 people want to read

About the author

Ghillie Basan

167 books11 followers
I am a writer, broadcaster, and food anthropologist with fingers in several pies! As a single parent living off the beaten track in the Scottish highlands it is the only way to survive. In the media, I have been dubbed ‘The Original Spice Girl’ and ‘World Food Expert’ but really I’m simply a hospitable hermit! I love to live a little bit wild but I also love to share what I have.

I spent my childhood in East Africa and my teenage years in Scotland, followed by a Cordon Bleu Diploma in London and a degree in Social Anthropology from Edinburgh University. After working and travelling in Europe, Turkey, the Middle East, North America, India, Southeast Asia, and vast chunks of Africa as an English teacher, journalist, and food and travel writer, I returned to the Scottish Highlands. Here, in a remote part of the Cairngorms National Park I have gradually turned a ruined croft into a home where, snowbound in winter with a 3 mile cross-country ski to and from the car to bring in supplies, I have raised my children on my own.

Abridged from Ms Basan's website

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