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A Book of Middle Eastern Food
A Book of Middle Eastern Food by Roden, Claudia (1972) Hardcover [Hardcover] [Jan 01, 1709] … B011W9X4HS
480 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1968
4 people are currently reading
286 people want to read
About the author
Claudia Roden
58 books121 followersClaudia Roden was brought up in Cairo. She finished her education in Paris and later studied art in London. Starting as a painter she was drawn to the subject of food partly through a desire to evoke a lost heritage - one of the pleasures of a happy life in Egypt.
With her bestselling classic, A Book of Middle Eastern Food, first published in 1968, Roden revolutionized Western attitudes to the cuisine of the Middle East. Her intensely personal approach and her passionate appreciation of the dishes delighted readers, while she introduced them to a new world of foods, both exotic and wholesome. The book received great critical acclaim.
Mrs Roden continued to write about food with a special interest in the social and historical background of cooking.
Then came the BBC television series, Mediterranean Cookery with Claudia Roden and the accompanying book entitled Claudia Roden's Mediterranean Cookery.
In 1992, she won the Glenfiddich Trophy, the top prize in the Glenfiddich Awards.
With her bestselling classic, A Book of Middle Eastern Food, first published in 1968, Roden revolutionized Western attitudes to the cuisine of the Middle East. Her intensely personal approach and her passionate appreciation of the dishes delighted readers, while she introduced them to a new world of foods, both exotic and wholesome. The book received great critical acclaim.
Mrs Roden continued to write about food with a special interest in the social and historical background of cooking.
Then came the BBC television series, Mediterranean Cookery with Claudia Roden and the accompanying book entitled Claudia Roden's Mediterranean Cookery.
In 1992, she won the Glenfiddich Trophy, the top prize in the Glenfiddich Awards.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
April 6, 2018
From BBC Radio 4 - 15 Minute Drama:
Claudia Roden's A Book of Middle Eastern Food was a landmark cookery book, first published in 1968. At a time when most Britons were enjoying cauliflower cheese and soggy Spaghetti Bolognese on a regular basis, she introduced chick peas, sharp flavoured marinades, aubergines and her most popular recipe - orange and polenta cake.
She is a cookery writer whose love of cooking and exploration of culture through recipes has placed her in a unique role. Jay Rayner of The Kitchen Cabinet describes her as 'One of the greatest British food writers working in Britain today - one before whom the likes of Nigel Slater, Simon Hopkinson, Nigella and Delia will all willingly bend the knee."
Claudia was born in 1936 in Cairo. She was a foreign food correspondent for the Daily Telegraph and the Sunday Times Magazine. Later, she hosted a BBC TV series, Claudia Roden's Mediterranean Cookery, and has won many awards and trophies.
With cameos from Yotam Ottolenghi and Claudia's granddaughter, Nelly Wolman, this entertaining dramatisation shines a light on an extraordinary global cook, still traveling the world sharing recipes and cultures.
Episode 1:
Claudia remembers her early life in Cairo and the nostalgic dishes of her childhood.
The dramatist Anjum Malik is an established scriptwriter, poet and performer. She is also a lecturer in creative writing at Manchester Metropolitan University. She was born in Saudi Arabia and has lived in Pakistan as well several cities in England.
Dramatist.....................Anjum Malik
Sound Design..................Eloise Whitmore
Producers........................Polly Thomas and Eloise Whitmore
Executive Producer...............Robert Abel
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09x...
Claudia Roden's A Book of Middle Eastern Food was a landmark cookery book, first published in 1968. At a time when most Britons were enjoying cauliflower cheese and soggy Spaghetti Bolognese on a regular basis, she introduced chick peas, sharp flavoured marinades, aubergines and her most popular recipe - orange and polenta cake.
She is a cookery writer whose love of cooking and exploration of culture through recipes has placed her in a unique role. Jay Rayner of The Kitchen Cabinet describes her as 'One of the greatest British food writers working in Britain today - one before whom the likes of Nigel Slater, Simon Hopkinson, Nigella and Delia will all willingly bend the knee."
Claudia was born in 1936 in Cairo. She was a foreign food correspondent for the Daily Telegraph and the Sunday Times Magazine. Later, she hosted a BBC TV series, Claudia Roden's Mediterranean Cookery, and has won many awards and trophies.
With cameos from Yotam Ottolenghi and Claudia's granddaughter, Nelly Wolman, this entertaining dramatisation shines a light on an extraordinary global cook, still traveling the world sharing recipes and cultures.
Episode 1:
Claudia remembers her early life in Cairo and the nostalgic dishes of her childhood.
The dramatist Anjum Malik is an established scriptwriter, poet and performer. She is also a lecturer in creative writing at Manchester Metropolitan University. She was born in Saudi Arabia and has lived in Pakistan as well several cities in England.
Dramatist.....................Anjum Malik
Sound Design..................Eloise Whitmore
Producers........................Polly Thomas and Eloise Whitmore
Executive Producer...............Robert Abel
A Somethin' Else production for BBC Radio 4.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09x...
May 16, 2008
Like Marcella Hazan and Madhur Jaffrey, Claudia Roden has been awarded the title "Mother" in our house. Roden's simple, honest recipes and straightforward handling of common, nutritious, and delicious ingredients have brought her into our home like another member of the family. We turn to her for inspiration, condolence, advice, and entertainment.
April 13, 2025
I bought this when it came out. The pages are now all discolored with age. I wrote notes on some of the recipes. There are much prettier books now. But i grew up with cookbooks that had no photos, so i have never missed them. This was a fabulous introduction to the foods of the Middle East, which were not very familiar to Americans (and Brits, i assume) when it was published. Roden includes history along with her recipes. While there are plenty of books on the topic now, i still hang onto this book and enjoy reading it and cooking from it.
July 29, 2011
Excellent book on preparation of just about everything you would imagine, or hope, to find in Medit.. cooking. I'm on a second copy (replacing an old Friends of the Library freebie)- I like the chicken, fish & eggplant dishes most. I am glad I happened across this, since they're for the most part simple & yet complexly flavored. "Arabesque" features lots of the same dishes only illustrated w/ color pics and a step up on the "collector" level.
December 20, 2025
Some cookbooks arrive as manuals; A Book of Middle Eastern Food arrives as a homeland. Claudia Roden’s first great work is not merely a collection of recipes but an act of cultural rescue, written at a time when Middle Eastern food was largely flattened into stereotypes or reduced to restaurant shorthand.
Reading it feels like sitting at a long family table where every dish carries a memory, every spice a story of migration, loss, and continuity.
What strikes you immediately is Roden’s voice—gentle, precise, never theatrical, yet deeply emotional. She writes as someone preserving a civilisation through taste.
The recipes move effortlessly from Syrian stuffed vegetables to Egyptian stews, from Sephardic Jewish dishes to Levantine street food, reflecting the tangled histories of the region itself.
This is Middle Eastern cooking before branding, before “fusion,” before the food was filtered for Western approval.
The prose is quietly luminous. Roden explains ingredients not as novelties but as companions: cumin, sumac, rose water, and dried limes.
She tells you how people cooked during Ramadan, how Jewish families adapted dishes for the Sabbath, and how Christians and Muslims shared techniques even when politics divided them. Food here is not neutral—it is identity, survival, and memory on a plate.
The recipes demand patience and attentiveness. There are no shortcuts, no apologetic simplifications. You are asked to chop, soak, simmer, and wait. And in doing so, you are taught a rhythm of life that modern kitchens often forget. The dishes reward you not just with flavour but with a sense of participation in something older and larger than yourself.
This book’s importance cannot be overstated. It created a bridge between worlds at a time when such bridges were rare. Even today, it reads with authority and warmth.
To cook from it is to cook with respect. To read it is to understand that Middle Eastern cuisine is not a trend—it is a civilisation.
Recommended.
Reading it feels like sitting at a long family table where every dish carries a memory, every spice a story of migration, loss, and continuity.
What strikes you immediately is Roden’s voice—gentle, precise, never theatrical, yet deeply emotional. She writes as someone preserving a civilisation through taste.
The recipes move effortlessly from Syrian stuffed vegetables to Egyptian stews, from Sephardic Jewish dishes to Levantine street food, reflecting the tangled histories of the region itself.
This is Middle Eastern cooking before branding, before “fusion,” before the food was filtered for Western approval.
The prose is quietly luminous. Roden explains ingredients not as novelties but as companions: cumin, sumac, rose water, and dried limes.
She tells you how people cooked during Ramadan, how Jewish families adapted dishes for the Sabbath, and how Christians and Muslims shared techniques even when politics divided them. Food here is not neutral—it is identity, survival, and memory on a plate.
The recipes demand patience and attentiveness. There are no shortcuts, no apologetic simplifications. You are asked to chop, soak, simmer, and wait. And in doing so, you are taught a rhythm of life that modern kitchens often forget. The dishes reward you not just with flavour but with a sense of participation in something older and larger than yourself.
This book’s importance cannot be overstated. It created a bridge between worlds at a time when such bridges were rare. Even today, it reads with authority and warmth.
To cook from it is to cook with respect. To read it is to understand that Middle Eastern cuisine is not a trend—it is a civilisation.
Recommended.
March 28, 2022
I bought this book in 1974 and learned to cook many dishes from it, from simple to elaborate.
My copy is quite battered and notated. I learned to make tahina dressing, hummus, baklava, preserved lemons, stuffed grape leaves, and many other recipes both simple and elaborate.
I still use the tahina dressing and hummus. I love the baklava recipe.
There is an updated version but I have not used it.
My copy is quite battered and notated. I learned to make tahina dressing, hummus, baklava, preserved lemons, stuffed grape leaves, and many other recipes both simple and elaborate.
I still use the tahina dressing and hummus. I love the baklava recipe.
There is an updated version but I have not used it.
October 2, 2018
A real treasure. Easy to read recipes that turn out beautifully. Cheap, tasty and not too complicated food for fall evenings. Will turn to this one for many years to come.
December 8, 2023
I was spoiled by her later middle eastern cookbook which I consider better.
March 29, 2024
Not vegetarian, but lovely writing for these delicious sounding Middle Eastern recipes. Old school.
March 4, 2017
This is food as food should be...
January 9, 2017
Het eerste boek dat ik las van Claudia Roden. Ze combineert op een prettige/ lichte manier recepten met achtergrond informatie. Je waant je in de wereld van het midden oosten en begrijpt hoe de gerechten moeten smaken.
October 20, 2010
Another cookbook that is a literary as well as a culinary classic.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews