Mark Rotella

A Foodie Adventure
May 11, 2007

Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Libya, Morocco. Countries of the Muslim world? Predominantly. Destinations for serious foodies? If you’re adventurous. Subjects of recent cookbooks? They’re on their way.

Late last year, Claudia Roden came out with a gorgeous book called Arabesque: A Taste of Morocco, Turkey & Lebanon. Just by flipping through the book you can almost taste each meal: Moroccan Chickpea and Lentil Soup; Tagine of Chicken with Preserved Lemons and Olives; Turkish Lamb Stew with Eggplant Sauce and Roasted Quinces; or Squabs Stuffed with Date and Almond Paste.

Coming out this August from Morrow is Anissa Helou’s Savory Baking from the Mediterranean. While Helou focuses on the breads of southern Europe, she dips into Syria, Lebanon, Tunisia, Libya and Algeria for Khobz Ramadan (a bread with dates for Ramadan, the month of fasting), and R’ghayef, a bread from Morocco layered and filled with onion, parsley, cuming, paprika, and red pepper.

A month after that, Tuttle will bring to American shores a book previously published in Australia: Saha: A Chef’s Journey through Lebanon and Syria by Greg and Lucy Malouf. At nearly $50 it ain’t cheap—and at that price you’re going to feel compelled to display it on the coffee table—but the recipes won’t disappoint (after they’ve been converted to U.S. measurements, that is): Braised Silverbeet with Crisp Fried Onions and Tahini Sauce; Egg and Olive Salad; Middle Eastern Spiced Calamari with Warm Egg Noodles and Vegetable Salad.

Sure, this region has been culinarily tapped before, but there’s still so much that’s deeper in the bedrock.

Posted by Mark Rotella on May 11, 2007 | Comments (0)