Tamarind & Saffron: Favourite Recipes from the Middle East (Penguin Cookery Library) [Paperback]

The ravishing cover of Tamarind and Saffron, brilliant yellow quinces in a blue-glazed dish, hints at the pleasures within its covers. Claudia Roden has subtitled the book "Favourite Recipes from the Middle East", and it is no more and no less than this. Eschewing the broad historical and geographical panorama that so enriched The Book of Jewish Food, she concentrates solely on the food, putting together a collection of recipes from the Middle East that are light, fresh, delicious and immensely evocative. The enticing aromas of North Africa rise from its pages, expressed in the differing spice-dialects of the national cuisines--the coriander, cinnamon, cumin, honey, orange-blossom water, preserved lemon, mint. The dishes range from the simplest of mezze to elaborate feast dishes but there is nothing that is remotely difficult. At the minimalist end of the scale, "Squid with Garlic and Chillies" is just that--the three briefly fried together; "Artichokes, Broad Beans and Almonds" combines unexpected ingredients to exquisite effect; and the Quince Dessert simply poaches the fruit in a light syrup, allowing its magical flavour to predominate. More demanding dishes include the spectacular " Pigeons Stuffed with Cous cous", the very elegant "Turkish Lamb Stew with Aubergine Cream Sauce" and "Roast Leg of Lamb with Meat, Rice and Nut Stuffing" (standing for that grandest of Arab dishes, whole stuffed baby lamb). And then there are the sweet dishes. This is an endlessly fascinating book, its deceptive simplicity masking a profound knowledge of the region's food. Really, as critics tend to say, one could cook from it forever. --Robin Davidson

Claudia Roden's beautiful new book, Tamarind and Saffron, marks a return to the food of her origins and of her first book, the ground-breaking Book of Middle Eastern Food. It also signals something of a return, after the historical and cultural investigations of the acclaimed Book of Jewish Food, to food pure and simple. Perhaps half of the recipes in the new book are favourites from that first volume but, in recognition that Middle Eastern food is a complex and living tradition subject to national, regional, local and even family variation, many of these are given in new forms. These new versions may represent a lighter form, with oil instead of butter, with shorter cooking times and baking instead of frying; or they may illustrate the different view another national tradition might take of spicing, with Moroccan garlic, saffron, ginger and preserved lemon replaced by Syrian allspice and cinnamon, or Tunisian harissa. So, for example, you might care to try the ravishing succession of "Celeriac and Carrots with a Hazelnut and Yoghurt Sauce", "Moroccan Pumpkin Soup", "Spinach Pies with Raisins and Pine Nuts", "Squid with Garlic and Chillis", "Quails with Grapes", "Lamb with Quince", "Iranian Sweet Jewelled Rice", "Prunes Stuffed with Walnuts in Orange Juice", "Pistachio Ice Cream". This really is one of the great world cuisines, at its best representing fantastically sophisticated cooking. Claudia Roden is rightly regarded as one of its greatest exponents. --Robin Davidson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

"I don't think there's a recipe I don't want to cook in TAMARIND & SAFFRON" - Nigella Lawson

Aubergines in a spicy honey sauce; baby onions in tamarind; sweet jewelled rice; and saffron caramel cream. These are just some of the sumptuous recipes in Claudia Roden's collection of new and updated recipes, suffused with all the heat, spice and sensual aromatics of the Middle East.

Claudia Roden's BOOK OF MIDDLE EASTERN FOOD (1968) was written for readers who had never eaten an aubergine, let alone cooked one. Today, Middle Eastern foods are enjoying amazing popularity, largely thanks to Roden's books. She has brought together a fresh collection of recipes for this new generation of cooks, illustrated throughout with luscious photography.

Claudia Roden has won many prestigious prizes including six Glenfiddich awards, including the Glenfiddich Trophy for "having single-handedly introduced the Western palate to Middle Eastern cuisine". Her seminal books include A BOOK OF MIDDLE EASTERNFOOD and THE BOOK OF JEWISH FOOD. She lives in Finchley, North London.