Recipes and Remembrances from an Eastern Mediterranean Kitchen: A Culinary Journey Through Syria, Lebanon and Jordan (Hardcover)

Some other favourites of mine from this book include Hummus with Mixed Spices, Toasted Nuts, and Mint (battle-weary hummus gets a new lease on life); Yogurt Cheese Dip with Red Pepper Paste (Muhammara Labna) (Uvezian's version is in a class by itself); Orange, Lemon, and Onion Salad with Black Olives and Mint (full of beguiling contrasts); Lentil Soup with Swiss Chard and Potatoes (earthy and deeply satisfying); Baked Fish with Tomato Sauce Garnished with Sautéed Pine Nuts, Raisins, and Onions (seduces both eye and palate); Chicken, Pepper, and Tomato Kebabs (Shish Tawuq) (a popular restaurant dish that is simple to prepare at home); Musakhan (this easily made version beats all others I've tried); Quail or Cornish Hens with Sour Cherry Sauce (I'll spare you a stream of inadequate adjectives); Crown Roast of Lamb Served with Saffron Rice with Ground Meat and Toasted Nuts (perfect for a special occasion); Grilled Skewered Pork with Sour Plum Sauce (as splendid as it is simple); Potato Kibbeh (delightfully different); Apricots Stuffed with Meat (unusual and exquisite); Grilled Eggplant with Walnut Sauce (now I know why those Georgian recipes in other books that call for "vinegar or pomegranate juice" did not work when I tried them); Mixed Vegetable Casserole with Garlic and Herbs (excellent as a light vegetarian entrée or as an accompaniment to poultry or meat); Stuffed Prunes in Pomegranate Sauce (wonderful with poultry or game); Pita Bread (absolutely first rate! the best recipe I've found); Filo Pastry Triangles with Cheese Filling (I could eat these every day of my life!); Knafi with Nut or Cheese Filling (a stellar dessert, fully the equal of baklava); Ma`mul (these stuffed cookies deserve their popularity); Gh'rayba (butter cookies with a difference); Sesame Cookies (Barazik) (altogether addictive); Orange Cake with Pomegranate Syrup (a brilliant combination); Quince Compote (unforgettable!); Pomegranate Ice (ravishing!); and Sweetened Yogurt Cream (Uvezian's own creation and a godsend for calorie counters).

Since acquiring Recipes and Remembrances I have purchased Uvezian's wonderful yogurt book and was fortunate to find a copy of her fantastic appetizer book, which is, sadly, out of print. How I wish that I had discovered the works of this talented food writer many years ago!

Recipes and Remembrances from an Eastern Mediterranean Kitchen is a unique work that has deepened my understanding of the region's cookery as no other book has. It is filled with invaluable information not found elsewhere, and it sets the record straight on a number of points. I have gained a far better historical perspective of the region's cooking from Uvezian's book than from any other eastern Mediterranean/Middle Eastern cookbook. Her chapter introductions and recipe forewords are almost always much more informative. Her extensive discussions of breads and beverages are unparalleled, as are her chapter introductions to starters (mazza), fish and shellfish, grains and pasta, sauces, pickles and preserves, and desserts. The geographical information is also vastly superior. For example, Uvezian gives detailed descriptions of the great garden oasis of al-Ghuta, which nurtures Damascus, and of Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, one of the major agricultural and winemaking regions of the entire Middle East. She also includes valuable information about the culinary specialties of numerous regions and towns. The little that has appeared on this subject elsewhere is limited to only a few places such as Damascus and Aleppo so that the reader gains hardly any idea about the range of local specialties.

The information on ingredients and beverages found in Recipes and Remembrances far surpasses that available in other books on the region's cookery. For instance, wine has been made and drunk in this part of the world since ancient times (especially in Lebanon), yet Uvezian's is the only cookbook to devote proper space to the subject. Another overlooked item is truffles, which have been an important article of food in Arab cookery for millennia. There is either no mention of truffles at all or only a few lines on them in the other volumes. In contrast, Recipes and Remembrances contains more information on these "diamonds of the table" than all the other cookbooks combined. The same holds true for other ingredients such as grape molasses (dibs inab) and pomegranate molasses (dibs rumman). Uvezian's highly informative entries on these two staples are unmatched. She offers the best material on grape molasses that I have ever come across in any cookbook. Her detailed first-hand description of how it was traditionally prepared in Lebanon is truly fascinating. She also mentions that during her childhood it was made in no less than four different consistencies. In no other cookbook have I read anything like this. Uvezian's outstanding essay on pomegranates (which includes a recipe for pomegranate molasses) corrects longstanding and widespread inaccuracies found in previous cookbooks and magazine articles. This eye-opening section alone is worth the price of the book and will prevent not only many Arab dishes from being ruined but numerous Armenian, Georgian, and Persian ones as well. Recipes and Remembrances also rectifies some other errors found in previous cookbooks, such as mastic being wrongly identified as gum arabic, nigella as black cumin, and soapwort as bois de Panama.

A very special feature of Recipes and Remembrances is Uvezian's modernizations and adaptations of several recipes from medieval Arab culinary manuals as well as some highly interesting interpretations of standard dishes. These recipes add considerably to the uniqueness of her book and greatly expand a cook's horizons. The author makes imaginative use of a variety of spices (not just cinnamon and allspice!), herbs, and other flavourings. Many of her variations on traditional recipes invest familiar standbys with born-again interest. For example, her Tahini Dip with Za'atar is an ingenious departure from the norm, as is her Hummus with Red Pepper Paste. A tempting alternative to the usual Aleppan version of muhammara is the Damascene one with tahini, which no other author that I know of has even mentioned! Another outstanding starter from Damascus, for which you will not find a recipe elsewhere, is Uvezian's Cheese Dip with Toasted Sesame Seeds and Nigella.

In addition to superb recipes for such traditional favourites as tabbuleh, kibbeh, musakhan, and baklava, the book includes a number of the author's own creations inspired by the eastern Mediterranean style of cooking. Uvezian's Meat Soup with Pumpkin, Quince, Apricots, and Prunes, Fried Fish with Oranges and Limes, Duck with Apples and Sour Cherry Sauce, and Mulled Pomegranante Wine Punch will be sure to earn you raves from both family and guests.

Recipes and Remembrances from an Eastern Mediterranean Kitchen sets a standard that will be extremely difficult to surpass. It is a gold mine of information on the culinary traditions of Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan. Anyone interested in the cooking of the eastern Mediterranean/Middle East would be well advised to purchase this book. There is nothing like it on the market. Were I allowed to own but a single volume on the food of this region, Uvezian's would be the one. If only there were more cookbooks as imaginatively and intelligently written!