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

by Sonia Uvezian (Author)
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 448 pages
  • Publisher: University of Texas Press (Nov 1999)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0292785356
  • ISBN-13: 978-0292785359
  • Product Dimensions: 26.4 x 18.5 x 3.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,826,732 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #31 in  Books > Travel & Holiday > Countries & Regions > Europe > Armenia
    #49 in  Books > Travel & Holiday > Countries & Regions > Middle East > Lebanon
    #79 in  Books > Travel & Holiday > Countries & Regions > Middle East > Syria

Product Description

The Midwest Book Review, November, 1999

This highly original cookbook offers hundreds of superb recipes drawn from the culinary traditions of Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan. In addition to the recipes themselves, Sonia Uvezian also offers illuminating essays on a variety of topics ranging from hospitality and meals to menus, ingredients, and utensils. From appetizers, salads, and soups to entrees, side dishes, and desserts, to sauces, breads, and beverages, Recipes and Remembrances offers a complete spectrum of culinary delights


The Austin, TX Chronicle, November 26, 1999

Recipes and Remembrances could very well be the seminal work on the cooking of the eastern Mediterranean and fills a long-standing void of scholarly works on the subject in English....The amount of research and labor that went into the production of this book is astounding...The hundreds of recipes are clearly written, easy to follow, and produce incredibly delicious results....Recipes and Remembrances is as entertaining and informative to read as it is a joy to cook from....It is a title that should reside in the collection of every serious cook and culinary historian.

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Customer Reviews

9 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.8 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
43 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A culinary milestone–brilliant, comprehensive, indispensable, 23 May 2003
By A Customer
This is another landmark cookbook by Sonia Uvezian, her best yet. I am familiar with many books on eastern Mediterranean/Middle Eastern cooking, but none compare to this revelatory and loving volume in which the author brings to life a cuisine and a culture in the way only one who was born and reared in the region could. Recipes and Remembrances from an Eastern Mediterranean Kitchen recreates a time and place inaccessible not just to most of us in the West but even to most eastern Mediterraneans. It evokes the world of Uvezian's Lebanese childhood and is a rich portrayal of how people lived once upon a time, a happy time, not too long ago. A masterpiece of culinary instruction as valuable for its authentic and inspired recipes as for its exceptionally informative text, this extraordinary work is an essential guide for anyone who enjoys cooking and reading about eastern Mediterranean food. Uvezian's engaging narrative is threaded throughout with handsome period illustrations of ingredients, markets, traditional utensils, scenes of daily life, views of mountain villages and the sea, ancient temples, mosques, and monasteries. I found the content of these illustrations at least as impressive as their inherent beauty. Anyone can make the dishes described by following the author's clearly written recipes, which are almost always based on readily available ingredients. Some of the best cooking I have ever done resulted from this wonderful book. I am so impressed with Recipes and Remembrances from an Eastern Mediterranean Kitchen that I have purchased several copies as gifts for friends and relatives. I strongly recommend that you buy two copies for yourself, one for your kitchen and the other for your night table. My thanks to Sonia Uvezian for a truly remarkable cookbook.
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20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the greatest ethnic cookbooks of all time, 20 Dec 1999
By A Customer
Bitter experience has taught me not to put much faith in rave reviews of cookbooks. I must admit, however, that both of the previous customer reviews of this book are absolutely on target. Recipes and Remembrances from an Eastern Mediterrnean Kitchen is one of the greatest cookbooks I have ever used and is unquestionably the best in its subject area. Fascinating text and fabulous recipes make this inspired volume a must for anyone interested in Middle Eastern cooking. The author gives such clear and easy-to-follow directions that I have not had a failure yet. Recently I gave a dinner party using recipes from this book, and it was a huge success. People are still raving about Uvezian's Hummus with Red Pepper Paste, Damascus-Style Cheese Dip with Toasted Sesame Seeds and Nigella, Tabbuleh, Fried Stuffed Kibbeh, Baklava, Aleppan Wedding Cookies, and, last but not least, her Mulled Pomegranate Wine Punch.

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!

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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A monumental achievement, 13 Dec 1999
By A Customer
I am a passionate cook and collector of ethnic cookbooks. Even though I own many books on eastern Mediterranean food, nothing had prepared me for the astonishing amount of information and hundreds of magnificent recipes found in this extraordinary study of one of the world's most venerable and healthful culinary traditions. Uvezian, who has made illuminating contributions to cooking literature in the past, has outdone herself with this rare and masterly volume full of observation and insight. The depth and quality of her research are constantly apparent throughout the book's 440-plus pages, which are packed with fascinating culinary history and lore, personal reminiscences, quotations, anecdotes, proverbs, evocative illustrations, essential information on ingredients, utensils, meals and menus, and major holidays, and, of course, the recipes, which are dazzlingly rich in scope.

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!

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars With precise recipes like these, you don't need colour shots
This is an absolutely first-rate cookbook that provides a wide spectrum of authentic and easy-to-follow recipes that make use of healthful and readily available ingredients. Read more
Published on 5 Jan 2003

3.0 out of 5 stars A cookbook without pictures
I enjoy cookbooks that use beautiful colour shots to tempt me to try new dishes - and which give me an idea of what I am aiming for the dish to look like (if all goes well). Read more
Published on 19 Dec 2002 by Jayne in London

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth its weight in gold
I would purchase any book by Sonia Uvezian sight unseen! As it turns out, "Recipes and Remembrances from an Eastern Mediterranean Kitchen" is one of the most remarkable... Read more
Published on 24 Nov 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars Extraordinary! A great find!
This authoritative and scrupulously researched volume by one of America's most gifted food writers features illuminating text and a profusion of splendid recipes, many of them not... Read more
Published on 27 Mar 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars Truly a masterpiece
I decided to take a chance and purchase this book after I read a review that described it as a masterpiece and the first and last word on eastern Mediterranean cooking. Read more
Published on 16 Feb 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely fascinating! I couldn't put it down!
This is by far the best book I have ever seen on the cooking of the eastern Mediterranean or Middle East. I bought a copy as soon as it came out and have fallen in love with it. Read more
Published on 13 Dec 1999

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