The New Book of Middle Eastern Food

by Claudia Roden

Book Overview

The definitive volume on Middle Eastern cooking, a modern classic from the award-winning, bestselling author of The Book of Jewish Food and Claudia Roden's Mediterranean

Originally published in 1972 and hailed by James Beard as "a landmark in the field of cookery," this new version represents the accumulation of the author's years of extensive travel throughout the ever-changing landscape of the Middle East, gathering recipes...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0375405062
• ISBN13: 9780375405068
• Release Date: September 2000
• Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
• Length: 528 Pages
• Weight: 2.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.7" x 7.8" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Culinary Atlas of Arab, Persian, Berber, and Ottoman Worlds

Claudia Roden is one of the three great ladies of Mediterranean food writing, joining Elizabeth David and Paula Wolfert to make this cuisine one of the best reported centers of food interest in the English speaking world. The three connect in this book by Ms. David's being the avowed inspiration for Rodin's work and by Claudia Roden's citing Paula Wolfert's excellent book on couscous and referring to one of her other major works in the bibliography. It is also worth noting another literary connection in that the Alfred A. Knopf editor for this book is the acclaimed Judith Jones, the editor for Julia Child's landmark first books on French cuisine. While all of that makes this a noteworthy book with `good connections', it is not what makes the book worth buying.As the title suggests, this book is a new and greatly revised edition of a volume first published in 1968. In this edition, much academic material, i.e. recipes derived from translations of old historical documents has been replaced and augmented by newer material from the Middle East. Ms. Roden clearly states that this is not a work of scholarship, but one should not take from that the feeling that these recipes are not the real thing. I am certain that like Ms. Wolfert, they are genuinely Middle Eastern recipes, made useable by the modern American or English cook.The meaning of `Middle Eastern' in the title may not be exactly what a geographer or historian may mean by `Middle Eastern' or roughly from Turkey to Egypt to Iran. Ms. Roden means primarily the region covered by the greatest advance of the Muslim rule and influence in the European Middle ages. Her four principle regions of concentration are:The earliest and `the most exquisite and refined' is that of Persia, now Iran. This is `the ancient source of much of the `haute cuisine' of the Middle East'. This is the route by which rice from India passed into the Middle East and the West.The second region is roughly the Arab lands now formed into the states of Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. This is where Arab food is at it's best. This includes the Fertile Crescent, which is actually in modern Iraq.The third region is Turkey, or more broadly, the area influenced by the former Ottoman Empire. This presence had its influence most felt in Europe, especially the Balkans, Hungary, Greece, Russia, North Africa, and even Austria and France. This is the source of kebabs, savory pies, yogurt salads, and paper-thin dough.The fourth style is the cuisine of North Africa, extending as far West as Morocco on the Atlantic coast of Africa. The strongest native influence here is in couscous from the Berber nomads who collaborated with the Arabs in conquering southern Spain. This region also retains some of the strongest echoes of the cuisines of ancient Persia and Baghdad.The recipes are divided by the type of central ingredient in dishes, but certain ingredients, most especially olives and olive oil, yogurt, citrus fruits, bulgar wheat, rice, eggplant, and l

A Delectable Read

Although I've never met the great woman, I can honestly say that I grew up in Claudia Roden's kitchen. My mother adhered to the sacred culinary tenets that Ms. Roden set out in her 'Book of Middle Eastern Food' with religious zeal. The results were (what else?) subime. Yet after twenty years of wear, tear, and the best babaganoush you'll ever taste, we retired our tattered paperback copy of the book to the safety of a ziploc baggie and upgraded to Ms. Roden's 'New Book of Middle Eastern Food.' Here Ms. Roden disproves the old adage about gilding the lily. Enhanced by gorgeous color photos and the author's characteristically unpretentious attitude towards cooking, 'The New Book of Middle Eastern Food' is as much a cookbook as it is a culinary ethnography of the Middle East. The recipes are simple, the ingredients are accessible, and the results are delectable. When you're not cookinng out of this book, you'll probably be enjoying the explanations, comments, and characters to which Ms. Roden introduces us.

Easy, Authentic, Authoritative

If there is one Middle Eastern cookbook to buy, this is the one!It's one of the best cookbooks I have. The recipes are easy to follow and the collection is comprehensive. Being from the Middle East, I know that the recipes in there are authentic, turn out well, and she uses the healthiest possible route to make delicious Middle Eastern food. I was amazed that she had recipes in there for food my Egyptian mother made at home, but also very exotic (to me) dishes from Morocco, etc.

Claudia Roden is the Middle Easts answer to Julia Child!

Let me start out by simply saying: BUY THIS BOOK!! Almost 10 years ago, I stumbled on a worn out much-abridged paperback version of her original book. I bought it on a lark and was immediately brought back to my grandmothers kitchen and weekend family meals. As a second generation Middle Eastern male, I never really had any type of training in the kitchen let alone recipes to follow...this book proved to be an immense help to me...it helped me rediscover my lost heritage of Lebanese home-cooking. From years of use and more use, my paperback copy has had so many spills and accidents that it is almost falling apart. When I saw that they re-published the book, I bought it immediately. As the opener states, Claudia Roden is to Middle Eastern cuisine what Julia Child is to French. She manages to give a history, a story, and a recipe all without seeming disjointed or breaking stride. Her directions are clear and concise and the measures, times, and ingredient amounts all work...something a few cookbook authors have yet to master!Another factor in recommending this book is that Ms Roden's approach was to take a comprehensive look at Middle Eastern food. She included everything from the Atlantic coast of Africa to the Gulf States and on to Iran...most books in this genre only include recipes from one or two countries. She also takes dishes and gives them regional spins (ie: making a traditional Lebanese dish and then showing variations which give it a more Morrocan flavor or Iranian, etc).I sing the highest praises of Ms Roden and her book. It is a true masterpiece and should be included in any household library of someone who enjoys eating.Buy the book and eat well!