Ah! Cooking the Middle Eastern Way

M. Bernice Standen was a freelance writer in Peterborough, Ontario.

Nadia Farah, born in Palestine in 1940, has taught culinary classes in her own home in Toronto. Ah! Cooking the Middle Eastern Way reflects her mastery of and joy in Palestinian cuisine.

This book, pleasing in all aspects, is the right size, coil bound and attractively laid out. The author offers 80 recipes including salads, meat, poultry and vegetarian dishes, coffee, breads, desserts, and pickles. The recipes are of generous proportion but Nadia Farah explains that this allows her to feed her family and have the pleasure of leftovers. Her occasional vignettes reflecting childhood food experiences in Palestine are charming and add greatly to the text.

The author as teacher is apparent in her step-by-step instructions allowing even the novice success. Her approach to tedious culinary tasks is so enlightened as to allow one to at least consider undertaking such things as couscous beads and stuffed zucchini.

This is not a book offering interpretive Middle Eastern cuisine — some of the ingredients can be found only in specialty stores. I find this purist approach pleasing; if one is going to go ethnic then searching out the ingredients is part of the fun. If I have one question of the author it would be to ask what exactly is a “bunch” of parsley or mint — this is crucial in making tabouleh; otherwise, all measurements are given in imperial and metric. Nadia Farah’s objective of bringing us closer to the aspects, hues, and lifestyles of the Middle East has indeed been achieved. A welcome addition to any cook’s collection.