Book review: Persiana, recipes from the Middle East and beyond

Lately I have been cooking merely Middle Eastern recipes thanks to the cook book Persiana, recipes from the Middle East and beyond by Sabrina Ghayour. The recipes in this book are so simple yet so tasteful! I even gave this book as a birthday present to my best friend and she also has the cooking bug now. We frequently text message each other recommending a page we have tried. The best thing about this cook book is that most recipes use the same spices so once you have tried one, you have all the basics to continue cooking from this book. One trip to your local Turkish/Arab mini-market will suffice to get everything you need to get started.

The book has 100 modern, colourful and easy recipes from predominantly the eastern and southern regions of the Mediterranean. The flavours of saffron, mint, dades, lemons, harissa spice up typical Mediterranean ingredients like eggplant, bulgur, lamb and artichoke. The book is divided into six parts: 1.mezzes and dishes to share, 2. bread and grains, 3. soups, stews and tajines, 4. meat and fish, 5. salads and veggies, and 6. desserts and sweet delicacies.

So far I have tried several tajines, with chicken and beef in a normal pan due to lack of a real tajine. I tried the famous Turkish yoghurt dip with mint, and chicken with pommegranate melasse and ras el hanout.The quinoa salad is really to die for. And the best thing about this book: it’s all extremely healthy, and uses fresh products.

About Post Author

30smagazine

See author's posts