Cooking
Congratulations to Elissa, Joan and Alison. The answer was indeed LOVE.
"One's eating shows one's love"
I found this quote in Claudia Roden's wonderful cookbook, The New Book of Middle Eastern Food. This is a gorgeous book and if you are looking for a very comprehensive type of Middle Eastern cookbook I strongly suggest you buy it. Of course I am not the first to recommend it, it was originally published in 1972 and hailed by James Beard as "a landmark in the field of cookery".
One of the lovely features of Roden's book is that she includes quotes, fairy tales, ancient cookbook recipes, anecdotes and stories from Nasr-ed-din Khoja. For those not familiar with Khoja, these delightful fables give you a romantic version of the Middle East sadly missing these days. A scholar and a trickster Khoja's tales are funny and endearing. There are many sites that also share these tales you can find some here and here.
Here is a typical one:
A beggar knocked on the Khoja's door and said, "Allah has directed me to this house for a good meal."
"I am sorry, but you have the wrong house," replied the Khoja. Then pointing to a nearby mosque, he continued, "Allah lives over there."
Thank you to everyone who participated and for those who did not win, I am happy to announce you will have a second chance to win a copy of The Language of Baklava next week over on Bay Area Bites where there will be another contest next Wednesday. Stay tuned...
- Zucchini Salad With Feta Recipe
Everyone I know is looking for a good recipe that uses zucchini. Enormous zucchini appear from behind large green leaves surprising even the most vigilant gardeners. It seems there is always too much of it. No one complains about too many peaches or...
- The Good Home Cookbook: Giveaway!
Some time ago I mentioned that the publishers of The Good Home Cookbook were looking for recipe testers. In addition to getting a first crack at the recipes, testers also got their names in the book and a copy of the book. Now the book is out and for...
- Culinary Celebrities And Contest
You never know who you'll bump into at the Fancy Food Show. While I missed seeing Ina Gartner, I did talk to Martin Yan, Paul Prudhomme, Paula Wolfert and as you can see from the picture, both Charles Phan and author Joan Nathan. Having just reviewed...
- The Father Of American Gastronomy
"I like a well-tailored plate of food, and I want things to look and taste like what they are. I detest cooking that masks one flavor with another, and I dislike fussy presentations that don't respect the identity of the ingredients. A tomato is...
- The Language Of Baklava : Review & Contest
Why is it about autobiographies with recipes? Some authors don't just share their experiences but they share the flavors of their life. It's like the proof that what they are telling us really happened. Diana Abu Jaber's memoir The Language...
Cooking
Contest Winners & New Book of Middle Eastern Food
Congratulations to Elissa, Joan and Alison. The answer was indeed LOVE.
"One's eating shows one's love"
I found this quote in Claudia Roden's wonderful cookbook, The New Book of Middle Eastern Food. This is a gorgeous book and if you are looking for a very comprehensive type of Middle Eastern cookbook I strongly suggest you buy it. Of course I am not the first to recommend it, it was originally published in 1972 and hailed by James Beard as "a landmark in the field of cookery".
One of the lovely features of Roden's book is that she includes quotes, fairy tales, ancient cookbook recipes, anecdotes and stories from Nasr-ed-din Khoja. For those not familiar with Khoja, these delightful fables give you a romantic version of the Middle East sadly missing these days. A scholar and a trickster Khoja's tales are funny and endearing. There are many sites that also share these tales you can find some here and here.
Here is a typical one:
A beggar knocked on the Khoja's door and said, "Allah has directed me to this house for a good meal."
"I am sorry, but you have the wrong house," replied the Khoja. Then pointing to a nearby mosque, he continued, "Allah lives over there."
Thank you to everyone who participated and for those who did not win, I am happy to announce you will have a second chance to win a copy of The Language of Baklava next week over on Bay Area Bites where there will be another contest next Wednesday. Stay tuned...
- Zucchini Salad With Feta Recipe
Everyone I know is looking for a good recipe that uses zucchini. Enormous zucchini appear from behind large green leaves surprising even the most vigilant gardeners. It seems there is always too much of it. No one complains about too many peaches or...
- The Good Home Cookbook: Giveaway!
Some time ago I mentioned that the publishers of The Good Home Cookbook were looking for recipe testers. In addition to getting a first crack at the recipes, testers also got their names in the book and a copy of the book. Now the book is out and for...
- Culinary Celebrities And Contest
You never know who you'll bump into at the Fancy Food Show. While I missed seeing Ina Gartner, I did talk to Martin Yan, Paul Prudhomme, Paula Wolfert and as you can see from the picture, both Charles Phan and author Joan Nathan. Having just reviewed...
- The Father Of American Gastronomy
"I like a well-tailored plate of food, and I want things to look and taste like what they are. I detest cooking that masks one flavor with another, and I dislike fussy presentations that don't respect the identity of the ingredients. A tomato is...
- The Language Of Baklava : Review & Contest
Why is it about autobiographies with recipes? Some authors don't just share their experiences but they share the flavors of their life. It's like the proof that what they are telling us really happened. Diana Abu Jaber's memoir The Language...