Lebanese Cuisine by Anissa Helou

June 6, 2009  •  Category:

 

I met Anissa Helou about 2 years ago. I found out she was going to be in Dallas to do  a baking demonstration based on her latest book Savory Baking from the Mediterranean at the Central Market store. I drove 45 minutes to meet her. I found her there, tall and regal, calm and very  friendly, without an ounce of haughtiness or pretentiousness. I felt like a groupie! I told her  how much I  had loved  her book Lebanese Cuisine and how I had called my mother  in Beirut to tell her to get  a copy as well. We talked for a few minutes and she asked me how was my Arabic!  She showed me a Tunisian specialty that she had just finished preparing that looked like our samboosek. She also mentioned that she was organizing culinary tours the following summer to Syria and Lebanon. I later saw photos of her tour  when my neighbor brought me a copy of Food & Wine magazine and they had an article on Miss Helou and her tour. Wow! I really wanted to go!!


What I liked about this book:

  • This is a serious book. What this means is that the recipes are all tested and work. One example: My mother had been telling me about this new way that people in Beirut had devised to make ashta, using American-style white bread. I was in disbelief at first, until I found the method in Anissa’s book. I tried it and it gave me a wonderful ashta, lighter than the original but with a very similar texture.
  • It is an excellent reference book: almost all the recipes are what Lebanese-born have experienced in their household growing up. These are the recipes of Lebanese mothers and grandmothers, such as  the mehshis, both vegetarian and with meat, the kibbes, the fattet, the mukhallalat, the pastries that could be made at home such as the ma’karoon, atayef, ma’mool, etc
  • It is a book that is specifically geared to the home cook, with most of the recipes serving 4 people.
  • It is a book which uses specific and detailed instructions, minimizing the potential for failures.

What I did not like about this book:

  • For those of us who really like a cookbook to have a lot of photos, this one has only 8 full-page photos in the middle section of the book. So, if you have never cooked Lebanese food before, you are on your own as far as how the dish is supposed to look like!

As a conclusion, this is a book I keep  close at hand and consult frequently especially when I don’t remember a specific technique or certain ratios in a recipe. I strongly recommend it.

Comments

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  1. Reply

    touria says:

    good book is it in english or arabic?
    Please can you share with us your recipe of ashta?
    I like to do it

    On June 7, 2009 at 1:12 pm

  2. Reply

    touria says:

    hi
    thanks a lot
    I hope you have a great day

    On June 9, 2009 at 3:28 am

  3. Reply

    anissa says:

    just saw this joumana. thank you for the lovely write up. hope you are having a great time in beirut.

    On June 16, 2009 at 6:45 pm

    • Reply

      Joumana says:

      Anissa, I was just at Virgin and got your book on mezze. Can’t wait ti try all the recipes! I did not see one for muhammara though. I tried to make it a couple times but I am still looking for a good recipe.

      On June 17, 2009 at 11:25 am

  4. Reply

    anissa says:

    we took it out cos the editor thought it was rather common. will be doing a post on dips soon and will put up a recipe for muhammara. hope you are enjoying the other recipes.

    On June 24, 2009 at 5:43 pm

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