The Legendary Cuisine of Persia (Margaret Shaida)
February 25, 2015 • Category: Reviews
I noticed this book on my shelf one day, pondering for a few moments how on earth it found its way there, then grabbed it and started reading. A few pages into it, I realized I was holding a gem.
On the plus side:
This book is a joy for someone genuinely interested in Iranian cuisine, culture and history, and by extension, Middle-Eastern culture as a whole. The author, in a scholarly but engaging way, weaves seamlessly between the many cultures of the region, and the many periods in Iranian history, from pre-Islamic times to today’s contemporary society. In this book references to Persian, Arabic or Turkish roots of words (as related to cooking and food), quotes by Marco Polo in the 13th century, or English travellers to Persia in the 18th and 19th centuries, abound. Practical tips and accurate descriptions of Iranian customs and food traditions are also generously provided. The author, who married an Iranian, eagerly shares her deep knowledge of the cuisine, culture and mores of this fascinating country. I was familiar with a lot of the Iranian recipes in her book, but found some sections extremely interesting, such as the chapter on rice dishes or the section on stuffed veggies (dolmeh) with different sauces based on the different regions in Iran. The most interesting part of the book for me was her chapter on meat dumplings, koofteh and kobbeh. I cannot wait to try some of them with chickpea flour, rice or potato dough. I noticed similarities with Iraqi cuisine in some of the recipes, which makes sense since the two countries are neighbors. According to the author, the kibbeh of Lebanon and Syria is derived from the Persian verb koobidan, to pound.
On the minus side:
This book would be a disappointment for someone needing beautiful images to get their culinary juices flowing. This 291-page book contains a mere four pictures, which are stock photos at that, totally incongruent with the work at hand.
Comments
7 Comments • Comments Feed
Rosa says:
An interesting sounding book. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers,
Rosa
On February 25, 2015 at 9:01 pm
Shermin says:
Thanks for sharing and your thougts. The cookbook is now on my wishlist. 🙂
On February 26, 2015 at 10:58 am
lara says:
coucou !
je viens de recevoir votre livre . il est genial ! bravo 🙂 j’attends le prochain ^^
On February 27, 2015 at 8:22 am
Joumana says:
@Rosa, yes it is. Thanks!
@Shermin: Hope you find it as interesting as I did.
@Lara: Merci! 🙂
@Alicia (foodycat): I very faintly remember someone handing me books, was probably in there 🙂
On February 27, 2015 at 7:34 pm
Alicia (foodycat) says:
Did you figure out how it got to your shelf? What an intriguing mystery!
On February 28, 2015 at 1:46 pm
Rebecca beesley says:
I have this book and love it. I never learnt to cook from my mum when she was alive so one of her close friends gave me this book so I could learn. I can’t seem to find any trace of the author online as I want to share one of the recipes I made from the book but can’t track her down to ask permission.
On July 2, 2015 at 10:24 am
Joumana says:
@Rebecca beesley: Have you contacted the publisher? or simply quote her in your blog and give her credit for the recipe.
On July 6, 2015 at 8:38 am