The Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean: 215 Healthy, Vibrant, and Inspired Recipes

by Paula Wolfert

Winner of the James Beard Foundation's Lifetime Achievement Award

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Reference, Food and Drink

429 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Foxthyme · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note: This review will cover four books. The review will be the same in each of those books’ review sections.

I was recently at a Mediterranean/Arabic restaurant that was bursting with flavourful foods. We’re not talking your usual fast food Mediterranean food. We talking herbs, spices, fresh and hot flat breads (pouffed from cooking). I realized that even though I have been using herbs and spices in my cooking, raising a lot of my own fresh herbs, I could be doing a whole lot more.

So I searched on Goodreads and Amazon, and I’ve ordered a number of books. I didn’t focus on one specific region, but ordered those books people rated highly, making decisions based on reviews. For instance, a reviewer noted that The Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean did not have pictures (it indeed has none, except for the cover, as well as a few black and white drawings and small photos), however, the recipes and knowledge the author imparts are invaluable.

I definitely know my go-to books are those with great ‘food porn’ pics and great recipes. So that one doesn’t visually capture or peek my interest. However the author's writing approach and recipe selection are wonderful. I would recommend future editions to include more visuals.

Classic Lebanese Cuisine definitely has pictures. But they remind me of the older cookbook pics you’d get in the 70s. Not well lit. Could look more luscious. However, they still convinced me these dishes are and will be good when I cook them.

The New Book of Middle Eastern Food was very highly reviewed. It does have food porn pics, but only in three sections of the book, so you won’t find pics alongside the recipes. The author includes classic cooking tales and tidbits throughout the book. Quite lovely.

The Arab Table: Recipes & Culinary Traditions, is my favourite book of the four. It has luscious food porn pics in only one section of the book, however, the selection of recipes and the presentation, author's writing style and descriptions just sell this book for me. I’ll be cooking from this book for a long long time.

Just listen to this shortened version of her Parsley Sauce recipe: 1 cup sesame paste (tahini), 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice plus more to taste, 1/2 tsp salt and more to taste, 3 cloves garlic mashed, 1 packed cup of chopped fresh parsley, 1 small tomato peeled seeded and chopped. Mix first three ingredients, add up to 1/2 cup cold water until you reach a consistency of thick cream. Then stir in the garlic, parsley, and tomatoes. Season to taste. She says, she finds this lemony sauce addictive. I am definitely going to make this one. Note to self: Add tahini to the shopping list.

On my list of will be making is Mountain Bread with Zaatar. I love zaatar, a mix of oregano, thyme, sumac (sour), toasted sesame seeds, coarse salt, ground allspice, and caraway seeds (optional). You mix this with olive oil to make a spread that you smooth over the freshly cooked Mountain flatbread. Gorgeous!

Her Oregano Salad? The picture is so fragrant with the scent of this herb it’s inspired me to raid my garden at every meal, adding something to every dish I am preparing. I have quite a variety of fresh herbs to work with, including Italian parsley, 5 varieties or so of thyme, winter and summer savoury, 3 types of oregano, marjoram, cilantro, chives, garlic chives, lovage, angelica, horseradish, French sorrel, 5 types of basil, mmm, I’m probably forgetting a few. Then there are all those great edible flowers, calendula, nasturtiums, pansies, spiderworts. Greens, fresh onions, garlic. Oh, yeah, then all the fruits and vegetables growing like mad.

So if I were to choose only one book, The Arab Table wins dramatically. This summer is going to be a fantastic cooking one with my new best cookbook.

[Illiterate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wolfert favors the Central Asian end of E. Med. cuisine, which isn’t my favorite. She adds nice local color.

[Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wolfert is no novice when it comes to cookbooks on Mediterranean cooking - she's written six cookbooks on the region - but this is the first one dedicated to the topic of slow. She points out in the intro that the book isn't sponsored by the Slow Food movement, but you can't help but notice the similarities - slow cooking, savoring food, an effort to capture the essence of specialties of a region.

Some of the recipes are indeed slow cooked as well - most notably a bevy of braised meat recipes, but also a recipe for an overnight Gorgonzola cheese recipe - but others are downright simple and quick. And many of the recipes have only a few ingredients - a characteristic I associate with Mediterranean cooking, Italian in particular.

While this book may not appeal as a broad based everyday cookbook for all families (not because the recipes aren't well written or good, but because not all kids eat crispy squab, sardines, or okra), it's a wonderful collection of recipes that captures the essence of Mediterranean cooking and the straightforward recipes share the pages with informative commentary about ingredients, sources, techniques and food lore. The mail order information in the appendices helps fill in the gaps of your local grocery selection.

[Deb · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many things I've made from here have turned out wonderfully. Idiosyncratically arranged, sometimes a bit fussy, but many extraordinary recipes -- Georgian, Turkish, Bulgarian, Syrian, etc. Lots of ethnographic details and lore.

[Candace · Rating 5 out of 5]

next to deborah madison, paula wolfert is my culinary guru. i can say, without an ounce of exaggeration, that every recipe we've ever made from this book has been outstanding.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found it at goodwill Clinton Hill for a few bucks. Inspiring the coming winter with home. cooked. meals.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book you definitely should read before going to Greece or Turkey. (Wish I had.) So many delicious recipes from Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Georgia, the Caucasus Mountains and of course Greece and Turkey. The extra bonus with this book is it's almost a travelogue/history book along with some tasty looking recipes. The kabob recipes look so good along with lots of other foods I've never heard of: Kibbeh and Kharcho. Lots of lamb, eggplant, rosewater, walnuts and pomegranate molasses in this cuisine.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book to expand my Mediterranean recipe repertoire. Paula Wolfert proved her worth though her work in Morocco. I am sorry that I haven’t explored the dishes more but that ones I tried were all delicious.

[Patty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great for perusing and drooling…may be beyond the basic cook.

[Mariah · Rating 5 out of 5]

EGGS;
1) WOW, people used to put eggs into the Ashes of a nearly-dead fire for 3 minutes, it would turn the whole inside of the egg creamy.
2) Can boil eggs in the oven for a long time for creamier eggs too?? like, 210C for 5 hrs?? what??

TOASTS;
1) Mushroom brushcetta: beautiful, Umami, deep rich flavor. definitely great for breakfast, appetizer.

APPS:
1) pan-grilled asparagus and oyster mushrooms with garlic puree
super nice, simple. gotta do more stuff like this, more French, pure, simple shit. I don't think this NEEDS oyster mushrooms but it was fun to try them for the first time.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

For years I looked for a recipe for something a deli I used to go to called the "Megaderra Sandwich." I knew it was refried lentils and onions, wrapped in a flatbread, but could NOT find a recipe for "megaderra" anywhere. Finally I stumbled upon the connection between "megaderra" and "megadarra" and "mujadarrah," and also found out that about 80% of the recipes online for any of the above led back to this book--which I had owned for several years at that point and had somehow NEVER OPENED. I don't even know where I got it.

Anyway, I immediately made the megadarra (which was fantastic), and then started enjoying the book. Paula Wolfert's writing about the food and how she got the recipes through her travels is just wonderful; it's truly an education. The recipes are simple and fresh, often made with only a few ingredients, and the salad recipes are especially a treat. There's a whole chapter on kibbeh, which I don't care for, but I know a couple of kibbeh enthusiasts who would probably be as excited about that as I was about the megadarra.

If you're looking for something different than a "Mediterranean diet"-type cookbook, try to find this book. It's a winner.

[Nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really need to try some recipes from this book, which covers primarily Macedonia, northern Greece, Turkey, northern Syria, and the Republic of Georgia. A few call for unusual ingredients, but most would be easily sourced in any decent supermarket. It's probably just fear of the unfamiliar that keeps me from making Zucchinis Stuffed with Bulgur, Tomatoes and Hot Pepper (also includes ground lamb or beef but I suspect you could leave that out for a meatless dish)or Adzharian-Style Green Beans with Cinnamon-Yogurt Sauce (especially now that Greek yogurt is so easily found.)

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite cookbooks. Rich, deep, light, smooth...it's all here.

This is a sophisticated cookbook full of the kind of recipes that nudge you into experimenting with the recipes and making them your own.

[Christie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worth the price (at the Strand, of course) just for the red lentil with caramelized onion soup. The spices required are pretty easily found at Sahadi's, or other import stores.

[Betsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

the best ever cookbook.

[Alison · Rating 2 out of 5]

Looked like a lot of good recipies-just really labor intensive so it wasn't what I was looking for.

[Catherine Woodman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent cookbook with alot of information about the region as well

[Catherine Woodman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love her, and this is one of my favorites

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delicious recipes & lots of healthy yet scrumptious ideas.

[Cindy · Rating 2 out of 5]

A few ideas, but a slow read.

[Ivonne]

34.95

[Yaaresse · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much goodness in here, and it's still a "go to" after 20+ years in print.