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3 February 2004 - Middle East Feast...? I was at the library last week, looking for cake decorating and dessert cookbooks (because I have a problem, okay? Okay.) and I came across a Middle Eastern cookbook that caught my eye (and my stomach, admittedly), so I took it home and read through it a few nights later. It is really quite an informative cookbook -- for someone who knows little to nothing about Middle Eastern cooking and native Middle Eastern ingredients. There are individual sections on specifiic groups of food: basics, meat & fish, fruits, grains, nuts & seeds, herbs & spices and vegetables. Each section has anywhere between three and twenty-four chapters, each about one specific ingredient that falls within that group. My favourite section is the "Flavourings, Herbs and Spices", containing a weath of information on things like Dill, Cinnamon, Coriander, Saffron, Cumin, Nigella (didn't know that was the name of a spice until now!), Thyme and Fenugreek. Each chapter also has at least two recipes which utilise that particular ingredient, that I am looking forward to trying in the near future. Tonight I thought I would attempt my first Middle Eastern dishes for dinner -- hoping to impress S. with my new-found culinary skills ("that you acquired from reading one lousy book", I heard from the peanut gallery). I managed to make a rather nice tasting meal -- from start to finish. Beer Rye Bread (not quite Middle Eastern, but quite good and worked surprisingly well with the tastes and tones of the rest of the meal), Spicy Sausage with Fava Beans and Spinach and Broccoli with Yogurt. Very good and there are even left-overs for both of us for lunch tomorrow; always a good thing. |