Product Description
Paperback, 184 pages with color pictures. Printed in or after the year 2006 ... Read more

Product Description
Cookbook, rebound from spiral binding. ... Read more

Product Description
The many countries that make up the area known as the Middle East reflect a cooking style that is extremely varied. Cereals, pulses, fresh vegetables, fruit and yoghurt are used extensively together with much lamb and poultry. Contrasting with this are cakes soaked in sugar-rich syrups, and halvas, very thick, sweet and often crunchy, and served as accompaniments to coffee and tea. No matter whether a soup, part of the very famous mezze table, a main course fish, meat, poultry or egg dish, vegetable accompaniment or a dessert or drink, there are recipes in this book to suit all tastes and occasions. To co-ordinate them, there is a selection of menus to re-create an authentic Middle Eastern atmosphere. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Still using this book after twenty years
I bought this book at my college book store in 1986.I've tried almost every recipe and they're all easy to follow and yield great results.I usually need photos to help me out but this is sothorough they're not necessary.I loan it so often that I'm looking to pick up a few copies for friends.If you want to eat "clean" this is a good place to start and most of the ingredients are available at typical or whole food grocery stores.You can also gain some knowledge about the region, which in today's political climate can't be a bad thing. ... Read more

Product Description
This English translation of al-Warraqs tenth-century cookbook offers a unique glimpse into the culinary culture of medieval Islam. Hundreds of recipes, anecdotes, and poems, with an extensive Introduction, a Glossary, an Appendi and color illustration. Informative and entertaining to scholars and general readers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Annals of the Caliph's Kitchen
Annals of the Caliphs' Kitchens
English Translation with Introduction and Glossary by Nawal Nasrallah


Massive and impressive and marvelous are some of the adjectives that come to mind when attempting to describe this book. For the first time we can hold in our hands an English translation of the complete text of the Kitab al - Tabikh or (Book of Dishes or Book of Cookery) a cookery book by Ibn Sayyr al-Warrq. This means that 600 plus recipes dating from the tenth century are now available. This edition is drawn from and cross-checked through the three surviving manuscripts which are located in England, Helsinki, and Istanbul.

In translation, the work begins on page 65 of this volume and extends through page 519. This results in 455 pages of recipes for dishes ranging from stews, cold and hot poultry dishes, dips and sauces, boiled dishes, porridges, vegetables, fried dishes, roasted kid and other meats, puddings, pastries, confections, and beverages. The text also includes discussions of the utensils needed, the spices, foods for the elderly and very young, the humors, numerous food poems, manners and decorum. Footnotes abound to guide the reader and point out differences between the texts.

The editor and translator Nawal Nasrallah includes a comprehensive introduction, glossary of Arabic to English and English to Arabic terms, an appendix of important people and places mentioned in the text, and works cited. A full range of five sub-divided indexes, including an ingredients index and a separate index for prepared foods and drinks, compliments the text. The medical terms, recipes, and advice are in yet another index.

The only drawback is the price. The work is being sold at139.00 / US$ 195.00. I can report that it seems well worth the price. For those of us seriously interested in food and culinary history, this is a volume to treasure and honor with a place on our shelves.
In her Preface, the editor writes that she was most concerned with accuracy and readability. She seems to have accomplished her aims in this fascinating volume about "this most interesting book."
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