Grub Street Publishing kindly offered to send me another of their newly published cookery books to review and when I was told it was a reprint of a classic book about Middle Eastern cookery I was delighted and didn't hesitate to say, Yes please! I've always loved the food of the Middle East region, which is rich in culinary history and tradition - and, of course, glorious flavours!
Grub Street publish a number of classic cookbooks (click here for link) - Elizabeth David, Constance Spry, Arabella Boxer, etc. - and Arto Der Haroutunian's book Middle Eastern Cookery was a 1980s classic and regarded as a seminal work on the subject. It's been out of print for 20 years and second-hand copies are sold for hundreds of pounds. But now, with this timely reprint, you can buy it for £20.
I say 'timely' for much of our political focus rests on the Middle East at the moment and it's good to read a book that brings together the food of the region into a harmonious whole. The book, writes Haroutunian, is 'a collection of recipes from all over the Middle East regardless of political and geographical boundaries. By which statement I mean the food of the people of the Middle East: Arabs, Armenians, Assyrians, Azerbaijanians, Copts, Georgians, Kurds, Jews, Lazes, Palestinians, Persians, Turkomans, Turks and all the other minorities.'
It's a large, beautiful book but no glossy cookbook - there are no illustrations. The book comes from the era when cookery writers wrote books you wanted to read, not just cook from. Another timely thing was that just before it was offered to me, my son said he'd been telling some work colleagues about my blog and my history of commissioning and editing cookbooks, and that I had a particular love for the traditional type of cookery book that was a 'read', not just some well-known TV chef's collection of recipes (though I do like some of those too!). And sure enough, just opening Haroutunian's book one is immediately drawn into his life and his love of food and the history of the food of his family's region.
Haroutunian has an interesting background. Born in 1940 in Syria to Armenian parents, the family moved to UK and settled in Manchester in 1952, where he later studied architecture at the university. He became a true polymath, finding success in many areas of life not only as an architect - he and his civil engineer brother designed and opened a chain of Armenian restaurants - but also as a cook, restaurateur, artist, author and poet. His London restaurant became a cultural centre with people like cookery writer Elizabeth David, jazz pianist Oscar Petersen and Soviet poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko frequenting it. Sadly, Haroutunian died at the young age of 47 from a heart attack.
In a fascinating introduction to the book, Haroutunian gives us an overall view of the history, geography and people of the Middle East; food in history; social and religious influences; and general features of the cuisine. He describes how the family were in shock when they arrived in UK, finding themselves in 'a vast culinary desert devoid of such familiar vegetables as aubergines and okra, spices such as cumin, sumac and allspice; the honey-soaked, rosewater-scented desserts of our childhood.' However they 'talked at home, of the sun-drenched streets of Aleppo or Baghdad, the rich souks of Alexandria or the fragrance-inflamed bazaars of Tehran', and his mother, 'a remarkable cook' still managed to cook great meals.
The recipes are divided into types of food rather than just the usual courses: Mezzeh, Kibbehs and kuftas, Yoghurt dishes, Pilavs, etc. Each section comes with a fascinating background to the food: Mezzeh 'is the food of the traveller'; soups are often eaten as a meal with bread; eggs dishes are popular and the Ancient Egyptians evolved special hatcheries; Kebabs - cooked meat came with the discovery of fire but much later came the art of marination. Not only does each section come with a history of the food's background, but the recipes themselves are introduced with wonderful histories, details of where the dish originates from and is eaten. Thus, we learn that Potatoes with Yoghurt is a Kurdish dish from Mosul, North Iraq; Hummus-bi-Tahini is a classic of Syrian-Lebanese cuisine and his recipe is one his mother brought over from Syria; Tzvazegh are small omelettes with mint which are traditionally served at Easter and his mother had a special pan for making them. A whole section is devoted to drinks, which includes a recipe for making Pomegranate Syrup; Salori-tan, a yoghurt and prune juice; and lots of tea recipes, from Asal du Kouzbara, a coriander honey tea to Haygagan Tey, a cinnamon and clove tea from Armenia, which is 'recommended for anyone feeling under the weather'. There's a wonderful introduction to coffee - Kahwah, Arab coffee - with a quote of an Arab expression for a relaxing time: 'Let's have a cup of coffee and talk politics.' We learn that Kahwah was originally a poetic name for wine in old Arabic that came to mean a drink made from the berry of the coffee tree (coffea arabica) and was first popularised in the 13th century amongst dervishes and Muslim pilgrims who took the idea of brewing a strong cup of coffee to all corners of Asia and Africa.
A recipe for Stuffed Suckling Pig is popular with the Greeks and Balkan people, and Khash or Paça is a stew made from calf's hooves, tongue and tripe. But if that's not quite your thing, maybe Cholent, a Jewish meat and vegetable casserole or Gormeh Sabzi ba Mahi, an Iranian fish stew with spinach, fenugreek, limes and turmeric is more appealing. For the sweet toothed of us, there's a recipe for Rahat Lokum - Turkish delight; Barazeh Shami - Damascus sesame biscuits; pistachio ice cream and mulberry sorbet.
This is a wonderful book, not only for the range of recipes but the wealth of information that comes with them. It's delightful to read for Haroutunian's passion for the food of his homeland and its history makes it a great read, while the recipes make you want to head straight to your kitchen.
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