Bilhana: Wholefood Recipes from Egypt, Lebanon and Morocco
Tom Verde
Yasmine Elgharably and Shewekar Elgharably.
AUC Press. 2021.
“‘Bilhana’ is an Arabic expression meaning ‘Bon Appetit!’, one that rings out in every Egyptian home. It sums up the Egyptian love of food and gathering to eat, of sharing meals with family and friends.”
—Authors Yasmine Elgharably and Shewekar Elgharably
—Authors Yasmine Elgharably and Shewekar Elgharably
While Middle Eastern cuisine is, by and large, inherently healthful, there is always room for improvement, innovation and adaptation. This creative cookbook of soups and salads, roasts and grills, seafood and sweets, and drinks and more, acknowledges and adopts many current dietary trends and methods. "swapping ... quinoa for rice." for instance. or "baking rather than frying" falafel while folding in classic flavors and spices. "from Lebanon to Morocco." Cauliflower rice (florets ground into bits), like quinoa, offers a gluten-free alternative to rice, dressed with olive oil, lime juice. garlic and parsley. Cardamom and mastic, a distinctive. resiny Arab ingredient "redolent of sunbaked hillsides." localizes a Gwyneth Paltrow-inspired recipe of creamy broccoli soup. Old methods (smoldering charcoal in the oven for seasoned kofta) blend with hip, new flavors (hibiscus popsicles anyone?) in this tempting reimagining of a traditional cuisine.
You may also be interested in...
In the Aftermath of Rome's Collapse, These Communities Shaped the Mediterranean
Three regions of the post-Roman Mediterranean, from 400 CE to 1000 CE—the Latin West, Byzantium and the early Islamic world—are the focus of this work.
The Great British Bake Off Winner Nadiya Hussain Gathers Global Recipes in Culinary Celebration of Ramadan
Nadiya Hussain's diverse recipes highlight the global unity of Muslim cultures and cuisines.
Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature Winner Gives Voice to Marginalized
“No one else will be destined to write a life story as squalid as mine, although it’s all true,” comments the elusive protagonist of Algerian author Ahmed Taibaoui’s noir novel.