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« I think I can, I think I can... | Main | Caveat emptor » Tuesday, January 23, 2007A book I want to like
Magda Mehdawy, the stunning author of "My Egyptian Grandmother's Kitchen," watched her own grandmother cook the dishes in this volume. She begins with Egyptian culinary history, writes extensively about cupboard items (legumes, vegetables, spices), even explaining which of these should be refrigerated. And then the recipes start, many with a photograph: boiled tripe soup, crushed broad bean soup, green mallow with poultry, mashed okra with beef, Alexandria-style liver, pintail duck with marta seasoning, bean sprout koshk, lentil fatta, fried vermicelli with sugar. All fascinating, but too difficult to think about making. Everything's in metric measurements! This could be the most amazing book for Americans because we don't know much about this cuisine. Some dishes seem to have a vaguely Turkish flavor. There's bechamel sauce in unlikely places, which is surely English. Instead of oil, many recipes call for ghee, an Indian ingredient. A good editor and a recipe tester could do wonders here to make Medhawy's book user-friendly. Posted by Sheryl Julian at 07:45 PM
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