Here are 100 books that Zaitoun fans have personally recommended if you like
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Some people travel through food–they seek out authentic foods when they are travelling, visit certain places just to eat their specialties, and travel from their own kitchens when they are at home. This book list is for them. The same has always been the case with me, and I have continued this habit of exploring culture through food in the writing of my own cookbooks. Amber & Rye was the book for which I physically travelled the most, and my partner did all the travel photography too, so it was a family experience.
This is a book you’ll want to go to bed with again and again. It combines travel and food in the most evocative, interesting of ways.
In this book, Eden travels from pre-war Odesa to Istanbul and on to Trabzon, covering the little-known history of the fascinating Black Sea region along the way. You’ll want to cook all the recipes if only to add that extra dimension to your reading experience.
Winner of the Guild of Food Writers' Best Food Book Award 2019
Winner of the Edward Stanford Travel Food and Drink Book Award 2019
Winner of the John Avery Award at the Andre Simon Food and Drink Book Awards for 2018
Shortlisted for the James Beard International Cookbook Award
'The next best thing to actually travelling with Caroline Eden - a warm, erudite and greedy guide - is to read her. This is my kind of book.' - Diana Henry
'A wonderfully inspiring book about a magical part of the world' -…
Some people travel through food–they seek out authentic foods when they are travelling, visit certain places just to eat their specialties, and travel from their own kitchens when they are at home. This book list is for them. The same has always been the case with me, and I have continued this habit of exploring culture through food in the writing of my own cookbooks. Amber & Rye was the book for which I physically travelled the most, and my partner did all the travel photography too, so it was a family experience.
I have always wanted to go to Mexico, and this cookbook takes me there!
This is not a travel book as such, yet it’s sheer size and the amount of recipes it contains means that Mexico feels somehow within reach. This is a bible of Mexican food and a book you will keep coming back to whenever Mexico calls, as I do.
Mexico: The Cookbook is the definitive bible of home-cooking from Mexico. With a culinary history dating back 9,000 years, Mexican food draws influences from Aztec and Mayan Indians and is renowned for its use of fresh aromatic ingredients, colorful presentations and bold food combinations.
The book features more than 700 delicious and authentic recipes that can be easily recreated at home. From tamales, fajitas, and moles to cactus salad, blue crab soup, and melon seed juice, the recipes are a celebration of the fresh flavors and ingredients from a country whose cuisine is revered around the world.
Some people travel through food–they seek out authentic foods when they are travelling, visit certain places just to eat their specialties, and travel from their own kitchens when they are at home. This book list is for them. The same has always been the case with me, and I have continued this habit of exploring culture through food in the writing of my own cookbooks. Amber & Rye was the book for which I physically travelled the most, and my partner did all the travel photography too, so it was a family experience.
Olia Hercules is one of my favourite food writers and a wonderful human being, something that shines through her books.
I could have picked any of her four cookbooks for this list, yet this book feels most like a journey to me. In it, she revisits Georgia and Azerbaijan, countries she had discovered during a childhood journey, and the two narratives are combined with other parts of the “mosaic” that paints a portrait of the region.
It is a heartfelt book with wonderful recipes and atmospheric photographs.
"A sensitive, personal journey expressed through the beauty of food - just wonderful" - Jamie Oliver
"Olia Hercules is a storyteller-foodwriter, and a wholly original voice in the kitchen - there's not a recipe of hers I don't want to cook immediately" - Nigella Lawson
"This is an incredible book - as I began to leaf through I started to smile, and I didn't stop" - Diana Henry
Award-winning cookbook author Olia Hercules takes a culinary trip through the Caucasus—the vibrant region that bridges Europe and Asia —and share the recipes, stories, and striking images of this rich region.
Some people travel through food–they seek out authentic foods when they are travelling, visit certain places just to eat their specialties, and travel from their own kitchens when they are at home. This book list is for them. The same has always been the case with me, and I have continued this habit of exploring culture through food in the writing of my own cookbooks. Amber & Rye was the book for which I physically travelled the most, and my partner did all the travel photography too, so it was a family experience.
This book takes you to a place that not many people will travel to in their lifetime: Siberia.
While it isn’t strictly a food and travel book–the author was born in Siberia, and this is her take on Russian food–it does involve a journey back to the place of her birth. Other journeys also feature in the narrative, as Alissa’s Jewish ancestors undertook many journeys before settling in Siberia.
Read this book if you like to explore the road less travelled.
A collection of delicious modern recipes from Siberia and beyond from the chef and author who founded #CookforUkraine
Salt & Time will transform perceptions of the food of the former Soviet Union, and especially Siberia—the crossroads of Eastern European and Central Asian cuisine—with 100 inviting recipes adapted for modern tastes and Western kitchens, and evocative storytelling to explain and entice. Why not try the restorative Solyanka fish soup (a famous Russian hangover cure), savor the fragrant Chicken with prunes or treat yourself to some Napoleon cake.
In Alissa Timoshkina’s words:
“Often we need distance and time, both to see things…
I’m a home cook, not a restaurant chef. I add a pinch of this and splash of that. As a chronicler of other people's culinary habits, I need to understand why we cook the way we do. At its simplest and most basic, what goes into the ancestral cooking-pot depends on who we are, where we live, and where we come from. Which is why whenever we want to remind ourselves who we are, we look for traditional recipes in culinary bibles produced at moments of change. I was born at a moment of change myself, in bombed-out London in 1941, at the height of the Blitz.
After President Nasser expelled her family along with most of Egypt's Jewish population in the 1950s, young Claudia Douek, art student in London, began to collect memories and family recipes from her fellow refugees.
The subtext is what it means to be a woman - young or old - obliged to create a new life in an alien land. I once asked Claudia why it is that so many cookery writers are of Jewish descent (as am I): "Simple. We need to remember who we are."
A stylish writer with an artist's eye who's also a serious historian, Middle Eastern is the book I treasure not only for culinary inspiration (authenticity guaranteed), but for the accuracy and accessibility of her beautiful prose.
More than 500 recipes from the subtle, spicy, varied cuisines of the Middle East, ranging from inexpensive but tasty peasant fare to elaborate banquet dishes.
As an American living and cooking in Sicily for almost sixty years, I have soaked up Sicilian cuisine and culture both through research and by osmosis, delighting in discovering how the food I was preparing reflected the island’s position in history and geography, a meeting point for almost all the civilizations of the Mediterranean. My first book, a memoir of my life here entitled On Persephone’s Island, was followed by Pomp and Sustenance. Twenty-five Centuries of Sicilian Food, the first book on Sicilian cuisine to be published in English. Six more books on different aspects of Sicilian food and culture, in English or in Italian, have followed.
Sixty years ago when I first started cooking in Sicily, local ingredients were of topnotch quality but very limited variety, so my American cookbooks and food mags were useless. The discovery of Claudia Roden’s book opened up a whole new world: recipe upon recipe with Mediterranean ingredients and delicious results, and fascinating notes on the origin of the dishes, notes that made me want to know more about culinary history.
'Roden's great gift is to conjure up not just a cuisine but the culture from which it springs' NIGELLA LAWSON _______
When it first published, Claudia Roden's bestselling classic Book of Middle Eastern Food revolutionised Western attitudes to the cuisines of the Middle East.
Containing over 500 modern and accessible recipes that are brought to life with…
I'm an ex-pastry chef at Zuma London, current food blogger and creative director at Blondelish.com and YumCreative.com. I cook and shoot food photos and videos for 10 hours a day, almost every day of the week and I wouldn't have it any other way. I consider myself an artist and cooking is an expression of my inner self. I started cooking about 15 years ago as a hobby and within a year I took it to the next level by attending a 1-year class at Southgate College in London and getting my Chef Diploma. Right after that, I landed a job as a pastry chef at Zuma London which quickly transformed me into a pro.
If you want to up your weeknight meal with delicious Middle-Eastern flavors and if you want to learn how to combine veggies in so many delicious ways, then you must read Yotam Ottolenghi's cookbook. He's a true genius of the Middle-Eastern cuisine and probably no other chef can mix unique flavors and simple ingredients as well as he does. While the recipes are truly unique, you'll find that they’re made with simple ingredients in under 30 minutes.
JAMES BEARD AWARD FINALIST • The New York Times bestselling collection of 130 easy, flavor-forward recipes from beloved chef Yotam Ottolenghi.
In Ottolenghi Simple, powerhouse author and chef Yotam Ottolenghi presents 130 streamlined recipes packed with his signature Middle Eastern–inspired flavors, all simple in at least (and often more than) one way: made in 30 minutes or less, with 10 or fewer ingredients, in a single pot, using pantry staples, or prepared ahead of time for brilliantly, deliciously simple meals. Brunch gets a make-over with Braised Eggs with Leeks and Za’atar; Cauliflower, Pomegranate, and Pistachio Salad refreshes the side-dish rotation;…
As an American living and cooking in Sicily for almost sixty years, I have soaked up Sicilian cuisine and culture both through research and by osmosis, delighting in discovering how the food I was preparing reflected the island’s position in history and geography, a meeting point for almost all the civilizations of the Mediterranean. My first book, a memoir of my life here entitled On Persephone’s Island, was followed by Pomp and Sustenance. Twenty-five Centuries of Sicilian Food, the first book on Sicilian cuisine to be published in English. Six more books on different aspects of Sicilian food and culture, in English or in Italian, have followed.
Feast is indeed a feast, served to the eye and the mind as well as to the palate. This Lebanese food writer has traveled from Senegal to Indonesia and to all the Islamic countries in between to gather recipes that are almost painfully tempting, lushly illustrated, and amply annotated. Reading it, one discovers how we in the West impoverish our idea of Islamic food when we equate it only with that of the Middle East.
A sweeping culinary journey across the Islamic world, and a celebration of its most iconic recipes.
A diverse and rich culinary tradition has evolved in every place touched by Islam, always characterised by deliciousness and fragrance, a love of herbs and the deft use of spices.
Anissa Helou's Feast represents an extraordinary journey through place and time, travelling from Senegal to Indonesia via the Arab, Persian, Mughal or North African heritage of so many dishes. This exploration of the foods of Islam begins with bread and its myriad variations, from pita…
I am a Lebanese-born, New York-based Caterer, Chef, and Owner of Edy’s Grocer in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Born and raised in Lebanon, I have a passion for Middle Eastern food, culture, and, cookbooks. Growing up with a grandmother who never wrote one recipe down, it's been a journey to nail each recipe she used to make. When I moved to America, it was so hard to find good Middle Eastern cookbooks. Fast forward to 2024, a plethora of talented chefs have written books to help transport me back to Lebanon, sharing our Middle Eastern cultures, flavors, and heritage in such a beautiful way. I am proud of these cookbooks representing the Middle East.
Rose from Washington DC’s Maydan also takes a deep dive into her cookbook, from growing up in Lebanon and the recipes she grew up with to opening the restaurant and watching it grow.
It’s cool to see that whole journey represented in a cookbook and Lebanese food on display in another beautiful cookbook.
The debut cookbook from Rose Previte, creator of the Michelin-starred restaurant Maydan and beloved Compass Rose, explores bold flavors, accessible, shareable recipes, and overlapping foodways, spanning from the Middle East to North AfricaRose Previte introduces readers to the eclectic cultures of the region spanning North Africa, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East through food, offering a nuanced, informed, and yet entirely warm and personal way in. Before opening her beloved Washington, DC, restaurants Maydan and Compass Rose, Previte traveled old spice trade routes to learn from home cooks, and it became apparent how adjacent cooking traditions informed and folded back…
I am Haniyeh Nikoo, a full-time recipe developer, food stylist, and food photographer.
My passion for food does not stop at my Iranian roots but goes beyond the borders. It is my way of experiencing and learning about the world, cultures, and people. I not only care about how a dish tastes but also how it looks and how it invites you to take a bite and get on a journey of trying something new.
Vegan cooking never looked so appealing to me before reading this book. I’m not vegan, but I love to eat hearty, delicious vegan food if I get my hands on it, and this book is filled with many!
The stories behind how she decided to write the book and the tasteful Mediterranean vegan recipes just opens the door of adding some healthy, flavourful dishes to your diet nevertheless of being a vegan or not.
This cookbook is written with love and passion, and it’s beyond just a recipe
WINNER OF THE OBSERVER FOOD MONTHLY BEST NEW COOKBOOK AWARD
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING COOKBOOK
The Daily Mail Best Cookbooks of the Year 2022
The Independent 10 Best Cookbooks of 2022
Delicious Magazine Best cook books of 2022
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No fads, no frills, just 120 vegan recipes that have stood the test of time from award-winning food writer Georgina Hayden, currently appearing on Channel 4's The Great Cookbook Challenge
Nistisima means fasting food - food eaten during Lent and other times of fasting observed by those of Orthodox faith. Mostly this involves giving up meat and dairy and instead using…
