Vegetarian Dishes from the Middle East

No pictures but the words make up for it. Well written and crammed with delightful recipes.

A wide ranging collection of vegetarian recipes, from the Caucasus, Turkey, the Arab countries & Israel, and Iran, collected by the late Arto de Haroutunian, who by all accounts seems to have been a very talented chap in a number of fields. We get here not only plenty of classics such as mutabal and imam bayildi, but some very modern and up-to-date dishes too. There are quite a few things here which I have not previously seen in my large collection of middle-eastern cookbooks.This publication has a couple of negatives for me. Firstly the lack of any photography. OK, in a book this size and this many recipes it could end up being an infeasibly large book, but I always like to see what I am trying to make, as well as it being an aid to choosing candidate dishes to make when you are flicking through - appearance is as important as taste for me when composing menus. The latter issue of difficulty choosing easily while flicking through is compounded a bit by the use of a 'quasi-Armenian' font in a light green colour in the recipe titles which is sometimes hard to read.Nevertheless despite my gripes, this is a good resource and a welcome addition to the bookshelf of anyone cooking Middle Eastern food, whether an old hand like me or a newcomer to the region's cuisine.

I can't really add anything new here, but just to second 'girl on a bus' on how the recipes can look so similiar but taste so different. Also like others I'd have loved pictures, and I usually avoid cookbooks with no photos, but even so this book is well worth having. The recipes are no fuss, short ingredients lists and simple techniques, this is everyday coooking but with interesting flavours. I tend to grab this book off the shelf on those days when I think I haven't anything in and somehow I'll find something I can make. It's great for using store cupboard items like pulses and grains and if you only have just one or two veggies in the house then you'll find something to use them in, provided you have a selection of herbs and spices available of course. A useful addition.

We are constantly being harangued about our unhealthy eating habits and being told to reduce the amount of meat we eat. If you look at the recommended government "healthy eating" recipes, they are, for the most part, bland and uninspiring, requiring huge dollops of butter or cream to make them palatable, which rather defeats the purpose.In this book you have the answer to our unhealthy, processed food filled habits. There are lots of inspirational recipes providing a good healthy diet, while conning us that we are actually eating the food for pleasure. Most of them are also cheap and easy to prepare.In addition to the recipes Arto der Haroutunian is as informative and amusing as he usually is.If you are really worried about Christmas excesses, this is the book for you. If you don't need an excuse, buy it anyway.

Surely a book of this type, with all the wonderful colours that the region's food has, is only half-baked without pictures.Print isnt half as appetising as a picture!

I received the book yesterday and wasnt very impressed. very basic recipies, no picture illustration, doesn't look like I want to cook those receipies at all. I have a lot of cookbooks and this one will be left in the back of the cupboard till a learner will find it and dust it off.

Bought as a present, so cannot comment on content, but looks ok.

This book is fantastic. It is packed with hundreds of recipes, split into different sections, such as starters, pilavs and deserts. It covers all courses and gives recipes for bread and pickles as well. I've already made the falafels and several dips, pilavs and salads. I've earmarked many more recipes to try next. In addition to the fantastic recipes the author also details the culture and stories of Iran. The only downside is there are no pictures, but to be honest you don't really need them. This is a great book.

This is a great cookbook of Midfle East recipes that you don’t find elsewhere. I think of they are more home style recipes. Most of the recipes are pretty easy to make, but full of flavor.

Interesting book with some good recipes. It came very promptly after my order .