Claudia Roden: Arabesque

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Claudia Roden writes of the cuisines of Morocco, Turkey, and Lebanon featured in her new cookbook, Arabesque: A Tale of Morocco, Turkey, & Lebanon (Knopf 2006): Empires have a way of drawing in culinary riches from distant lands, and court kitchens are places of creativity and refinement. Something of the old grandeur and sophistication of their gold ages has passed down into the kitchens of today. (p.3) These are sophisticated cuisines with long histories that include innovations in more recent times. Who better to bring them together, to delineated and compare, than Claudia Roden? She has been writing about Middle East cuisine for over 40 years. It is not easy to encapsulate three great cuisines in one book, but Claudia works hard to do just that with an introduction to each country's cuisine. Take the first section on Morocco as an example. The introduction covers "Tangines, Qdras, and other long-cooked Dishes" (pp. 21-26), Couscous (pp. 26-28), pastry sheets called Warka or brick, and marvelous Argan Oil (p. 31) -- all completely absent from the other two Mediterranean cuisines. Throughout the book are excellent photographs of food, ingredients, labels, and dishes by Jason Lowe and Noel Murphy. Recipes start with homemade preserved lemons, the salted lemons common in Moroccan food. There is a wonderful photo (p. 34) of stacks of lemons and olives in plastic tubs just as you would find in any Middle Eastern store. It is interesting to compare meze (Turkish), mezze (Lebanese), and kemia (Moroccan). All are to whet the appetite and can serve as side dishes for a main, hot meal, or be served together with drinks. There are some similar dishes like Zaalouk or Moroccan Mashed Eggplant and Tomato Salad (p. 42), which shares many ingredients with Imam Bayildy [sic] or Turkish Eggplants Stuffed with Onions and Tomatoes (pp. 168-169) and Batinjan Raheb or Lebanese Eggplant and Tomato Salad (p. 256). It is the subtle differences between these three dishes that make this book so fascinating: the addition of mint to the Lebanese dish, the presentation of the stuffed Turkish dish, and the argan oil in the Moroccan dish. Each country also makes similar cheese pies using various kinds of pastry and fillings — as do the Greeks and no doubt the Southern French and Spanish. However, there are differences that speak to the influences on each culture. The Turkish Peynerli Borek (p. 178), which in Turkey would be made with yufka, not the thinner fillo sheets, or Peynerli Sigara Boregi (p. 176), little fingers of fillo stuffed with feta and green spices, are very similar to Briwat Bil Jban(p. 63), Moroccan pastries stuffed with olives and cheese. Even Sambusek Bi Jibne (p. 178), the Lebanese cheese pastries that use puff pastry are quite similar, though the puff pastry is surely a French influence. As much as some of the recipes may resemble one another, Claudia also includes the great dishes that set each cuisine apart. For Morocco, she includes Bstilla Bil Djaj (pp. 66-67), a chicken version of Morocco's famous pigeon pie, as well as the many tangine dishes like Tangine of Knuckle of Veal with Artichokes and Peas (Tangine Bil Korni Wal Jelban) (p. 103) that would never appear on a Turkish or Lebanese table. It would seem that Claudia favors the desserts of Lebanon and Morocco over Turkey, since there are so few Turkish desserts (though Turks do make excellent sweets -- and not just turkish delight). Many would agree that the Lebanese (and the Syrians) make nut and cream fillo pastries slathered in syrup better than the Turks do. The reason is due to locality: pistachioes of Syria and Lebanon are better those of Turkey. (The hazelnuts of Turkey, on the other hand, are probably the best in the world.) Quality of ingredients makes all the difference. Claudia does include Turkey's Roast Quinces or Kabak Tatlisi (p. 220) as compensation. Oddly the print sometimes reproduces the accents and correct spelling of Arabic or Turkish -- at other times, not. Other than occasional mispellings (and lack of any notes on transliteration), Arabesque is a beautiful book with easy to read print -- and a gold binding. This is a book of authentic recipes presented by a writer who truly loves and knows her subject. The recipe notes are filled with personal reminiscences like this from the recipe for Lamb Stew with Eggplant Sauce or Hunkar Begendi: One legend surrounding the name of the sauce, hunkar begendi, which means "Her Majesty's delight," places it in 1869 when the Sultan Abdul Aziz entertained Empress Eugene (my Istanbul grandmother was a named after her), wife of Napoleon III, in his white rococo palace of Beylerbey on the Asian side of the Bosphorus. (p. 205) Claudia Roden is an intimate and expert guide, and Arabesque is a fine work to help the non-expert sort through the differences between Middle Eastern cuisines. Previous articles: [Cookbook Reviews - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging, cookbooks --> back to Super Chef