Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsEasy, flavorful, delicious recipes - I love this cookbook!
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 21, 2023
I bought this cookbook on a whim. I’d heard good things about it and added it to by wishlist. I have family that live in Israel, and tend to really enjoy food from that general part of the world - Lebanese, Turkish, Persian, Israeli, the Caucasus, North Africa. I noticed the price was reduced and decided to buy it. I am so glad I did.
I received this book 8 days ago, scanned through the recipes, and went out to buy some lamb, grains, and fresh veg/herbs on the weekend. I always have the spices, Greek yogurt, labneh, and oils in stock in my kitchen. So far I’ve made the braised eggs with lamb, tahini, and sumac (pp. 205; the turkey & zucchini burgers with green onion & cumin (pp. 200); the lamb meatballs with barberries, yogurt & herbs (pp. 199); the conchiglie with yogurt, peas & chile (pp. 111); and couscous with tomato and onion (pp. 129).
All the recipes I’ve tried so far are wonderful: they are flavorful, healthy, and easy to make. I noticed a few reviews mention the recipes have a “lot” of ingredients, but that seems to be mostly spices and herbs that are easily found at a middle eastern market or Asian market. Regardless, the recipes I’ve made so far have been simple to cook. The recipes really require that you do all the prep, measuring, and staging of ingredients before you start cooking and getting into that practice as a habit, in my opinion, makes cooking more pleasurable/less stressful anyhow. One other recommendation that I have is to weigh the ingredients when a weight is provided, for better accuracy. When I made the turkey “burgers” — they’re really more like small parties or oblong meatballs — I used a “large zucchini” as specified, but didn’t weigh it. The zucchini I used made the mixture a little too wet, even after I gently pressed some of the liquid from the zucchini. Since I purchased two, I decided to weigh the second one, which was similar in size to the one I used and it weighed several grams more than the recommendation in the recipe. Lesson learned! However, the recipe was forgiving of my mistake: I simply baked the patties a little longer than stated and they came out deliciously moist and flavorful. Each recipe has filled my home with such a delicious smell as I’m cooking. My family has loved every single dish and has asked for each to go into rotation, which is a rare occurrence in this house.
I can’t wait to try more of the vegetable dishes and some of the “stuffed” dishes. I appreciate the organization of the cookbook and the information the authors share about each dish, it’s ingredients, and variations / substitutions. Truly, this is one of the best cookbooks I’ve ever purchased and I’m so happy I did. I would like to buy some of the other Ottolenghi/Tamimi cookbooks, as I am sure they will be just as good. Thank you, from this adventurous home cook. 💕 I attached a photo of my attempt at the braised eggs with lamb, tahini, and sumac. I’d gotten a phone call while cooking and accidentally steamed the eggs a little too long, but it didn’t affect how amazingly delicious the dish was. I can’t wait to make it again.
