Tell me what you eat and I will tell you
what you are.
Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
Click on Recipes to Enlarge
Tell me what you eat
and I will tell you what you are.
Thanks to its important geographical position, Mesopotamia (present day Iraq) found itself at the crossroads of the trading route for almost two thousand years. As a result, it acquired new spices and products from far away countries such as India and China and came in contact with the culinary traditions of its close neighbours. More recently, the very long Ottoman rule of almost 400 years (from 1534 till 1918) left an undeniable imprint and helped to enrich its, otherwise simple, cuisine.
Iraqi food is aromatic, robust and spicy – but it is not hot. Herbs and spices such as parsley, mint and coriander; cumin, cinnamon and cardamom; pepper, paprika and saffron are all used extensively - but not chillies. Dates, tamarind and dried limes are favoured for their sweet and sour dishes. Almonds and pistachios are included in most desserts and sweetmeats which are invariably perfumed with orange blossom or rose water.
All Iraqis, whether Moslems, Christians or Jews, ate more or less the same food. Their meals consisted, usually, of bread, rice and some kind of vegetable or meat stew. Some communities had religious restrictions in regards to food and this affected the choice of ingredients and the way a dish was prepared.
This beautifully produced cookery book is a collection of the author's favourite Babylonian and modern Iraqi dishes
with a sprinkling of her own innovation.
Designed in two parts, the book begins with an interesting and informative introduction on Iraqi food followed by a few photographs of ancient Baghdad. A very helpful chapter on how not to ruin your rice is followed by more than a hundred, fully illustrated recipes ranging from simple starters, dips and snacks to more exotic and elaborate dishes fit for a banquet. What is more, most of the exotic ingredients required by the recipes are freely available today in most supermarkets and Middle Eastern Shops.
The second part is dedicated to dishes that Linda Dangoor has adapted, adopted or created inspired by her travels and her Middle Eastern background.
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