Customer Reviews

Aromas of Aleppo: The Legendary Cuisine of Syrian Jews

5 star:		(52)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Overall, a great effort. The author is clearly familiar with the traditions and customs of the Syrian Jewish community,and her research is very thorough. I would give this part of the book 5 stars. As a member of this community presently serving in the military, it's great to have this book as a resource to prepare dishes for my family when they come to visit.

From a recipe perspective, however, this book is far from perfect, and rates a 3. I consider myself a cook and baker of considerable experience, and after making many recipes from this book, I found I had to stick post-its on many pages with notes such as "too much salt", or "had too much filling left over." It's a bit annoying to follow a recipe to the nth degree and discover you had enough meat left over after making the miniature tamarnid mincemeat pies for a whole other batch, or had enough date filling left after making the date-filled crescents to make another 2 dozen cookies (which I did, by making 1/2 of the dough recipe). I also question some of the ingredient quantities in several recipes - 4 cloves of raw garlic to make a small batch of hummus (15 oz can or fresh equivalent) is too much for even the most ardent garlic lover! I had to make another batch of hummus minus the garlic and add it to the first batch to make it edible.

Several glaring misteps such as these make me wonder if the author actually knows how much of an ingredient should go in a recipe, or if she mostly cooks from experience and does not follow written recipes. Many women who have been cooking for years do this, but when you're writing a cookbook, accuracy is critical.

I'm glad to have this book and it sits prominently on a stand in my kitchen - I just keep my post-it pad handy.

This book is an incredible journy through a cusine and a culture. I love Middle Eastern Food and purchased this book to compare the Syrian Recipes to the Lebanese Recipes that I had grown up wiht. This book provided much more. A wonderful inside look at the Jewish Culture in Aleppo. The recipes are delicious (not much different than what I grew up with, except followng Kosher Laws) and easy to follow. The book has beautiful photography and now sits out in my kitchen counter. A must read for anyone interested in Middle Eastern Foods and cultures.

Growing up in a Syrian community, but marrying a non-Syrian has made it real difficult for a guy like me. Especially since I don't live in the community anymore. I've always missed our traditional foods, but couldn't get the recipes. Then this book came out in time for the chagim! So far, all the recipes that we've made are delicious, just like the best maza out there! If you like Syrian foods, this is really going to put a smile on your face!

This book was recommended to me based on some other Amazon purchases. So, prior to buying, I took it out of the library. It was love at first sight. It is a truly beautiful book--filled with history, stories, and amazing recipes. The first recipe I tried was the chicken with crispy spaghetti. My Egyptian husband wandered out of his office to find out just what smelled so good. :) I haven't had a flop yet. It's quite a large book... coffee table size... but to be honest, I wouldn't change one thing. I love all of the old photos, stories, and history. As a Muslim, I'd like to thank Poopa for accurately portraying Muslim treatment of Jews in Spain and Syria. If you like Claudia Roden's books and recipes, you'll love "The Aromas of Aleppo."

An extraordinary volume of a truly unique and exotic cuisine. This is by far the most beautiful cookbook I have seen - beautiful in appearance, and in spirit. Dweck reveals the secrets of Syrian-Jewish dishes in her time-tested recipes that will leave you and your guests wanting more. The exquisite images make your mouth water. Beyond the recipes and photographs, the book is a great read with Dweck's generous commentary on the ties between food and the cultural traditions of her community. The entire package is top-notch and destined to be the classic volume on this savory cuisine. No food lover should be without it. When not being used in the kitchen, this gorgeous work will be on your coffee table. A magnificent achievement, astounding in its scope, beauty, and execution.

Dearest Poopa,

If you only knew how much this cookbook means to me. It is like being in my mother's kitchen. I have Rae Dayan's book as well. The recipes are mostly the same or similar. But, the beauty of the book is unsurpassed. It is like being in my mother's kitchen with her. How can anyone who has ever had Kibbe Hamda not taste and smell it in the air when they see the picture in the book. My entire family spent hours pouring over it.

The recipes are exactly my mother's. This is a great book. The pictures of the community, of the rabbis, of the food, all take me back to my childhood. I look at the pictures of the rabbis in Aleppo and wonder if one of them could be my paternal grandfather who was one of the last chief rabbis in the region.

Truly, this is a book for anyone who loves good food. It is so much more than a book for someone whose ancestry is of that region. Thank you.

Love,
Susan

The exploration of culinary culture is one of the most effective ways to awaken the uninitiated to both the complexities of other societies and the possibilities for fruitful interaction with them.

What do most Americans know of Aleppo, a settlement founded several millennia BCE and continuously inhabited ever since? Not nearly enough. Also known as Halab, Halep, Alep... the city lies in what is now northern Syria. Jews, Muslims, and Christians have long mingled in what was a provincial capital of the Ottoman Empire. Until recently, in this polyglot and multi-ethnic city, a cultural rival of Damascus, one could find residents representing most of the faiths and ethnic groups of the Near East and eastern Mediterranean.

Surrounded by pasturage supporting flocks and agricultural land yielding nuts, wheat, and olives, the city was a stop for the caravans bringing silk and spices from farther east. Given the ingredients at hand, it is no surprise that the inhabitants of Aleppo expressed themselves as much in the kitchen as they did in the city's esteemed metal, glass, and textile workshops. Aleppo, with its population of Arabs, Turks, Kurds, Armenians, Greeks and other Europeans has long been renowned for the variety and sophistication of its food.

Through their research and documentation of the rich social, spiritual, and gastronomic textures of Aleppo's Sephardic community, Poopa Dweck and Michael J. Cohen have succeeded admirably in presenting and preserving a culture through food.

Sadly, most of Aleppo's specifically Jewish dishes are now to be found only in the diaspora of Aleppian Jewery. Middle Eastern political tensions over the past 60 years have caused virtually the entire community of Syrian Jews to emigrate. Aleppian Jews are scattered from London to Latin America. In the US, where large communities reside in Brooklyn, NY and New Jersey, they, like immigrants before them, live amidst other ethnic and religious groups, and use food to maintain their distinct identity. And what food!

While one cannot claim that a Druse, Armenian, Turkish Sufi, or Maronite Christian would never serve roast chicken with lamb-stuffed eggplant or that only a Jew would make a bulgur and walnut salad with tamarind extract, the ingredients and techniques of such dishes drop big hints and speak volumes about communal identity. And that's most evident in the recipes reflecting kashrut, Jewish dietary law, to which the Aleppian community is strictly adherent. Thus, the rice dishes rich with sheep's milk butter won't be prepared by observant Jews if they are serving their pilaf with meat; Aleppian Jews would make theirs with vegetable oil.

There's a wealth of general Middle Eastern culinary information here: well-photographed and detailed instructions for making string cheese with nigella seeds and recipes for candied eggplants with cloves, pistachio-studded Turkish delight, and sesame halvah. In both Syria and the US, most Aleppians would never make these things at home, but would buy them from specialty shops. Apparently the authors are leaving nothing to chance: they've seen their parents' generation leave home, and that's enough to make them meticulously list and document what the immigrants managed to bring with them.

Some dishes, like sliha, a concoction of wheatberries with pomegranate seeds, nuts, and coconut served to celebrate a baby's first tooth, are occasion-specific. Arcane, but easily made, it's safe to say that sliha is probably something that would be lost were it not for the efforts of the authors.

The production values of this hefty tome are exceptional. With its lush graphics, fascinating archival photos, and luxurious contemporary food styling, the book is--in a word--gorgeous.

For many, the very idea of Syrian Jewish food may seem recherché, but the recipes, simple and clearly written, yield extraordinary results.

Syrian or not, Jew or gentile, for anyone who seeks to learn more about the Middle East and its culinary legacy, this would be a wonderful present.

Through what has clearly been a labor of love, Poopa Dweck and Michael Cohen have created something of permanent value, not only to their community, but to anyone who knows--or wants to learn--the power of sharing food. And if our world ever needed that power, it needs it now.

With the fragrances of garlic, mint, lemon, saffron, allspice, and rose water--Aromas of Aleppo could literally bring a lot of people to their senses.

holly (at) hollychase (dot) com

Aromas of Aleppo is a beautiful book. It is a pleasure to read and a fine addition to a library. However, I would not advise cooking from it. I am an experienced cook with a passion for Middle Eastern cuisine and, even so, I have had tremendous difficulty making good food from her recipes. Recipes often lack sufficient seasoning and the cooking times always seem off.

If you ant a specialty cookbook about Aleppan Jewish cuisine, I suppose this is your only option. However, if you are looking for a Middle Eastern cookbook, I recommend Claudia Roden's works.

The pictures in the book tell you everything you need to know: the food is beautiful, but a lot of the work is probably done by children and domestic staff.

I am not Jewish, but after picking this up, in some ways I wish I was, if only for the traditions that seem so tied to the culture. As a cookbook, it has some unique recipes for some of the basics, but also brings to light many traditional foods that I really have not come in contact with. And I am quite the foodie, so this is fun to find new meals. Also, as the owner of many, many cookbooks, I find that I am more selective now about the ones that add to my collection. One requirement is the abundance of pictures, since it is no fun for me, no matter how good the recipes, if there aren't lots of pictures to whet the appetite. No pics, no deal for me. The many full-size color pics fit the bill and definitely inspire me a bit to try some new foods.

I grew up in the Syrian Community and love these classic Syrian recipes. Now that I have established my own home and do all the cooking myself, this book stands as a guidance for all my favorite recipes. Its not just a cookbook to cook from, you can also just curl up on the couch and you'll get entranced by the history, stories and pictures. Really a masterpiece and I highly recommend it!!!