Crazy Water, Pickled Lemons [Hardcover]

Diana Henry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 2002

This selection of recipes forms an collection of dishes from lesser explored areas of the Mediterranean, North Africa and the Middle East. Divided into 12 chapters based on ingredients, the author introduces the home cook both to unsual indgredients and to unsual ways to cook with old favourites. Each dish is unusual, either because it uses "exotic" ingredients such as flower waters, pomegranates and cardamom, or because of its unusual use of ingredients, such as "Middle Eastern Orange Cake", made almost entirely of pureed whole cooked oranges. Several dishes are unsual simply because of their names, consider "Ice in Heaven", or the "Crazy Water" of the title.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Diana Henry writes on food for numerous magazines, including House and Garden, Food and Travel, BBC Good Food Magazine and The English Home. She spent 12 years as a TV producer, making high-profile food programmes, most notably with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. Diana also worked closely with Antonio Carluccio on his Vegetable book.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Mitchell Beazley (August 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1840005017
• ISBN-13: 978-1840005011
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,883,868 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, but not out of reach..., December 30, 2007

By 

Sara Roberts "knitter and foodie" (Eureka, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Crazy Water Pickled Lemons: Enchanting Dishes from the Middle East, Mediterranean and North Africa (Paperback)

I bought this book straightaway after thumbing through it. It is what some modern foodies would call pure food porn: there are gorgeous pictures and stories to go with the recipes. One thing I particularly like is that Ms. Henry includes recipes for the condiments such as for preserved lemons and harissa. These items simply aren't available where I live, but I can make them myself for use in the recipes. She also offers reasonable alternatives for many hard-to-find items such as apples or pears for quinces and grape juice/balsamic vinegar mix for grape saba. As another reviewer said, it is not organized in military fashion, but I read cookbooks for fun, so that is no nevermind to me. The comments on the "odd" typeface elude me--I find nothing wrong with it,as it seems no different from other modern cookbook formats. This is a fun overview cookbook for mediterranean cooking that is a good place for new cooks to start exploring these food genres. For the experienced cook it is a fun read and has some off the beaten track recipes.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars So Beautifully Written It Makes Your Mouth Water, January 23, 2008

By 

P. Farrell (Tiburon, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Crazy Water Pickled Lemons: Enchanting Dishes from the Middle East, Mediterranean and North Africa (Paperback)

As a former culinary instructor and chef, I found this book amazing. Not laid out in the traditional fashion, the author takes each chapter to feature one or two ingredients from Middle East cookery, then describes them so beautifully. The information given at the beginning of each chapter is as delicious as the recipes!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars one of my favorites, December 16, 2007

By 

Dinkyknits (Ridgefield, CT) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Crazy Water Pickled Lemons: Enchanting Dishes from the Middle East, Mediterranean and North Africa (Paperback)

I have had this book for years and have made several recipes from it. Yes, some of them are a bit involved, but for a special meal, they make the whole experience of creating the dish special.