Customer Reviews

Mama Nazima's Jewish Iraqi Cuisine

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In Mama Nazima's Jewish-Iraqi Cuisine, Rivka Goldman presents her memories of the culinary traditions of an ancient land that saw historical influences from the Mongols, the Turks, and India affect and enhance Iraq's ethnic and traditional cuisine among the Jewish-Iraqi community. More than 100 healthy family recipes have been compiled with dishes ranging from salads, to side dishes, to main entrees, to desserts. Each unique recipe comes accompanied by stories of friendship, loyalty, persecution, escape, exile, and celebration. From Feta Cheese and Onion Salad; Brown Eggs and Vegetables; Sweet-and-Sour Okra with Meat; and Semolina Dumplings with Zucchini; to Quince Stuffed with Meat; Rice and Lentils with Cumin and Garlic; Iraqi Pita Bread; and Candied Almond-Coconut, Mama Nazima's Jewish-Iraqi Cuisine is a superb addition to any personal, family, or community library regional/ethnic cookbook collection.

It's great to finally see a book that documents Jewish Iraqi cuisine. (The only other one I have come across was "The best of Baghdad cooking, with treats from Teheran" by Daisy Iny but that is no longer in print...)

I made a couple of the recipes in this book. They were easy to follow and came out wonderfully. My ancestry is from Bagdad and the spices used there are a little different from those used in this book. But, I enjoy this book very much. The recognition of our foods and history is much appreciated.

This book is phenomenal. Rivka Goldman's amazing stories combined with her knowledge of middle eastern cuisine is priceless. The food is SO delicious, and so healthy! The stories told throughout this book are beautiful and inspiring. I am so glad my friend recommended this book to me -- it is worth its weight in gold.

This book brought to life my grandmother's kitchen that I thought may have been lost with time. The nostalgia and palate has since loved this book. Only one complaint is that it is too wet. In general, you have to decrease the amount of water and wet foods (i.e. tomatoes) that the recipes call for, and once you do, they are perfect.

My wonderful "adopted" aunty, an 80-year-old Iraqi Jewish lady from Baghdad, was delighted to receive this book as a gift. She has been inspired to try out some of the recipes of dishes she has missed eating since her sister, a fabulous cook, passed away.

Wow! What a cookbook!!! It has great authentic Iraqi recipes. Rivka Goldman's personal stories about her families life and times in Iraq and Israel are worth the price of this book alone.
You get first hand historical insight and recipes too--well worth the purchase!!!

I bought this for a friend's mother for Rosh Hashanah last year. She's Jewish by marriage (I'm strictly a Protestant goy), but says the Jewish Iraqi dishes are authentic. It's hard to find Sephardic Jewish cookbooks, but she says this is a great one and has all the recipes her late mother-in-law made for the family.

The book has many recipes and honestly we enjoyed it, my girlfriend said it was very easy to follow for an american reader. Only thing i did not understand was the history part of that book, i mean if you would buy a cook book you would expect a recipe book. Overall we happy with it, thanks :)