Those who recall Beirut's heyday before the Lebanese civil war brought it all crashing down speak fondly of the city's lively beaches, its cosmopolitan atmosphere, and the multiple culinary traditions intersecting at the Mediterranean's eastern shore. Arabs, the French, Armenians, and Maronite Christians contributed to the melting pot that was Beirut. Uvezian grew up in the city's halcyon years, and she has re-created the recipes for foods she so happily recalls. Spices play a major role in Lebanese cooking; cinnamon and allspice add fragrance to both meats and vegetables. Lamb is the meat of choice, but beef makes a good substitute. Pork appears only in Maronite dishes. Vegetables come to the table lukewarm, reflecting a pan-Mediterranean tradition as well as sparing the cook exertion during the heat of the day. Those wanting to reproduce Uvezian's recipes may find some staples such as pomegranate molasses hard to find, but most ingredients appear in large supermarkets.
Mark Knoblauch
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
"Sonia Uvezian's family had for generations operated a caravan from southern Anatolia to Beirut. In this handsomely produced and well-illustrated book, she covers every aspect of the cuisine of Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, but draws particularly on her youth in Beirut, then a place of great sophistication and plenty, and the family's summer house and garden in the Bekaa Valley...Uvezian recalls hard-working summers in the Bekaa, with all the pickling and preserving to be done, but there are also lyrical descriptions of bicycling through vineyards and orchards and stopping to savor freshly caught and grilled trout at a local restaurant. A leisurely feel prevails throughout this evocative book, which puts the cuisine in the context of the culture, and at the same time gives simple, straightforward and practical recipes demonstrating the variety and richness of the ingredients." --
Rosemary Butler-Cole, The Times Literary Supplement (London), March 16, 2001"The author, originally from Lebanon, has already acquired an enviable reputation for good writing on food (for example
The Cuisine of Armenia)...Drawing on her recollections of food in the Eastern Mediterranean, and digging deep into the extensive literature of travelers in the region, she has produced a book which I have found quite irresistible. There is a wealth of recipes, skillfully embedded in their historical contexts. The illustrations (many of the 19th century) are evocative and the quotations from a wide variety of sources constitute one of the best collections I have ever seen in a book about food...An exciting journey for which one could wish no better guide." --
Alan Davidson, Petits Propos Culinaires, April, 2000"Sonia Uvezian is one of the world's leading experts on Middle Eastern and Caucasian cuisines and the author of several works on the cookery of Armenia and the Caucasus.
Recipes and Remembrances could very well be the seminal work on the cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean and fills a long-standing void of scholarly works on the subject...It is a title that should reside in the collection of every serious cook or culinary historian. The research and work that went into the production of this entertaining and informative cookbook is astounding. But the true prize of
Recipes and Remembrances is the range and depth of the incredibly delicious food the hundreds of clearly written, easy to follow recipes will produce." --
Mick Vann, the Austin Chronicle, November 26, 1999"The incredible research that has gone into this book by well-known author Sonia Uvezian makes it as much a history book as a cookbook...A wondrous addition to any cook's library." --
Ginger Johnston, The Portland Oregonian, December 11, 2001"A full array of dishes known and unknown to Americans...From clotted cream to pomegranate sauce, tabbouleh, and baklava, the recipes are entwined with history, both ancient and modern, as well as cultural and geographical influences." --
New Orleans Times-Picayune, October 5, 2000"This highly original cookbook offers a complete spectrum of culinary delights. In addition to hundreds of superb recipes, it includes illuminating essays on a variety of topics ranging from hospitality and meals to ingredients and utensils." --
The Midwest Book Review, November, 1999"This is an important and valuable addition to the Middle Eastern cooking shelf, full of informative short essays on such topics as hospitality and pomegranate molasses as well as hundreds of recipes, some unusual, that readers have praised very highly...But it is the anecdotes, proverbs, quotations from old travel accounts and, above all, the author's commentary that account for the nostalgic charm that may be this book's greatest virtue." --
Aramco World, March/April, 2000Recipes and Remembrances from an Eastern Mediterranean Kitchen...is an indispensable resource for the food of Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. History plays a large part in the text, the scholarly research has left little out and the collection of recipes with extensive background notes makes it a thoroughly useful book." --
Laurine Jacobs, cuisine.co.nz, 2003"A masterpiece! This first and last word on eastern Mediterranean cooking is sure to become a classic." --
Kerri Katz, booksforcooks.com, Fall, 1999
"This handsomely produced and well-illustrated book...puts the cuisine in the context of the culture... Lyrical...evocative...practical." --Rosemary Butler-Cole, The Times Literary Supplement (London), March 16, 2001
