A Taste of Palestine: Menus and Memories [Paperback]

Aziz Shihab (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1993

Khadra Shihab, the author's mother, said, when she heard about this book, " This food has made me live long. Insha'Allah (God willing) it will help others live long." Now 104 year old, Khadra lives in a village on the West Bank. She has cooked most of the recipes collected here, recipes that accent whole grains and legumes, olive oil and herbs. In his genial and intimate text, Azis Shihab also shares memories of childhood in the Holy Land when Arabs and Jews found it easier to live as friends.

Product Details

• Paperback: 104 pages
• Publisher: Corona Pub Co (March 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0931722934
• ISBN-13: 978-0931722936
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,595,778 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ever so much more than a simple cookbook..., January 30, 2001

By 

J. Rabideau (Stuck in the Loser State) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Taste of Palestine: Menus and Memories (Paperback)

...this is rather a semi-ethnographic account; the author Aziz Shahab prefaces each set of recipes by providing a story of situation/event (often plural) in his childhood during which or after which the various foods were made. Particularly for those who are looking for an obtainable English-language ethnography of the Palestinain people, this book is an invaluable resource. Shahab paints a most sympathetic picture of his people; though flavoured heavily by nostalgia (as one ought expect, given the background of this work), this account nonetheless meshes ever-so-neatly with the dry, scholarly analyses more broadly available to the American audience.

In addition to its value as an ethnographic supplement (if you are interested in ethnographies, "Before the Mountains Disappear"---Bevor die Berge Verschwinden--- by Ali Qleibo is invaluable...), what of the recipes I have tried are outstanding. The one provided for muhallabia, a sweetened scalded-milk dessert...delightful, I find...imagine almost a hybrid between yoghurt and gulab jamun, the Indian dessert...is particularly excellent. This is a remarkable book...many cookbooks I have come acroos purport to deal with the culture from which the recipes are derived..."A Taste of Palestine" truly does...

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Stories, Great Recipes...A Hidden Treasure, May 5, 2002

By 

Mayflower Girl "amazon-junkie since 1996" (Albany, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: A Taste of Palestine: Menus and Memories (Paperback)

I found this book hidden among the cookbooks of my local bookstore. (I'm here at Amazon to purchase some more copies for my friends.) It is an intoxicating book--filled with stories, recipes, and hope...for it takes you back to a time when, as the author stated, "Arabs and Jews found it easier to live as friends." I was particularly touched by the foreward by Yaagob Yehoshua which spoke of Jews and Muslims being cousins. As for the recipes, they are all delicous! . All in all, this is a success on many levels. If you're looking for more Middle Eastern Recipes, I highly recommend Tess Mallos's "The Complete Middle East Cookbook"...but please don't let this book escape your purchases today.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A True Taste of Palestine, November 17, 2005

By 

HRM Deborah of Israel - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Taste of Palestine: Menus and Memories (Paperback)

This is an excellent bit of storytelling with the added flavor for those who have never tasted food from Palestine to try. What is wonderful about this book, it gives a little bit of a look of what pre-war Palestine was like in the perspective of a Palestinian. Even though he later came to the USA like so many do, returning now and again for visit's with family and friends; he let people in on the one thing that a lot of people can not understand, "the pain of a Palestinian heart during US occupation."