Cooking the Middle Eastern Way: Culturally Authentic Foods Including Low-Fat and Vegetarian Recipes

72 Pages·2005·4.95 MB·english

by  Behnke

e a s y m e n u e t h n i c c o o k b o o k s
Cooking
c u l t u r a l l y a u t h e n t i c f o o d s
tt hh ee
MIDDLE EASTERN
i n c l u d i n g l o w - f a t a n d
v e g e t a r i a n r e c i p e s
ww aa yy
A L I S O N B E H N K E I N C O N S U L T A T I O N
W I T H V A R T K E S E H R A M J I A N
Cooking
t h e
MIDDLE EASTERN
w a y
Copyright © 2005 by Lerner Publications Company
All rights reserved.International copyright secured.No part
of this book may be reproduced,stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic,
mechanical,photocopying,recording,or otherwise—with-
out the prior written permission of Lerner Publications
Company,except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an
acknowledged review.
Lerner Publications Company
A division of Lerner Publishing Group
241 First Avenue North
Minneapolis,MN 55401 U.S.A.
Website address:www.lernerbooks.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Behnke,Alison.
Cooking the Middle Eastern way / by Alison M.Behnke and Vartkes
Ehramjian.
p. cm.— (Easy menu ethnic cookbooks)
Includes index.
eISBN:0–8225–3288–3
1.Cookery,Middle Eastern—Juvenile literature. 2.Middle East—Social
life and customs—Juvenile literature. I.Ehramjian,Vartkes. II.Title.
III.Series.
TX725.M628B45 2005
641.5956—dc22 2004019658
Manufactured in the United States of America
1 2 3 4 5 6 – JR – 10 09 08 07 06 05
e a s y m e n u e t h n i c c o o k b o o k s
Cooking
c u l t u r a l l y a u t h e n t i c f o o d s
t h e
MIDDLE EASTERN
i n c l u d i n g l o w - f a t a n d
v e g e t a r i a n r e c i p e s
w a y
Alison Behnke in consultation with Vartkes Ehramjian
a Lerner Publications Company • Minneapolis
C o n t e n t s
INTRODUCTION, 7 A MIDDLE EASTERN
History,8 TABLE, 27
The Land and Its Food,10 A Middle Eastern Menu,28
Holidays and Festivals,13
APPETIZERS AND SIDE
BEFORE YOU BEGIN, 19 DISHES, 31
The Careful Cook,20 Chickpea and Tahini Dip,32
Cooking Utensils,21 Armenian Salad,34
Cooking Terms,21 Cracked Wheat Pilaf,35
Special Ingredients,22 Peasant Salad,36
Healthy and Low-Fat Cooking Tips,24 Baked Lamb and Bulgur,38
Metric Conversions Chart,25
MAIN DISHES, 41 HOLIDAY AND
Seasoned Fava Beans,42 FESTIVAL FOOD, 61
Chickpea Patties,44 Red Lentil Soup,62
Spicy Fish Stew,47 Potato Latkes,63
Lentils in Tomato Sauce,48 Lamb in Yogurt Sauce,64
Upside-Down Lamb and Eggplant,50 Chicken in Walnut and
Pomegranate Sauce,66
Stuffed Vegetables,52
Sesame Cookies,69
DESSERTS, 55
INDEX, 70
Persian Nut Pastry,56
Sweet Dates,58
Semolina Cake,59

I n t r o d u c t i o n
The words “Middle East”can conjure up visions of hot sand,bright
blue skies full of sun, and the distant outline of camel caravans
trekking across a horizon hazy with heat. To many people, the
Middle East is a distant,unfamiliar,and somewhat mysterious region
with a history of violence and turmoil.
The region does indeed boast a long,intricate,sometimes violent
history balanced with a vibrant modern culture.To many a hungry
traveler, reader, or local, the Middle East is, above all else, the home
of some of the world’s most delicious cooking. From hearty
Egyptian bean dishes to the rich lamb entrees of Jordan and Lebanon
and the simple pilafs of Armenia, this region’s cuisine offers some-
thing to please every palate. So take a trip into a far-off kitchen to
discover how to cook the Middle Eastern way.
Lamb in yogurt sauce is the national dish of Jordan and is made for special occasions.
(Recipe on pages 64–65.)
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Black Sea Ca
s
pi
a
ARMENIA n
S
Yerevan e
Ankara a
TURKEY
SYRIA
Tehran
Mediterranean Sea
Beirut
Baghdad
LEBANON Damascus IRAN
IRAQ
Jerusalem Persian Gulf
Cairo Amman KUWAIT
ISRAEL Kuwait
City
JORDAN
EGYPT
Doha
RiyadhBAHRAIN Abu Dhabi Gulf of Oman
SAUDI ARABIA
QATAR
Masqat
R
e UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
d
S
e
a
OMAN
INDIAN OCEAN
Sanaa
YEMEN
History
The Middle East has always been a somewhat loosely defined region.
It is centered roughly on the land east of the Mediterranean Sea.
Some descriptions of the area include most of North Africa, while
others extend the region as far east as Afghanistan and Pakistan.
However,the nations most commonly considered part of the Middle
East are Egypt (in North Africa) and Saudi Arabia,Yemen, Oman,
Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Iran, Jordan,
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Israel,Lebanon,Syria,Armenia,and Turkey (straddling southeastern
Europe and southwestern Asia).
These countries represent a wide range of cultures, people, and
geography.Traditions, manners, and landscapes vary from nation to
nation.Yet they also share great similarities and form what is often
called the “cradle of civilization.”This name comes from the fact that
some of the world’s first societies emerged in the Middle East. As
early as about 5000 B.C., settlements had appeared in the area that
became modern Iraq. By about 3000 B.C., early civilizations were
thriving in the area.
Similar cultures arose throughout the region, focused on three
great rivers—the Tigris, the Euphrates, and the Nile.The Tigris and
Euphrates begin in the mountains of Turkey and flow through Syria
and Iraq.The Nile flows through Egypt. For many centuries, criss-
crossing trade routes tied the region together. Merchants carried
new goods—and new ideas—between North Africa, eastern Asia,
and all the lands in between.The region also became the birthplace
of three world religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
The forces of conquest and empire also bound the area together.
Between about 200 and 20 B.C., much of the region fell to the
Roman Empire, a vast power founded in Rome. Later, in the A.D.
600s, the armies of the Islamic Empire began conquering the
region. Founded by Muhammad, an Arab merchant who became
the prophet of Islam, the empire was a great realm that rapidly
rose and flourished in what later became Saudi Arabia. As it
absorbed other lands and cultures, the empire adopted new ways.
Islamic art, architecture, science, and literature grew to be among
the richest in the world.The area was occasionally shaken by con-
flict.This conflict included the Crusades, a series of wars between
the eleventh and fourteenth centuries waged by European
Christians hoping to claim the region and to spread Christianity.
All the same, the empire thrived for centuries. The Ottoman
Empire—centered in modern-day Turkey—emerged in the 1300s
as one of the strongest forces within the Islamic realm. Despite
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