“Only a brilliant chef like Ana could have created such a warm and evocative cookbook filled with enticing recipes.” (Clifford A. Wright, author of the James Beard Cookbook of the Year A Mediterranean Feast )“This book beautifully codifies the marvelous dishes I’ve eaten at Oleana, all of which bear her special inventive touch.” (Paula Wolfert, author of The Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean )“A thousand and one nights worth of cooking. . . . Sortun’s recipes are as seamless as her food.” (Los Angeles Times )
This review is from: Spice: Flavors of the Eastern Mediterranean [Hardcover]`Spice, Flavors of the Eastern Mediterranean' by New England chef, Ana Sortum is, behind its faade of being a text on spices and herbs, is really a restaurant cookbook, but done in such an imaginative way that one immediately forgives this little subterfuge. All the recipes are from Ms. Sortum's current restaurant, Oleana or from her previous postings, before starting out on her own and almost immediately winning the James Beard award for best chef in the Northeast.One thing which immediately impresses me about Ms. Sortum, even before reading any recipes, is that she gives ample acknowledgments to four of the leading writers on Mediterranean cuisine, Paula Wolfert, Nancy Harmon Jenkins, Clifford Wright, and Claudia Roden. She has amply repaid all her gratitude to these sages by giving us a book whereby the casual foodie can really appreciate important tastes of the Eastern Mediterranean without wading through, for example, Clifford Wright's monumental study of Mediterranean cuisine.A second thing which impresses me early in my reading is that the author, assisted by ghost writer Nicole Chaison, cites Internet sources for important ingredients directly in the text, rather than having you flip to the back of the book. A minor note worth pointing out is that this is the first cookbook in which I have seen our beloved [...] as a source for cited foodstuffs.A last bit of ephemera to note is that this is an exceptionally well designed book. While there are few color photographs, the warm tans and browns of the fonts, paper, and sidebars, with the old-fashioned ornamentation is the kind of care I usually see from only from Alfred A. Knopf cookbooks. Congrats to Harper Collins for the great window dressing which makes reading the book just a bit more satisfying.By far the most interesting thing which sets this book apart from all other restaurant books I have reviewed is that the recipe chapters are organized by collections of spices, grouping together in a chapter those spices which often appear together in Eastern Mediterranean cooking. While most of these spices and herbs are pretty familiar to those of us who routinely work the French, Italian, and Spanish cuisines, there are several which are never found in Western European cooking, or in Far Eastern cooking either. The most important of these are Sumac, Aleppo pepper, Urfa, Nigella seeds, Fenugreek, Za'atar, and Jasmine.The twelve (12) groups of three, four, five, or six flavors are divided into six spice combinations and six `herbs and other flavors. The seven (7) spice combinations are:Cumin, coriander, and cardamomSaffron, Ginger, and VanillaSumac, Ditrus, and Fennel SeedAllspice, Cinnamon, and NutmegAleppo Chile, Urfa, and PaprikaPoppy seeds, Nigella seeds, and Sesame seedsCurry Powder, Turmeric, and FenugreekThe five (5) other flavor combinations are:Dried Mint, Oregano, and Za'atarFresh Parsley, Mint, Dill, and Sweet BasilOregano, Summer Savory, Sage, Rosemary, and ThymeFlowers: Nasturtium, Orange Blossom, Rose, Chamomile, Lavender, and JasmineNuts, Yogurt, and CheeseThe grouping that may be most familiar to us is the third, the family of `cookie spices', allspice, cinnamon, and nutmeg; however, the author does not limit herself to recipes familiar to us. Most of the recipes even in this chapter are savory rather than sweet. But even the sweet recipes are pure Eastern Mediterranean, such as baklava.In addition to the featured spices, there are several other distinctly Eastern Mediterranean ingredients used, such as tamarind, pomegranate molasses, Grano, Yufka dough, Greek yogurt, and Basturma. Even when Ms. Sortum colors outside the lines a bit and gives us a western Mediterranean dish, the Moroccan Bisteeya, she calls for genuine ethnic makings, in this case, brik pastry (Oddly, Paula Wolfert says brik is a Tunisian and not a Moroccan dish) but the author assures us the dish can quite successfully be made with phyllo dough sheets.Speaking of the Bisteeya recipe, this is the only case where the author (or her design and illustration team) has made a misstep. I only consider pictures in a cookbook really important when they are presented to illustrate a technique, and here, the pictures must agree perfectly with the text. Yet, where Ms Sortum calls for a pie plate in her text, ...
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