Silk Road Cooking

Silk Road Cooking: A Vegetarian Journey by Najmieh Batmanglij

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
I love, love, love this book! I got it from the library and I fear that I will soon be paying overdue fees as I can't bear to part with it. So far I've made a palow that was absolutely delicious, and I've got my eye on many more recipes. I am fascinated with Central Asia and I really loved the travelogue/ anthropological viewpoint of the book. Plus the author has filled it with delicious stories and quotes from Rumi. I agree with the other poster who said she'd spent more time reading it than cooking!


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Falling Cloudberries

Falling Cloudberries: World of Family Recipes by Tessa'>http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/374416.Tessa_Kiros">Tessa Kiros

My review

I've marked this as 'read' even though I don't own it. I mean, it's very expensive! So, I just look at it in the bookshop over and over and plan to get it from the library soon.
This is exactly the cookbook that I've wanted to write for some time and Tessa Kiros has beat me to it. The recipes are driven by the mish-mash of cultures that she and many people have within their own families (myself included). She gives just enough personal information so that you get a sense of what the recipes mean to her. She illustrates how the various types of food can be representative of many cultures and also of one person's personal culture. We are not all unicultural, in fact, very few of us are so I'm surprised nobody has done this earlier. Especially since food and culture are so intwined. I would recommend this to any modern multi-cultural cook or anyone who is interested in cooking and identity.

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