Customer Reviews (1)

Very helpful
I used this book for a report on southern cooking and cultures, and it helped me a lot.The recipes were good, but I really liked the information he provided about his family and lifestyle before each chapter.My only disappointment was that they weren't long enough!! ... Read more

Product Description
Come and discover the rich and sultry blend of meats,tropical fruits, vegetables, grains, spices and oils that served asthe foundation of West African life for centuries.The history ofthese lands is as rich as the spicy food.Learn about ancient empiresand the origins of modern nations as you choose from a selection of120 tempting dishes.You can create these exotic foods in your ownkitchen no matter where you live.Whether you are rediscovering WestAfrican foods or experiencing them for the first time, the authorguides you through the ingredients and recipes with clear, easy steps.This book contains 70 full-colour photographs, sources and tips forbuying tropical foods, a bibliography and an index.You can beginyour journey today! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

excellent recipes
I'm a personal chef in the U.S. and have a client from Nigeria who wanted some West African food.Borrowed this book from the library, have made a few dishes which were delicious, and will make more.Well written and adapted to American cooking techniques (vs some recipes I found on the internet used the same ingredients but were poorly written / difficult to follow.)The best print resource on West African cooking I've found thus far.Am planning to purchase a copy for my own cooking library.

A Terrific Gift
If you are, or you have friends or family who are collectors of exotic cookbooks -- especially African -- then South of the Sahara is a terrific gift! It was my pleasure to receive a copy from the book's publisher toreview for my African Cultures site at About.com. In addition to great,authentic West African recipes, the book contains valuable informationabout the various foods and sources where you may purchase the ingredientscalled for in West African cooking.

love this cookbook
We are Americans residing in Ghana and received this book as a gift-the recipes faithfully recreate the food we find in the markets and chop bars.Its a book we'll carry and use in all our future travels.

Recommended
Good food, beautiful pictures of some of the dishes and of Africa, and easy to follow recipes.

Great cookbook!
This is one of the better cookbooks out there.The instructions were easy to follow during cooking and there is plenty of good information about the ingredients.I liked that there were color photos of a lot of the dishes,as well as a map and pictures of West Africa. ... Read more

Product Description
Fifteen years in the making, this book emerges as a new approach to presenting culinary information. It showcases a myriad of sumptuous, mouth-watering recipes comprising the many commonalities in ingredients and methods of food preparation of people of color from various parts of the globe. This powerful book traces and documents the continent's agricultural and mineral prosperity and the strong role played by ancient explorers, merchants, and travelers from Africa's east and west coasts in making lasting culinary and cultural marks on the United States, the Caribbean, Peru, Brazil, Mexico, India, and Southeast Asia.

Groundbreaking in its treatment of heritage survival in African and African American cooking, this illuminating book broadens the scope of cuisine as it examines its historical relationship to a host of subjects--including music, advertising, sexual exploitation, and publishing. Provocative in its perspective, The Peppers, Cracklings, and Knots of Wool Cookbook dispels the long-standing misnomer that African cuisine is primitive, unsophisticated or simply non-existent, and serves as a reference in understanding how Africa's contributions continue to mark our cuisine and culture today. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Eradicates the perceived myth of inferior African cooking
As a fan of ethnography and food folkways, I found this book interesting.The first thing that jumped out at me was the author's note of thanks to Embassies of Laos, Peru, and India... Intriguing?African cuisine migrated to India? To Laos?The second thing that jumped out at me was the first recipe, which called for "egusi seeds."No worries - there is nearly 100 pages of glossary, sources of ingredients, and bibliography.The third thing that you notice is the author's penchant for railing against those Eurocentric writers who discredited African foodstuffs and cuisine, and denied the Africanism of Egypt and the Olmecs.Even if you never prepare a single recipe, this book serves as a source of African culinary and social history.Nearly every recipe is followed by a bit of history and the story of African migratory influences.Chapter 1 focuses on "Eastern Ethiopians" and Dravidians (the Southern Indians including speakers of Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada) -- participants in the lucrative spice trade for centuries. Highlights for me included "Mississippi Masala Rice"; "Sesame Yam Patties"; "Doro Wat", a chicken in pepper sauce; and "Lamb and Beef Dar Es Salaam" with 7 spices and 3 meats.Chapter 2 is on the Sons and Daughters of Kambu, or those Ethiopian-Indians who migrated and influenced Southeast Asian, Khmer,and Cambodian societies.While highlighting the similarities in certain rituals in Southeast Asia and Africa, the recipes include: Spicy Fish in Peanut Sauce, Afro-Khmer Shrimp and Spicy Rice, Black-Eyed Spring Rolls, and Khmer Sweet Black Eyed Peas (like Hoppin' John, it reminded me of the film "Catfish in Black Bean Sauce").Chapter 3 is on "Peppers, Cracklings, and Knots of Wool" or African cuisine found in Mexico and Central America.The "knots" refers to African hair.While the author discusses African influences, as well as an Almec-Africa connection, her recipes include: Masar Spicy Roasted Turkey; Yam and Plantain Fruit Pudding; Balimaya Pek Corn Dumpling Stew; andHunabqu Omon Corn and Masa Soup.Chapter 4 presents the story of Africa in Peru and the highlands, titled "Zancu, Sweet Potatoes and Beer."Recipes include: Garden Patties with Onion and Cassava Cream Gravy; Zancu; and Yugeno (a cocktail known as the Peruvian blowdart).Chapter 5, titled, "Body and Soul" The Miscengenation of Cuisine and Culture in Brazil and Cuba," focuses on Brazil and Cuba, while Chapter 6 focuses on America, Haiti, Maroon settlements, and other Caribbean islands.The author, fond of cakes since childhood, include several cake recipes including a Chocolate Coconut cake and a Coconut Cake."Brazen Tomatoes" will catch your attention. I enjoyed the final two chapters the most.Chapter 7 is a study of the migration of the African American cooks from the American South to the North of the country, and Chapter 8 is titled "Flapjacks and Blue Notes."Recipes include those for dinner rolls; smothered steak; Dr. Carver's peach leather; Booker T's fried chicken; lamb chops in thyme and mushrooms; and a very large variety of flapjacks.

A serious book a bit out on a limb
In American colonial and antebellum literature there are many references to the black slaves' "natural genius" for cooking. At the same time, cookbook writers and other gastronomic experts state that Africans had no culinary traditions or cuisine of their own; they learned it all from contact with Europeans. There is a contradiction here. It is this book's goal to document African cuisine and especially to demonstrate the unacknowledged and unappreciated African influence on culinary traditions outside of Africa.

Of course, "The Peppers, Cracklings, and Knots of Wool Cookbook" has chapters on African influences in the cuisine of the Southern U.S., the Caribbean, and Brazil. It should be obvious that the food traditions that came to the Americas with enslaved Africans had a significant effect. (Should be obvious, though is still unacknowledged and unappreciated.)

What is surprising and a bit controversial is Spivey's hypothesis of African influences in ancient times in the Americas and Asia. Spivey takes it as a given that Africans sailed to and traded with the Americas in ancient and medieval times. The real extent of this contact (if any) and its effects on cuisine may be lost to history. At this time, most scholars are unconvinced -- however, this could change with time.The question remains:When there are similarities in the cuisine Mesoamerican people and West African people, is it may be due to specific historical contact between the two? or it could also be a case of two separate cultures making the best possible food in similar environments with similar gastronomic possibilities?Spivey clearly prefers the former and ignores the later.There is the need for more research here; this book is just getting the ball rolling. (The possibility of Old World peoples visiting the Americas before Columbus is well presented in "The Diffusionists Have Landed" in "The Atlantic Monthly" magazine; January 2000.)

Spivey's book is also part cookbook, and the recipes are excellent. It should be mentioned that these recipes are more based-on-tradition than actually traditional. In some cases it seems that Spivey invents recipes based on the theory of historical contact between African and non-African cultures. For example, "Chocolate Lamb and Beef Sauce" which combines the African peanut-stew and the Mexican molé sauce traditions. Does Spivey believe that ancient Africans made this after their voyages to America? Is there any historical text that mentions such a dish?Or did this recipe come into being with her book? Either way, it sounds delicious.

Try the Coconut Cake
It's a fine book.As a rank amateur & no Africanist, (with little reading in the African diaspora), I'd say it was swell in its coverage.As a cook, though, sometimes I think she uses too much coconut cream in therecipes.Surely it's not available everywhere.But (I say as someone whohas no particular liking for cake) you have never, never, never in yourlife had such a coconut cake.

AfricaHas Finally Been Placed on the Culinary Map
It's about time that Africa has been placed on the culinary map.I always knew that Africa had influenced other peoples but to learn about Africa's culinary and cultural connection to Southeast Asians, Mexicans and othersis simply a revelation (one such revelation was learning that ancientCambodians wore their hair in cornrows and ate black-eyed peas!). I willnever read another cookbook without comparing it to "The Peppers,Cracklings, and Knots of Wool Cookbook."It is revolutionary inconcept and content.This book not only offers great recipes, but it isalso a great source for African and African American history and insight ona number of issues.No cookbook I have ever read has inspired me more thanthis one.I highly recommend this book, not only to avid cooks, but alsoto avid readers of history as well."The Peppers, Cracklings, andKnots of Wool Cookbook" should be mandatory reading from now on foranyone attempting to write anything on African culinary history.

Glorious African Cookbook
After first buying a copy of the Peppers, Cracklings and Knots of Wool Cookbook, reading parts of it, and trying several of the recipes, I bought a second copy.One copy goes in my kitchen forever!The recipes arefabulous taste treasures that defy adequate description.My family and Isimply could not believe how good these meals taste.I did have to searchat findng some of the ingredients to the more intricate recipes.The endresults were well worth any effort.Since I tend to make a huge mess whencooking and my cookbooks suffer from it, I decided that I needed a secondcopy of the book.The second copy now occupies a prominent place on thebookshelves in our family room. ... Read more

Product Description
Sallie Ann Robinson was born and reared on Daufuskie Island, one of the South Carolina Sea Islands well known for their West African-influenced Gullah culture. With this cookbook, Robinson highlights some of her favorite memories and delicious recipes from life on Daufuskie, where the islanders traditionally ate what they grew in the soil, caught in the river, and hunted in the woods. Includes 75 recipes and 25 folk remedies. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Yum and fun
I can't decide what I like better, the mouth watering recipes or the delightful stories.Sallie Ann brings to life a rich culture and community so rare and fast fading.Fortunately, even today on Daufuskie slave descendents own vast tracts of land, the First Union African Baptist Church conducts worship each Sunday, roaming chickens cluck alongside goats, and dozens of original Gullah cottages remain (some with haint blue trim to scare away spirits).If you can't experience this island first hand, at least find yourself a favorite recipe and sit out on the front porch to enjoy it and one of Sallie Ann's stories!

Cooking the Gullah Way
Loved this book.It holds alot of history and good cooking.This is of course strickly Gullah cooking and not just good ole southern cooking.Great addition to collection.

Sallie Ann Robinson's Food for the Mind, Body, and Soul

Celebrity Chef Sallie Ann Robinson, a native of the famous Sea Island known as Daufuskie Island located just down theSavannah River between the coasts of South Carolina and Georgia, has made guest appearances on numerous cooking shows and been profiled in such publications as the 2005 Old Farmer's Almanac, Southern Living, and National Geographic. In COOKING THE GULLAH WAY, MORNING, NOON, AND NIGHT, her book of highly appealing regional recipes and personal memoir, Robinson goes beyond writing about her native Gullah culture to honoring, sharing, and preserving its customs and dialect with the kind of affectionate familiarity, and certainty of knowledge, that only a fifth-generation daughter of the island could possess.

There are many levels on which to appreciate Cooking the Gullah Way. Lovers of exceptionally good food might justifiably desire to simply roam through its pages, pick out favorite recipes, and feast on their findings. Yet the recipes themselves often provide more than satisfying pleasures for the palate simply by virtue of names that reflect Robinson's coastal heritage sensibilities. Imagine, for example, a filling breakfast of the author's "Gullah Bacon Corn Muffin" with a side dish of "Sassy Strawberry Preserves"; a lunch featuring "Sallie's Seafood Spaghetti" with "Yondah Black-Eyed Pea Soup"; or a dinner of "Grilled Fresh Vegetables," "Local Sea Island Country Boil," and "Country Candied Yams with Raisins" all washed gently down by your choice of "Soothing Sassafras Tea," "Ol' Country Lemonade with Orange," or a homemade wine such as "`Fuskie Backyard Pear Wine." Such mouth-watering teasers defeat all attempts at resistance.

However: a major special feature in Cooking the Gullah Way is Robinson's chapter on "Gullah Folk Beliefs and Home Remedies." As the author writes, "Those times living on Daufuskie without a television or radio to inform us about the weather made us wiser as we learned nature's ways."

Chapter sections on "Living with Nature" and "Sea Island Folk Beliefs" offer notes of real interest for students of southern culture and history. Moreover, in these days of economically challenged households, the section on "'Fuskie Old-Fashioned Home Remedies" offers possible alternatives and/or supplements to medicines for the treatments of a variety of ills. Everything from asthma and earaches to high blood pressure and toothaches is covered with a note of caution to first, "learn about any remedy and be aware of the good and bad sides of it."

If the winning recipes and folk remedies make Cooking the Gullah Way a homemaker's dream companion book, the down-to-earth wisdom and observations shared through the interwoven stories make it a delectable choice for the general reader as well. We smile with appreciation as Robinson's "Pop" explains that in the morning when he calls out, "Off and on it!" to his still sleeping family, the phrase means for every able body to "Get off ya backside and on ya feet." And we nod with humored enlightenment when he points out that, "A heap may see, but only a few knows"--meaning that seeing is not necessarily synonymous with understanding. With that in mind, what we need most to understand about Cooking the Gullah Way, Morning, Noon, and Night, is that this book delivers as much delicious nurturing for the soul as it does nourishment for the body.


by Author-Poet Aberjhani
author of The American Poet Who Went Home Again
and Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance (Facts on File Library of American History)
... Read more

Product Description
Enjoy more than 200 traditional African-American recipes!This remarkable volume is the ultimate African-American cooking collection, with time-tested recipes for everything from beverages to soups and salads to main and side dishes to breads to desserts.And, the African-American Heritage Cookbook is more than just a recipe collection.It also features personal vignettes, pictorial accounts, literary passages, and poetry combined together to honor a notable American landmark—the Tuskegee Institute, founded by Booker T. Washington.You’ll learn to make such delectable, traditional dishes as:

-Hot Clam Dip
-Old-Time Potato Salad
-Salmon Croquettes
-Creole Rice
-And more!

Beginning with the final days of slavery and extending through the struggle for civil rights, this singular anthology is a historic tribute to African-Americans of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (28)

Inspiring
Not only are the recipes very good - the stories that go with them are priceless and I enjoyed the pictures associated with them as well.
Very educational.I read cookbooks like novels anyway - so this was a special treat.A friend of my had one and showed me before I bought mine.Usually I read theirs and that's it.I had to own this cookbook to go back to whenever I wanted.Excellent.

Reminiscent of Grandma's Cooking
I checked this book out from my local library because i was in search of a recipe book that would bring me back to my childhood. This book did just that . The recipes were amazing ! My Grandmother is a phenomenal cook and every holiday she would bless us with her delicious food and i wanted to do the same for my family , but i could never find a book that had those deep rooted southern meals that i grew up on ,until i discovered this book . I would recommend this book to anyone who loves and enjoys good southern food , fabulous !

My favorite cookbook!
A friend was telling me of a recipe her mama used to make when she was a child and how much she had loved it. No one seemed to know how to make it. Well, I found the recipe in this cookbook and surprized my friend with a great meal. She was so thrilled and I'm thrilled for all the other wonderful recipes in this great book.

African American Heritage Cookbook
The African-American Heritage Cookbook not only has wonderful recipes but I truely loved the history lessons.I have tried several of the recipes and the food was great.The Smothered Yardbird recipe reminded me of my grandmother's cooking.I look forward to trying many other recipes.

African American southern heritage
I specifically searched for this book on Amazon after reviewing it in the library at the culinary school that I recently graduated from. I thought it would be a very useful cookbook to add to my collection and the heritage part was an added bonus.I had recently read an article on the author of the book in one of the military publications I picked up on Nellis Air Force Base and was thrilled to actually get to purchase the book.Although I'm southern born and bred there are some recipes in the book that I have never heard of in my life and I love having the history there to go with some of the recipes. ... Read more

Product Description

Soul food cooking doesn’t have to bebad to taste good

Fabiola Demps Gaines and Roniece Weaver’s New SoulFood Cookbook for People with Diabetes, the first diabetescookbook for and by African Americans, was a blockbusterwith more than 75,000 copies in print. With thisnew Small Steps Press edition of their book, Gaines andWeaver take those same principles of healthier soulfood cooking to you. Healthy Soul FoodCooking shows you how to cut the fat, cholesterol,and salt in your favorite soul food recipes while stillkeeping the flavor you deserve. All the Cajun, creole,and down-home favorites are here--and now inhealthier versions than ever before.

Customer Reviews (2)

Wrong Cover Shown
The cover is not correct as shown on Amazon--it says, "for People with Diabetes".That is a different book.I took out this book from the library and the recipes are great, and not complicated.I have made the Corn Pudding and the Broccoli Casserole and found I had to add more seasoning.

Great Tasting Soul Food Without All The Fat
Great book for anyone who wants a book comfort food cookbook with all the taste but without all the fat and sugar this is for you.I am a diabetic of 10 years and this is the first book that works for me and I don't feel like I'm missing anything.I ran it by my doctor and dietician and got the thumbs up.I've given this book to two people already as gifts and they love it. ... Read more

Product Description
A Slice of Africa presents a wide array of exotic cuisines of the West African descent. It features a cornucopia of tantalizing recipes. The dishes will take you on a journey to the heart of West Africa right in your own kitchen. The recipes are presented in easy to follow formats. Some of the dishes may have a distinctive resemblance to recipes from other parts of the world. Nigerian Cuisines are profiled because they embrace aspects from all African cultures. Learn how to prepare authentic Nigerian dishes. The native ingredients to use can easily be purchased from specialty food stores such as Nigerian, Liberian, Latin, Oriental, Indian, West Indian, and African grocery stores in big cities like London, New York, Miami, Atlanta, Washington DC, Baltimore, Boston, Houston, Rome, Hong Kong, and Los Angeles. A Slice of Africa demystifies some of the West African cultural trends and brings their most intimate cooking traditions to the forefront. West African cities like Lagos, Abuja, Dakar, Freetown, Accra, and Abidjan are currently flourishing with Westerners embracing the African culture and relishing the same dishes presented here. Enjoy an exotic African adventure without traveling there. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

a slice of africa
"This is a very good book. I've bought several copies for my family members"
Fletcher Paschal,Sr.
Miami, Florida ... Read more

Product Description
The author has selected more than 300 of her favourite recipes and the result is this book, gloriously illustrated with over 300 full colour photographs. The range of recipes is wide: from starters, soups and salads to main course meals (including vegetarian dishes), decadent desserts and cheesecakes. A section on baking includes recipes for cakes, biscuits, scones, tea breads, yeast breads, rolls, and confectionery. The emphasis is on locally available ingredients, wholesome meals that are easy to prepare, and dishes that require little last minute attention. Whether your preference is for simple family fare or for elegant entertaining, this colourful volume will inspire every cook to approach food with renewed creativity. ... Read more

Product Description
Here is a collection of representative authentic soul food dishes for those who want the real thing. Most of the recipes were learned by the author from her grandmother, Frances Fleming Hunter, a cook whose café was in the little Mississippi town of Hollandale.

Kathy Starr compiled these recipes as a tribute to her grandmother, whom she remembers amid big pots of greens and vegetables that were bubbling on the stove as she stirred up the cornbread.

"Hunger," she says, "was something the black family had to conquer, and it was a must that simple foods make a delicious meal. My grandma, even today, can tell you stories of how proud she felt about her sister Malindy, who would walk up out of the cotton field and find company sitting on the steps and then would take a shelf of nothing and make the best meal you ever tasted."

While this cookbook does preserve the foodways of southern African Americans of the past, the recipes are food traditions that live today in the rural South. The author has included also recipes that are traditional treatments of more recently available foods, such as lobster with cornbread stuffing. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A wonderful combination of recipes and stories
The Soul Of Southern Cooking is a wonderful combination of recipes and stories that evoke a time when black families had to make-do in the midst of hard times, yet were able to develop and enjoy a variety of delicious meals with a culinary tradition popularly referred to as "soul food". From Homemade Hog Head Souse; Neckbone and Macaroni Stew; Delta Fried Catfish; and Sunday's Fried Corn; to Boiled Chicken Feet and Legs; Stovetop Roast Beef; Celery Seed Dressing; Ten-Minute Oven Pecan Brittle; and Mrs. Hunter's Southern Tea Cakes, The Soul Of Southern Cooking fully lives up to its title and will prove a welcome and unique addition to the family cookbook collection. ... Read more

Product Description
Since its original publication twenty years ago, Samia Abdennour’s Egyptian Cooking has become a true classic - a must-have cookbook for anyone who wants to eat as the Egyptians do. From hearty staples like foul midammis (stewed fava beans) and kushari (a mix of pasta, rice, and lentils under a rich tomato sauce) to more complex meals such as roast leg of lamb and baked stuffed fish, Egyptian Cooking runs the gamut of the national cuisine. Now, in this revised and expanded edition, Abdennour has added over eighty new recipes from all over the Middle East, including some of the most popular dishes from the Levant, the Gulf, and North Africa. With some 480 recipes and mouthwatering color photographs, this versatile guide gives users a wide array of basic meals and sumptuous dishes.With entries organized under the categories of Mezze, Breakfast, Main Courses, Sweets and Desserts, and Beverages, Egyptian Cooking offers a comprehensive collection of Middle Eastern recipes in one volume. Spiral-bound for easy accessibility while cooking, this practical handbook offers detailed advice on shopping, food preparation, and unusual ingredients, as well as the Arabic names for individual items and recipes. Ideal for the novice as well as the experienced cook, this expanded edition of an Egyptian bestseller is the ideal introduction to cooking this delicious cuisine at home. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Don't think this is a second cookbook by the same author!
Well... first of all DO NOT click on the link to "buy these books together" (referriing to the amazon offer to buy this book and her other book "Egyptian Cooking, a practical guide") as this book contains ALL the recipes in the first edition, along with additional recipes.You will be WASTING your money as i did (I gave the first edition away, no need to keep it, for me I bought them years apart, for you it will be money down the drain or a headache with the return) Amazon should NOT be offering them together.

Being that this book basically consists of the other book and then some, I will go over in a nutshell the comments i made of the other as they also apply here.

Its good for the basics if you're already familiar with the cuisine.The arabic/english spice translations are helpful.Her instructions are thoroughly lacking, so if you are not an experienced cook, or are not familiar with egyptian/middle eastern cooking, you might have a hard time with the recipes as they would have benefited from a little more description.(for more on that see my review of the other book) They are written in a very matter of fact way, just mix, shape, saute.....They don't really sound very appealing.The recipe numbers not corresponding to page numbers is annoying but you get used to i (the recipes are numbered, page 1 might have recipes 1-3, page 2 recipes 4-6, page 3 recipes 7 and 8, and the index refers to the recipe number, not page number so the recipe for falafel could be recipe 6 which would be on page 2), as well as the fact that to make a recipe containing tomato sauce, you've got to refer to the tomato sauce recipe on another page (consisting of tomato sauce, salt and pepper).

The additional recipes are not egyptian and are really not of any value to me as there are tons of other middle eastern recipe books out there that are FAR better than this one.

The only reason I would recommend this book at all is that it is specifically Egyptian, and if you are even reading this review it probably means you want an Egyptian cookbook (rather than a generic Middle eastern cookbook.)If that is the case, then i would consider going with "My Egyptian Grandmother's Kitchen" by Magda Mehdawy, as she has pictures with all her recipes and at least that gets your taste buds going (oh, yeah that was also a problem with Abdennour's books, you could read the whole thing and not be all that impressed by anything).I would pair that with either Claudia Roden's The New Book of Middle Eastern Food (Five Star) or Mary Bsisu's The Arab Table (Also 5 Stars).When you want to cook something, first try to find it in one of the latter books, if you can, read the recipe, then refer to Mehdawy's book and see the Egyptian take on it.Of course Roden and Bsisu books are not going to have all the Egyptian recipes that Abdennour's has, but you will see the difference in the instructions immediately.

I rated the first edition 3 stars because at the time I reviewed I couldn't find other egyptian cookbooks, Abdennour had the whole market.With Mehdaway's cookbook, (and another Egyptian one that i just spotted but havent bought yet, Abdennour has lost the sole claim on the Egyptian cookbook market, thus this second edition isn't as valuable or necessary.So i am rating it 2 stars.

Are we talking about the same cookbook?
When even rice pudding doesnt turn out right, after following the directions to the letter....you can safely say that a cookbook was poorly written.

Simply dissolve sugar in milk, then add rice and simmer on low for 15-20 minutes? Hardly. I started out with a low flame....and was still waiting for the rice to soften 45 minutes later. I made rice pudding out of the Good Housekeeping Cookbook, and I'd much sooner make rice pudding their way----you start out with a boil (to cook the inner core of the grain of rice), and THEN reduce to low and simmer. Works every time.

Ms. Abdennour should also mention to the novice, that it is necessary to stir the rice pudding continuously, or it will stick to the pan and BURN. However the word "stir" was not even mentioned in the recipe! This may seem like common sense to most, but cookbooks should be written at the level of a novice.

The rice in my pudding ended up having a hard, uncooked center. And when I went to taste it (aside from the bitterly hard rice) I felt there was way too much sugar.

In addition the cookbook has a strange format...the pages are numbered but the recipes are indexed not by page number but by recipe number (they are actually numbered from 1 on up) I much prefer good old fashioned page numbers---whats wrong with that?

Also, the author seems to be unfamiliar with the names of certain items in the West. When a recipe calls for "gullash" this corresponds to our "phyllo dough" however the author seems to not know that we have a word for this....so she describes it as "fresh, paper thin sheets of dough at your local bakery"....gee thanks, that would help the novice cook! I know that she is describing phyllo dough, but would a novice know?

In addition, I made kuftat ras al asfur. Again, following the instructions to the letter resulted in a bland tomato sauce.

Some recipe instructions amounted to no more than four sentences, when surely they are a bit more complex to make and worth describing in a bit more detail.

There are better Arabic cookbooks out there...I just haven't found them yet. This cookbook is suited to someone who is familiar with making these dishes....maybe then they can fill in the details which Abdennour fails to mention. But then one wonders, why would these people need a cookbook in the first place?

Authentic, delicious food
Having grown up in Egypt, I had no idea what I took for granted. Delicious stuffed tomatoes, fresh lemony salads, vine leaves, meat stews.It's such a pleasure to find a book that allows me to recreate these meals I had back at home. It's easy to follow and the ingredients are readily available here in the States.I recommend this book for everyone.

Featuring classic dishes that perfectly capture the staples of Egyptian cuisine
First published twenty years ago, and now in a revised and expanded edition with over eighty new recipes added by author Samia Abdennour, Egyptian Cooking And Other Middle Eastern Recipes is a spiral-bound cookbook featuring classic dishes that perfectly capture the staples of Egyptian cuisine. A handful of color photographs illustrate the simple and practical instructions for creating such Middle Eastern delicacies as Falafels, Duck Pot Roast, Baked Rice With Milk, Hot Yogurt Soup, Pickled Eggplant, and so much more. A glossary, list of common spices and cooking utensils, and index round out this "must-have" cookbook for anyone interested in savoring Egyptian cuisine.
... Read more

Product Description
At last, more than a century after it was first published, a new edition of Mrs A. R. Barnes' classic 1890 cookery book.This historic and entertaining household guide is illustrated with charming and evocative black-and-white Victorian advertisements and offers over 500 recipes for southern African delicacies, including sticky melon and ginger preserve, Malay-inspired aromatic pickled fish, and spicy soetkoek biscuits.Mrs Barnes also provided her readers with useful instructions on how to make a traditional African polished cow-dung floor, how to treat snake bites, and the best method for discouraging mosquitos.A fascinating handbook, illustrating the adaptability and inventiveness of British settlers in the remote, unforgiving environment of Victorian Africa. ... Read more

Product Description
Just named the Winner of the Gourmand World Cookbook Award for Best African Cuisine!!Palates weary of pasta are turning to Africa cuisine, which is about to become the next craze in the kitchen. Cooking from Cape to Cairo is the product of a culinary tour of 19 African destinations: Nigeria, Morocco, Ethiopia, Malawi, Egypt, Mozambique, Kenya, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Zanzibar, Swaziland, Zambia, Senegal, Lesotho, Botswana, and four diverse South African regions: KwaZulu-Natal, Venda, Transkei and the Western Cape.In each country and region, local cooks - both prominent restaurant or hotel chefs and ordinary people share their recipes with Dorah Sitole, editor of True Love magazine, the biggest magazine for African women in southern Africa. Regional recipes and photographs provide a peek at the culture out of which the cuisine developed. In addition, a guide to the different ingredients, as well as suggested substitutes or equivalents, is provided. The book also contains a full index of recipes and ingredients. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Travel through cooking
Cooking From Cape To Cairo by Dorah Sitole and True Love Magazine:is not just another cook book. This is one for yur coffee table and for fascinating reading as well.The author traveled throughout Africa, visiting chefs in famous restaurants and visiting in humble native huts to learn what and how the favorite dishes of guests and locals are parepared. She was able to work beside those preparing the local dishes in their kitchens or open hut cook areas and learn just how they make the delicious and exotically seasoned cuisine from locally available produce, fish, foul, and flesh.Many of these dishes are simple to prepare and she lists easy substitutes when ingredients are not readily available where you live.The book contains about ten favorites dishes from each of nineteen African countries. Additionally she has a beautiful color photo of a local woman in her native dress of each area and enticing photographs of many of the dishes.Each chapter tells a bit about the place and its habits, so the book is a brief geography and socialogy lesson, as well.It is a beautiful, collector cookbook you will want to own, display, and use. ... Read more

Product Description
This book was first published in South Africa in 1978 andhas earned a glowing reputation as "The Cooking Bible!The book willplease not only the experienced cook but also the novice.The bookhas now been updated and revised with new recipes by Myrna Rosen andLesley Loon ... Read more