Arabesque: A Taste of Morocco, Turkey & Lebanon

Photographs by Jason Lowe and Noel Murphy

Writer Claudia Roden presents recently discovered recipes and classic recipes in her visually tantalizing cookbook, Arabesque: A Taste of Morocco, Turkey & Lebanon.

Her recipes echo from time periods long ago when spice routes ran across the Ottoman Empire, ancient Persia and medieval Baghdad and Moorish Spain. Today, each of these nations is home to spice shops — and each is known for its own particular aromatic flavorings.

Roden weaves the history of the Middle Eastern dishes among her 150-plus recipes. She examines the Moroccan, Turkish and Lebanese cuisines and their various cooking styles while stressing the importance of using organic and high quality meats, cheeses, vegetables, spices and good extra virgin olive oil.

She recreates braised stews called tagines without elaborate equipment and shares useful methods for preserving lemons in about four days. Rice, couscous and bulgur are staples Roden uses in a number of recipes. Couscous borders a juicy roast shoulder of lamb, and bulgur takes on a prominent role in a chickpea salad.

More than 90 full-color photographs decorate the pages of Roden’s cookbook — evoking images of faraway places. A glossy photograph of prawns with garlic and coriander stands out sharply against a bright blue and white plate.

Another photograph shows a dozen-plus bright slices of oranges sitting in a pan of sizzling sugar water, the light above reflecting off each slice. We see fresh slices of lettuce hold clumps of peppery bulgur with little bright green flakes of parsley and specks of tomatoes.

A different close-up shot of an eggplant and tomato dish showcases pureed eggplants, chopped parsley, finely sliced scallions, diced tomatoes and pomegranate seeds.

It is the type of dish that one should consume outside beneath a hot, starry sky — and, perhaps, that is Roden’s point: to transport your taste buds and imagination to a region of the world still viewed by so many as a mystical, mysterious place.

About Claudia Roden

Claudia Roden was born in Cairo and studied in Paris and London. Her previous books include The Book of Jewish Food, A Book of Middle Eastern Food and The Good Food of Italy — Region by Region, among others.

Arabesque won the André Simon Memorial Fund Award for Best Food Book, the Glenfiddich Best Food Book Award and the Gourmand World Media Special Award of the Jury.