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Rating: 
Summary: Helping young kids (and me) to cook the North African Way
Review: The first question you probably have is what exactly constitutes North African in terms of this book, "Cooking the North African Way: Culturally Authentic Foods Including Low Far and Vegetarian Recipes." The answer would be Western Sahara, Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Egypt, and Egypt, an area above the Sahara Desert that share a common history, language, and culture. In the first part of this Easy Menu Ethnic Cookbook young readers will learn about the food and culture from this area, for example, how lunch (al-ghada) is the main meal of the day in North Africa. This book is written by Mary Winget and Habib Chalbi, the latter having been been born in Tunis where his father was teh chef for the Tunisian president. In Minneapolis he has cooked at several of the city's finest restaurants as well as for his friends and family. The key thing for young chefs to remember when they try their hand at cooking different recipes from around the world is that usually the basic ingredients are the same ones with which they are already familiar North African cuisine uses lamb, fish, poultry, eggplants, bell peppers, carrots, apples, peaches, dates, and nuts. What becomes key are the flavorful herbs and spices that are used to transform these foods, such as harissa (a paste made of garlic and chili peppers) and tahini (a paste made from crushed sesame seeds). If you under stand the basic spices that are used, you can see how you can add a North African flavor to just about anything that you might make. The Before You Begin section covers the basic safety rules that a careful cook needs to know as well as an introduction to basic cooking utensils and terms, as well as a list of the special ingredients you will need for these recipes. There is even a consideratio of healthy and low-fat cooking tips to go with this Mediterranean diet. Winet and Chalbi also put together a pair of menus for North African meals, the first a light vegetarian lunch (or dinner) and the second a menu more appropriate for a festive occasion. The main part of "Cooking the North African Way" is devoted to specific recipes: for Appetizers we have Brown Lentils and Rice, Falafel with Pita and Tahini Suace, and Mashed Zucchini Salad; Soups and Salads consists of Egyptian Green Herb Soup, Libyan Fish Soup, Moroccan Orange and Radish Salad, Algerian Eggplant Salad, and Tunisian Cucumber Salad; the Main Dishes are Meatballs in Tomato Sauce with Eggs, Chicken Tagine with Couscous, Chickpea and Carrot Stew, Baked Fish, and Libyan Potatoes with Bzar; for Desserts we have Milk and Pastry Pudding, and Coconut and Semolina Cake; and then for Holiday and Festival Foods we can have Mint Tea, Lamb Stew with Dats and Apricots, Harira with Lamb and Chicken, and Fruit and Nut Drops. In the recipes we are always told when it is possible to buy some of these ingredients (such as tahini and falafel) instead of having to make them from scratch, although you may have to go to an ethnic grocery to track them down. My taste runs towards anything with harissa because I like hot and spicy sauces, especially when garlic based, while studiously avoiding anything with a lot of onions. I never would have thought of combining oranges and radishes (Salatat Fijl wa Latsheen), but they make an interesting compliment. The Libyan Potatoes with Bzar (Batatis bi Bzar) are some of the spices potatoes you can put together, which go well it you are doing a simple poulty or meat dish as the main course (having both be spicy is usually a mistake in my book). The Fruit and Nut Drops (Halwat Fawakih) are a relatively simple perfumed sweet, and if a class is looking at Algeria or one of the other North African countries in class this would be the obvious choice for something to provide a taste of North African cuisine. The main thing is that if I can do some of these dishes and seriously entertainment making Lamb Stew with Dates and Apricots (Sikbadj), then chances are most junior and senior high school students could handle these recipes as well. "Cooking the North African Way" has easy, step-by-step directions and color photographs for most of the dishes so you know what they are supposed to look like if you do them right. Other editions in the Easy Menu Ethnic Cookbooks series are devoted to everything from the Australian and Greek to Norwegian and Thai ways of cooking. You can even work your way around the continent you started here with the cookbooks on the East African and West African ways of cooking.
Rating:
Summary: Helping young kids (and me) to cook the North African Way
Review: The first question you probably have is what exactly constitutes North African in terms of this book, "Cooking the North African Way: Culturally Authentic Foods Including Low Far and Vegetarian Recipes." The answer would be Western Sahara, Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Egypt, and Egypt, an area above the Sahara Desert that share a common history, language, and culture. In the first part of this Easy Menu Ethnic Cookbook young readers will learn about the food and culture from this area, for example, how lunch (al-ghada) is the main meal of the day in North Africa. This book is written by Mary Winget and Habib Chalbi, the latter having been been born in Tunis where his father was teh chef for the Tunisian president. In Minneapolis he has cooked at several of the city's finest restaurants as well as for his friends and family. The key thing for young chefs to remember when they try their hand at cooking different recipes from around the world is that usually the basic ingredients are the same ones with which they are already familiar North African cuisine uses lamb, fish, poultry, eggplants, bell peppers, carrots, apples, peaches, dates, and nuts. What becomes key are the flavorful herbs and spices that are used to transform these foods, such as harissa (a paste made of garlic and chili peppers) and tahini (a paste made from crushed sesame seeds). If you under stand the basic spices that are used, you can see how you can add a North African flavor to just about anything that you might make. The Before You Begin section covers the basic safety rules that a careful cook needs to know as well as an introduction to basic cooking utensils and terms, as well as a list of the special ingredients you will need for these recipes. There is even a consideratio of healthy and low-fat cooking tips to go with this Mediterranean diet. Winet and Chalbi also put together a pair of menus for North African meals, the first a light vegetarian lunch (or dinner) and the second a menu more appropriate for a festive occasion. The main part of "Cooking the North African Way" is devoted to specific recipes: for Appetizers we have Brown Lentils and Rice, Falafel with Pita and Tahini Suace, and Mashed Zucchini Salad; Soups and Salads consists of Egyptian Green Herb Soup, Libyan Fish Soup, Moroccan Orange and Radish Salad, Algerian Eggplant Salad, and Tunisian Cucumber Salad; the Main Dishes are Meatballs in Tomato Sauce with Eggs, Chicken Tagine with Couscous, Chickpea and Carrot Stew, Baked Fish, and Libyan Potatoes with Bzar; for Desserts we have Milk and Pastry Pudding, and Coconut and Semolina Cake; and then for Holiday and Festival Foods we can have Mint Tea, Lamb Stew with Dats and Apricots, Harira with Lamb and Chicken, and Fruit and Nut Drops. In the recipes we are always told when it is possible to buy some of these ingredients (such as tahini and falafel) instead of having to make them from scratch, although you may have to go to an ethnic grocery to track them down. My taste runs towards anything with harissa because I like hot and spicy sauces, especially when garlic based, while studiously avoiding anything with a lot of onions. I never would have thought of combining oranges and radishes (Salatat Fijl wa Latsheen), but they make an interesting compliment. The Libyan Potatoes with Bzar (Batatis bi Bzar) are some of the spices potatoes you can put together, which go well it you are doing a simple poulty or meat dish as the main course (having both be spicy is usually a mistake in my book). The Fruit and Nut Drops (Halwat Fawakih) are a relatively simple perfumed sweet, and if a class is looking at Algeria or one of the other North African countries in class this would be the obvious choice for something to provide a taste of North African cuisine. The main thing is that if I can do some of these dishes and seriously entertainment making Lamb Stew with Dates and Apricots (Sikbadj), then chances are most junior and senior high school students could handle these recipes as well. "Cooking the North African Way" has easy, step-by-step directions and color photographs for most of the dishes so you know what they are supposed to look like if you do them right. Other editions in the Easy Menu Ethnic Cookbooks series are devoted to everything from the Australian and Greek to Norwegian and Thai ways of cooking. You can even work your way around the continent you started here with the cookbooks on the East African and West African ways of cooking.
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