Souk to Table by Amina Al-Saigh

Souk to Table

by Amina Al-Saigh

Enrich your weeknight meals with 100 easy-to-make, traditional and modern Middle Eastern dishes filled with bold spices and exquisite flavors.
 

In Souk to Table, popular food blogger Amina Al-Saigh (@hungrypaprikas) is here to help you figure out dinner for your family with her easy, quick, and accessible Middle Eastern recipes, inspired by her heritage and using flavors she knows and love. She understands how busy life can get and how sometimes cooking Middle Eastern dishes can be overwhelming, but with the right know-how and the right recipes, you can serve up delicious and bold flavors and not spend all day in the kitchen!​

This homestyle cookbook gathers the best of the region—dips, condiments, salads, sides, mains, soups, stews, desserts, and drinks—using easy-to-find, fresh ingredients and delicious Arabic spices.​​ In Souk to Table, you'll find:
 

  • 100 easy-to-make and delicious recipes from Amina’s homeland of Iraq, as well as Lebanon, Egypt, Turkey, Morocco, and beyond​
  • Dinners that can be made in under an hour for easy weeknight cooking, as well as traditional dishes "worth the effort" for weekend cooking​ and hosting
  • A simpler approach to Middle Eastern cooking without sacrificing any of the authentic flavors​
  • A stunning photo accompanying every recipe​
  • How to stock your Middle Eastern kitchen


Adventure across the Middle East every night of the week through accessible recipes with Souk to Table as your guide. 

Reviewed by annieb123 on

5 of 5 stars

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Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Souk to Table is a well written, appealing, and traditional general Middle Eastern cookbook with recipes collected and developed by Amina Al-Saigh. Due out 8th Oct 2024 from Quarto on their Rock Point imprint, it's 256 pages and will be available in hardcover and ebook formats. 

Besides the generosity of spirit and hospitality deeply tied to food traditions in the Middle Eastern countries, the food is beautiful to look at, exotic for many folks who live in North America, and importantly, deliciously healthy. 

The author has collected recipes from the whole Middle East, adjusted them slightly in some areas to make the ingredients more easily sourced for western readers, and written them down in an accessible way.

The recipes are arranged thematically: condiments & dips, salads & sides, 30 minute dishes, 1 hour, "worth the effort" (more complex/time consuming), soups & stews, and drinks & desserts. Each recipe is written with an introduction and area from which it comes, yields, estimated prep time, bullet list of ingredients, and step by step prep and cooking directions. Ingredient measures are given in imperial (American) measurements with metric measures in parentheses (yay!). 

Most of the ingredients will be readily available at well stocked international type grocery stores, or larger urban grocers in most of North America/Europe. 

A high point of the book is the excellent photography throughout. The food is attractively and professionally styled and photographed in color. The author has also used a fair amount of effort to provide a comprehensive pantry list and spice/seasoning primer for general audiences.

The cross referenced index includes ingredients by single entry, for easy lookup of particular recipes. (Don't know why this isn't -standard- in all cookbooks!). 

Five stars. This would be an excellent choice for public library acquisition, home use, or gift giving. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes. 

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Reading updates

  • 22 September, 2024: Started reading
  • 22 September, 2024: Finished reading
  • 22 September, 2024: Reviewed