Malouf: New Middle Eastern Food

Greg and Lucy Malouf have previously written, among others, three books relating "culinary journeys" through the Middle East -  Saha  (Lebanon and Syria),  Turquoise  (Turkey) and  Saraban  (Iran). Some nice recipes in these for sure, but they were much more coffee table books than cookbooks, with a large proportion of the text relating their journey and the photography being less food related and more what they like to call "evocative", revolving around old blokes lounging around smoking ciggies and so on.Thankfully, this new release is all about the food. It perhaps does not come as too much of a surprise to learn that there is a significant amount of recycling here, with a considerable number of recipes carried across verbatim from those earlier publications. There are however more than enough fresh modern creations herein to make it a worthwhile purchase even for those who have the earlier three.Probably around a third of the recipes have photographs. The photography is excellent, and many of the recipes, especially the modern creations, are beautifully styled and worthy of presentation at top fancy restaurants - plenty of colour with use of edible flowers for example. One minor annoyance is that where some photographs are overleaf rather than opposite the recipes' text, the photographs are not labelled. One slightly greater annoyance is the recipe text, which is in a not particularly large font and in too light a grey colour - not necessarily easy to read for some of us. Yet another instance of the self-indulgence of the book stylists overriding usability and practicality.This would be a definite five star book, but loses one star through a combination of rehashing existing recipes, the not so easy to read text, plus it would be nicer to have more of the excellent photography for more of the dishes.

Malouf's 'New Middle Eastern Food' copy has arrived in the post and i am pleased to announce that I absolutely LOVE IT.This is my first cook book by the author. I knew I had to have at least one of his books among my great collection, but was slightly reluctant to fork out the money (because of some of the some of the reviews above) and live to regret it.a) Yes it could use more photos, and, b) Yes the type font is a bit grey. However, being of Middle Eastern origin myself - I thought that on point (a): less photos probably meant more recipes (yay!); and on point (b): It's not as faint as some of the reviews made it out to sound. It is still readable (I am getting blinder and need glasses to read - so that says a lot, methinks).The book is beautiful and very elegantly presented - though I probably will change my statement on the grey font once the book starts seeing a bit of wear and tear.In the meantime, can't wait to try out some of Malouf's recipes! Yum yum.Happy cooking

Middle eastern food is really coming into it's own now and to me publications like this, and those of Silvena Rowe are the reason why. The recipes are clear and concise, some a bit fiddley but nothing a bit of patience can't deal with, and so far the few I've tried have tasted great. But one of the best features of this book, is the photograpgy. The dishes look utterly stunning in the pictures, and yet achievable. I do like to see a dish as well as read how to make it, and so often the photography puts you off trying something new, but these just make you want to get in the kitchen and have a go. The only reason it got 4 stars and not 5 is because there isn't a picture of every dish. That would make this book perfect.

This book is a treasure trove of wonderful recipes - most fairly new to me. Avid cooks will love this book, even less experienced will, but some of the recipes could be a slight challenge for those who haven't used some of these ingredients before - so be prepared to source a good Middle Eastern or Asian store - or look online. You will really impress your guests!

Thank you for an elegant and beautiful book with some delightful recipes and some fun storiesGreg Malouf is a star ad his food is beautiful, elegant and above all tasty

The writing is very faint but don't let that put you off, this is a fantastic book packed full of interesting recipes which work.

This book inspires me to cook middle eastern food and gives a good insight in the flavour profiles associated with it.

I very much enjoyed this book and wished to order another 2 copies for presents but find they have now increased in price buy £10.00 which I cannot afford!