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Rating: 
Summary: A Decent Book on Middle Eastern, Primarily Arabic Cuisine
Review: Faye Levy is an established cookbook writer who is offering a book on Middle Eastern cooking which closely parallels the range of Claudia Roden's classic book on Middle Eastern food. One's choice between the two will depend largely on where your interest lies.To those new to Middle Eastern cuisine, it can be described briefly as being based on olive oil and clarified butter; yogurt and soft cheeses; citrus, nuts and seeds; rice and bulgar wheat; honey and dried fruits; spice mixes; flatbreads; and eggplant and leafy green vegetables. Beans are common and used more creatively than in many cuisines. Wine and vinegar use is very small. Pork and cured pork products make no appearance at all. Breads and pasta are limited in variety, although those which do appear are distinctive. New world vegetables appear, but mostly as fresh rather than cooked ingredients. Fin fish and squid appear, but bivalves are uncommon. Levy and Roden concentrate on different geographical boundaries, with Roden including and Levy excluding North Africa west of Egypt, although Levy still includes reference to famous Morrocan features such as couscous and tangines. Levy identifies the primary regions of Middle Eastern cookery as the Eastern Mediterranean (Turkey, Levant, Egypt), Iran (Persia) and the arabian peninsula and Iraq. Levy discusses very little of the historical background but does discuss some of the says the cuisine has been influenced by India and how it has in turn influenced Europe, especially the Balkans; however, Roden goes into this in more detail. Levy's wraps her discussion in more of a linguistic focus, being careful to give the various different names of dishes for different nationalities. Both books divide the dishes into many similar categories. To Roden's sixteen (16), Levy gives us these fourteen (14): Appetizers
Salads
Soups
Brunch and other Fast Dishes
Seafood
Poultry
Meat
Legumes
Vegetables
Grains
Pasta
Sauces and Relishes
Breads and Savory Pastries
Cakes and Cookies Levy includes some modern western interpretations of classic dish styles, while Roden appears to focus on the authentic modern and historical cuisine of the region. Levy always presents just the basic dish. Roden typically gives variations on basic dishes based on how the dish may have been treated in different parts of the Middle East. On examining recipes from the two books for the same dish, I believe there is little to choose in the clarity of presentation, although I would give a slight not to Roden for spelling out the regional variations. Both writers were born in the Middle East and both appear to be thoroughly in touch with their subject. Neither is here just for a brief visit. Both have also produced books on Jewish cuisine, so it is not surprising that these volumes concentrate much more on the Muslem cuisine than on any Jewish dishes. Levy includes a chapter on menus for entertaining and give a somewhat more detailed discussion of spice mixes. Levy also includes recipes for pantry items such as stocks. I recommend anyone wishing to make stocks for these recipes stick with a good French, Culinary Institute, or Cooks Illustrated Best Recipe source. Levy's book has 380 pages for $30 and Roden has 490 pages for $35. If I were picking one book, I would take Roden based on the deeper historical perspective, the more interesting geographical range, and the (I suspect) more valid separation of Turkish cuisine from that of the Levant. If you were primarily interested as a source for entertaining and most especially interested in the Arab cuisine, then Levy's book may give you more of what you want. Both are superior books on a regional cuisine. I give it only four stars because it did not teach me anything really new about cooking and cuisine. You may have a different background, so I leave that open to your judgement. I agree with another reviewer that the book did not entirely fit it's subtitle as sun-drenched is not discussed and the range exceeds the lands of the Bible, but I don't hold it against the author.
Rating: 
Summary: Feast from the Mideast
Review: My daughter is living in Jordan, and this is the only middle eastern cookbook I've found that has all the foods my daughter is eating. And the index is great -- foods are listed both by the Arabic name and in english. The recipe for mansaf (the Jordanian national dish) is wonderful, as are simple recipes such as zahtar and labneh on pita. I'm delighted with this discovery!
Rating:
Summary: Feast from the Mideast
Review: My daughter is living in Jordan, and this is the only middle eastern cookbook I've found that has all the foods my daughter is eating. And the index is great -- foods are listed both by the Arabic name and in english. The recipe for mansaf (the Jordanian national dish) is wonderful, as are simple recipes such as zahtar and labneh on pita. I'm delighted with this discovery!
Rating: 
Summary: still the same
Review: Yet another book by the very (too?) prolific Faye Levy. I was intrigued by the sub-title: what would be sun-drenched in this new book and what are the Lands ( plural) of the Bible ? It is a pity we do not get answers to these questions.
In brief, nothing new in this book, written in a unconvincing style.
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