Bishara's cooking combines Middle Eastern techniques with Mediterranean flavors. But she takes cues from other cuisines, too. An eggplant napoleon is an ode to its principal ingredient, as well as an inspired marriage of textures: layers of feathery fried eggplant rest daintily between smears of baba ghanoush. Musakhan―flatbread topped with sumac-spiced chicken, slow-cooked onions, and almond slivers piled high, and sliced like a pizza―is a near-perfect harmony of sweetness and pungency.
Ms. Bishara's translation of Middle Eastern cooking has Mediterranean accents, and occasional North American ones from her decades in the United States. And so the tang of cilantro enlivens some of her dishes, and the musk of basil, the welcome zing of jalapeño.
A strong contender for "Favorite Cookbook of the Season" is Brooklyn Chef Rawia Bishara's Olives, Lemons & Za'atar: The Best Middle Eastern Home Cooking. Her Bay Ridge restaurant, Tanoreen, has been recognized by critics and media alike as one of the best Middle Eastern restaurants in New York. Update your 'must-visit' list and make these vegetarian stuffed eggplants, potatoes, tomatoes and squash for a memorable Meatless Monday.
It’s no big surprise that we’ve been drooling over the pages of Rawia Bishara’s beautiful new cookbook Olives, Lemons and Za’atar. Taking inspiration from her cosmopolitan childhood growing up in New York and holidaying in the Med, Rawia has created a book full of cross-cultural cooking. With chapters dedicated to breakfast, mezze, salads, soups and stews, main courses, sides, pickles and sauces and desserts you’re guaranteed to find something to satisfy your spice craving. For a fresh but filling salad the classic tabbouleh is a must try, packed with fragrant parsley and sweet plum tomatoes, no mezze would be complete without it! Or for the ultimate winter warmer the spiced lamb shanks are perfect. Tender slow cooked meat in a richly spiced sauce, all that’s needed is a crispy warmed flatbread and you have the ultimate comfort food.
This is the first cookbook from Rawia Bishara, whose Brooklyn restaurant Tanoreen serves what she refers to as Middle Eastern home cooking. The book will focus on Bishara's personal experience with Middle Eastern food growing up in Nazareth, as well as food from across the region. As she calls it, it will be 'a bible of Middle Eastern food.'
Olives, Lemons and Za'atar [is] the story of how the food of a Nazareth childhood became destination cuisine. [Rawia Bishara’s] food has been called 'narcotic,' but now there's relief for some of the far-flung junkies.
For 16 years, Bishara—whose first name means 'storyteller' in Arabic—has been telling stories through the recipes she serves up at her popular Bay Ridge restaurant, Tanoreen. Now, Bishara is really living up to her name by putting those dishes down on paper, with her debut cookbook, Olives, Lemons & Za’atar. The book, which Bishara will sign at the BookMark Shoppe on March 4, is comprised of 135 recipes that celebrate her Middle Eastern roots, while also spicing up some old favorites. For Bishara, creating dishes that are delicious is more important than being entirely authentic. A staple in Bay Ridge since 1998, Tanoreen’s menu is inspired by the food that Bishara, a Palestinian, experienced growing up in Nazareth in northern Israel. Fans of the eatery will find many of their favorite dishes in Olives, Lemons & Za’atar—such as Bishara’s knafeh, her take on a sweet cheese-filled pastry, which was featured on the Food Network show “The Best Thing I Ever Ate.” But Bishara also concocted many new recipes just for the cookbook.
Why It’s Worthy: 'Originally when I first came [to this country], everyone had the idea that Middle Eastern food was all about hummus and falafel and shish kebab,' Bishara told us. 'People did not know that we really have a healthy, fantastic kitchen.' Even the book’s most impressive-looking dishes are relatively easy to execute, she stressed. 'People are always afraid to try and cook new things; it’s really much easier than they think,' Bishara said. You won’t have to run here, there and everywhere in search of exotic ingredients, either; Bishara said you can find them at any good-sized supermarket. (Rachel Tepper, One for the Library: "Olives, Lemons & Za'atar"
Bishara's book looks at the foods of her native Nazareth as well as the amped-up riffs that she serves at Tanoreen. Time and again throughout the book, she mentions adding more spice, more herbs, more flavor to a dish than her mother would have. Similarly, vegetarian options are given for many recipes. On a Cauliflower and Lamb Stew, for example, Bishara notes the recipe 'doesn't rely on its meat for its flavor; simply use vegetable broth, omit the meat and enjoy it just the same, ladled over fragrant basmati rice.'
About the Author
Rawia Bishara opened her restaurant Tanoreen in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn in 1998. New York Magazine has named it the best Mezze in 2003 and #1 Cheap Eats in 2006. The New York Times, Gourmet magazine, The New Yorker, The Village Voice, Travel & Leisure, Zagat Restaurant Survey, Michelin Guides, TIme Out New York, The New York Post, and Food Network's "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" have all featured or positively reviewed Tanoreen. Rawia has had her recipes published in The New York Times, New York Magazine, and Plate Magazine and teaches a recurring class at DeGustibus Culinary School.
No comments:
Post a Comment