Spice: Flavors of the Eastern Mediterranean

Ana Sortun, a James Beard award-winning chef, draws on her experience learning Turkish cooking traditions from local women during a trip to Turkey. She applies these influences at her Cambridge, Massachusetts restaurant, Oleana, where she creates interpretations of Eastern Mediterranean dishes. This book teaches home cooks how to use spices and herbs to build full, rich flavors in Mediterranean cuisine. Sortun explains how the artful use of spices and herbs, rather than fat and cream, creates satisfying dishes. The book is organized by spice, showing how certain spices complement one another and flavor other foods, helping cooks develop intuition in their own cooking. The book contains over one hundred recipes organized by spice categories, including Beef Shish Kabobs with Sumac Onions and Parsley Butter, Chickpea and Potato Terrine Stuffed with Pine Nuts, Spinach, Onion, and Tahini, Crispy Lemon Chicken with Za'atar, Golden Gazpacho with Condiments, and Fried Haloumi Cheese with Pear and Spiced Dates. The book features photography throughout.