Silvena Rowe was brought up on a diet of  Ottoman delicacies by her Turkish father. She is now based in London as chef-patron of Quince.

Her previous cookbooks Feasts and Purple Citrus and Sweet Perfume are both glorious incantations on the cuisines of the Eastern Mediterranean.

The inspiration for her latest book, Orient Express,  came from the street foods of Istanbul, Ankara and Gaziantep, Beirut, Damascus and Aleppo. Subtitled “Fast food from the Eastern Mediterranean,” but don’t expect too many recipes which can be quickly knocked up – many require overnight marinating or setting in the fridge. It is the kind of food you would expect to find at street stalls and markets – mezze style eating, great for entertaining.

The book is divided into highlighted ingredients and flavours, as opposed to the standard fare of starter, main, etc:

• Emerald spice & gold dust  – a celebration of za’atar and saffron;
• Fire and noble velvet – chilli and cumin;
• Purple citrus and summer breeze  – Sumac and fresh herbs;
• Sweet eucalyptus & liquid gold  – cardamom and honey;
• Exotic perfume and delicate fragrance – cinnamon and flowers

This structure enables one to combine a selection of diversely spiced dishes into an impressive banquet. She presents 100 light, perfectly balanced recipes for sharing. Added to this is some stunning photography of many of the completed dishes.

This book will certainly give Wickedfood Cooking School a lot of inspiration for our Turkish cooking classes and middle eastern cooking classes.

Interested in buying this book? Visit - Red Pepper Books – The South African online bookshop, is able to offer you great prices on any book you are looking for, and they deliver to your door. Pay only R252 for this book (Recommended Retail Price = R295)! Red Pepper Books is offering Wickedfood Cooking School subscribers an EXTRA 10% off this book. Simply type in the promotional code WICKEDFOOD on the shipping page of the checkout process and your purchase will be reduced by a further 10%, a total saving of R43.

Wickedfood Cooking School runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built Johannesburg cooking studio. Cookery classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – teambuilding cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference. Our cooking lessons are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and team building cooking classes these events are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.

When I  first received a review copy of Purple Citrus & Sweet Perfume, I was full of anticipation, fully expecting a stylish book on Middle Eastern cuisine.  I was further impressed with the notes on the cover that  read “… with forward by Heston Blumenthal. “ My excitement however soon turned to disappointment when I couldn’t find any of the classic Middle Eastern dishes that I’ve grown accustomed to.  It was only on much closer scrutiny that I discovered the pure joy of this innovative recipe book.

In Purple Citrus & Sweet Perfume Bulgarian-born chef and food writer Silvena Rowe explores the food of her upbringing – her father is half Turkish.  It’s a scrumptious collection of recipes from the rich multi-cultural Ottoman empire.  Her combinations of sweet and sour, fresh and dried, and rose and orange flower waters give a whiff of the exotic.

While many of the recipes show influences from the Ottoman Empire, others are contemporary Turkish, Syrian, Jordanian and Lebanese. Intertwined with the recipes she weaves in timeless folk stories, excerpts detailing the region’s history, personal travel tales and even some poetry.

All the recipes (including a substantial chapter on the sweet things for which the region is famed) are vibrant, modern and easy to read, with helpful  introductions – chicken liver, potato and chilli salad; sweetbreads in a cumin, sumac and mustard crumb, the cover picture, chilled sweet pea and watercress soup with a rose petal cream; and on the desserts side three very interesting and different Baklavas.

Paging more discerningly through the book, it is no wonder that Silvena Rowe is being held up as the new Claudia Roden, the doyenne of Mediterranean food.  And apart from the recipes,  the book is illustrated throughout the spectacular photographs by Jonathan Lovekin.  A book definitely worth buying for any serious cook who enjoys Eastern Mediterranean cuisine.

Interested in buying this book? For the next 2 weeks Red Pepper Books is offering a special discounted price for Purple Citrus & Sweet Perfume. Visit - Red Pepper Books – The South African online bookshop, they are able to offer you great prices on any book you are looking for, and they deliver to your door.

Wickedfood Cooking School runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built Johannesburg cooking studio. Cookery classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – teambuilding cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference.

Our cooking lessons are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and team building cooking classes these events are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.

Najmieh Batmanglij has spent a lifetime introducing people to the pleasures of Persian cuisine.   Her book,  New Food of Life: Ancient Persian and Modern Iranian Cooking and Ceremonies has been referred to as  “The definitive book of Persian cooking” by the Los Angeles Times. She has spent the past 26 years traveling, teaching Persian cooking classes, and adapting authentic Persian recipes to tastes and techniques in the West.

In her book 240 classical and regional Iranian recipes, supported by 120 colour photographs, are intertwined with descriptions of ancient and modern ceremonies, poetry, folk tales, travelogue excerpts, and anecdotes. Recipes are presented in a format that is easy-to-follow. At center of the book is how to cook rice, the jewel of Persian cooking. By combining it with a little meat, chicken, seafood, vegetables, fruits, and herbs, you’ll have a balanced diet – colourful, yet healthy, simple yet exotic. 1,000 years of Persian literature and art have been woven into the book. Food-related pieces from such classics as the “10th century Book of Kings”, and “1,001 Nights” to the miniatures of Mir Mussavar and Aq Mirak, from the poetry of Omar Khayyam to the humour of Mulla Nasruddin are all included. The book makes  one of the world’s oldest, yet least known, culinary traditions once again accessible to every cook  – the first recipes were written 4,000 years ago in a cuneiform script on clay tablets. At Wickedfood Cooking School will be using the book as a basis for our Persian cookery classes.

See also:

Persian cuisine

Pomegranate Khoresh with Chicken - A delicious  Persian recipe from the book

Wickedfood Cooking School

Sunninghill - (011) 234-3252 sunninghill@wickedfood.co.za

Wickedfood cooking school runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built cooking studios. We offer a variety of Johannesburg Cooking Classes. Cooking lessons are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – team building cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference.

Our classes are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and teambuilding cooking classes these classes are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.

Sam & Sam Clark’s first cookbook, based on the food of their award winning restaurant, Moro, in London , was voted as one of the 5 most influential cookbooks published in the last 10 years by BBC Food. Their second cookbook, Casa Moro, again contains a mouthwatering selection of Spanish and Moroccan inspired dishes. All the recipes in the book are authentic , yet easy to prepare and full of flavour. Both books begin with a mouth watering array of starters and tapas, followed by a collection of slow cooked meat stews, fresh North African and Middle Eastern salads, as well as some to die for desserts. At Wickedfood Cooking School we constantly refer to both books for inspiration for our team building cooking classes, Middle Eastern cooking classes and Spanish cooking classes

Wickedfood Cooking School

Sunninghill – (011) 234-3252 sunninghill@wickedfood.co.za

Wickedfood Cooking School runs Johannesburg cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built cooking studios. We offer a variety of Middle Eastern cooking classes. Classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – team building cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference.

Our classes are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and team building cooking classes these classes are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.

Claudia Roden is one of the most articulate and inspirational food and cookery writers and is an authority on Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines. She was born to a cosmopolitan Jewish family in Cairo, where she grew up eating, and questioning the origin of food from all over the Middle East. She began by collating recipes at a young age from everybody she met, from family members to virtual strangers. Claudia’s meticulously researched first book, A Book of Middle Eastern Food (1968), transformed Western attitudes towards this then little-known cuisine. Claudia has also written authoritatively about Mediterranean, Italian and Jewish food. In her latest book, Arabesque she gives tips on cooking Middle Eastern food at home. The book takes readers on a mouthwatering culinary journey from Morocco through Turkey to Lebanon. This book has been a great inspiration for Wickedfood cooking school, especially our Middle Eastern cooking class, Moroccan cooking classes and Turkish cooking classes, See our recipe of the week for one of book’s dishes – Spinach and Beans with Caramelized Onions

Wickedfood Cooking School

Sunninghill – (011) 234-3252 sunninghill@wickedfood.co.za

Wickedfood Cooking School runs cooking classes throughout the year at its purpose-built cooking studios. Classes are run in the mornings and evenings 7 days a week (subject to a minimum of 12 people). The venue is also popular for corporate events and private functions – team building cooking classes, birthdays, kitchen teas, and dinner parties with a difference.

Our classes are hands-on, where every person gets to participate in the preparation of the dishes. They are also a lot of fun where you not only learn new skills, but get to meet people with similar interests. For corporate groups and teambuilding cooking classes these classes are a novel way of creating staff interaction or entertaining clients.