Cookbook Spotlight: Healthy Syrian and Lebanese Cooking (Helen Corey)

Readers of this blog will have noticed that many of the recipes I use come from Helen Corey's  Healthy Syrian and Lebanese Cooking, which my husband bought approximately one minute after returning to the United States from Damascus because he was so jazzed about the food. At the time, it was one of the very few Syrian cookbooks 1) still in print 2) not astronomically expensive; now, I'm excited to report, there are many.

Post on this lovely dish to come!

Corey's cookbook is comprehensive but not without its flaws. I've tested some recipes where the ingredient proportions seem a bit off and others whose authenticity was dubious. But in large part it was a very good introduction to the Syrian culinary ouevre.

Let's see where this leads me. Probably to cooking more Syrian food. Duh.

Now that I have my feet wet, it's time to move on, which is why I just purchased Marlene Matar's The Aleppo Cookbook: Celebrating the Legendary Cuisine of Syria. Look for one last (but not really) post on the recipe for sheesh barak (lamb dumplings) from the Corey cook, then more adventures with Matar.