I've been slowly working my way through the recipes in the book and although I haven't finished all of them, I'm confident enough in them to give the book a high rating. The recipes are generally clear and the ingredients are easy to find (most of them are probably in your kitchen right now). After a while, you'll notice a lot of the recipes are similar; I imagine this is due to the fact that the family could pretty only eat what they were able to grow on the farm or buy and store for a long time. I like to think of the recipes as customizable. Once I know what they taste like (by following the exact instructions), I use them as a basis for further inspiration. My main suggestion is to reduce the salt in the recipes. Without refrigeration, salt helps keep things from spoiling. Now that we have refrigerators, there's no need to eat fistfuls of salt.

In addition to the recipes themselves, Salloum provides background about his family and about the foods he's selected to feature. Arab Cooking on a Prairie Homestead was incredibly informative, and I'd like to purchase a (digital) copy someday so I can more easily find what I'm looking for.

This is an interesting memoir, and a delicious cookbook. I wish that the cookbook had pictures, so I could see whether the dishes I made looked the way they are supposed to, but taste matters more than looks, which these recipes do deliver!

While the recipes are authentic and relatively easy to prepare, the personal added flavor of a memoir makes this book worth keeping as a personal copy.

This was incredibly interesting to read -- not just for the delicious recipes, but for Mr. Salloum's experiences and stories of growing up as an "Arab Cooking on a Prairie Homestead". The book had a very personal feeling and history that I felt enriched just by reading his family stories.

Part memoir, part cookbook, this book chronicles the saga of Arab immigrants to Canada. The author, a Syrian immigrated with his parents to Saskatchewan.

The first two chapters chronicle the family's first years in Canada during the Depression. The third chapter looks at the overall situation of Arab immigrants and their children.

The remainder of the book is a cookbook, with chapters dedicated to recipes for specific ingredients. The recipes look good and cover all parts of a meal. However, all measurement in the book are in metric, which limits its usefulness to cooks in the US.

Arabian recipes to make and taste in your own kitchen ........

This is a fascinating book about the Arab cuisine that was brought to Canada by immigrants. The author’s family came to Canada from Syria in the 1920s - just in time for the Great Depression. They became farmers on the prairies, and their experiences from their dry homeland stood them in excellent stead as they had to contend with successive droughts. The family brought with them knowledge of plants, such as lentils, that grew well in adverse conditions, and food preservation techniques and cooking styles that meant, that although they were very poor, they remained very well fed and healthy.
The first three chapters relate the family’s personal story, and the story of the general Arab immigration to Canada. The next section of chapters, while retaining a personal touch, are each dedicated to a main foodstuff eaten by the family, beginning with the basic building blocks of a meal – Burghul, Yoghurt, Kishk (a cheese), Qawarma (like French rillettes), Chickpeas, Lentils and Broad beans -then moving on to additional ingredients such as garlic, Dandelion, Mint, Olives, Zucchini, Tomatoes, Potatoes, Saskatoons and Figs. The culinary history of each of these ingredients is briefly discussed, their nutritional and traditional medicinal values, and then there is a selection of recipes using that particular ingredient. The last section contains groups of recipes for meal types, such as pies, Arab stews, Stuffed vegetables and Arab pastries. Most of the recipes given are family recipes, but some come from the author’s tours of Arab countries, or have been adapted by the author to include spices that were unavailable in Canada when he was growing up (but had been used traditionally in Syria).
This is a quite different set-up to traditional western cookbooks, where the sections are starters, mains (divided by meat type, or fish), sides and desserts. Here you pick your (usually) starch ingredient – then decide what to cook it with. So, meat, fish and vegetarian recipes are scattered throughout the book. Whether you are omnivore, vegetarian or vegan, there are plenty of recipes to keep you going, but not separate sections devoted to each.
The recipes are all simple to follow, and most of the ingredients (except saskatoons) easy and cheap to get hold of. When meat is used, the quantities are smaller than in many Western recipes, and with cheaper cuts of meat. The recipes have imperial measures on the left and metric measures on the right, which make them much more straightforward to read and less prone to confusion than the usual side by side measures given before the ingredients. As the recipes are designed to feed a large family, they are general given in quantities to feed 6 – 8 people. However, there is seldom any difficulty in adapting them to a meal for two or more. Some of the recipes list ‘cilantro’ in the ingredients, but use ‘coriander’ in the method, which may cause some confusion, but that was the only flaw I noticed.
Many of the recipes are accompanied by a Syrian proverb or saying. Some are specific to Arabic countries, such as “Trust in God, but tie up your camel”; some are universally true: “An army of sheep led by a lion would defeat an army of lions led by a lamb”; and others just made me giggle: “whoever gets between the onion and its skin will get nothing but its stink” and “They said to the mule ‘Who is your father?’ He said, ‘The horse is my uncle’.
I have so far tried six of the recipes: lentil and meat stew, garlic chicken, potato and sumach appetizer, eggs and potato omelet, fish stew with rice, and chicken and rice stew. All were excellent, and I have my eye on many more to try.
There are no photos of the food, but that is not a problem. This book is all about nutritious, good, filling food – not about aesthetics. I also suspect, that a lot of the recipes will look pretty much the same – but with different tastes and textures, that would not come out in a photo.
I really enjoyed reading this book, and trying the recipes. It proves, beyond doubt, that it is now – as in the Depression years of the 1920s – that it is very possible to feed a family healthy, nutritious and very tasty food on a limited budget.
I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

As mentioned in the Foreword, "written by the son of homesteaders from Syria, this book brings to light the experiences of Arab settlers whose contribution to the history of Canada is not well known," this combination bio/Canadian history/cookbook, captures the imagination through all the aromas taken in from reading the mouth-watering recipes. This new edition of the 2005 original, arrives in a timely manner, reminding readers of the great contributions immigrants to various countries have made in their new land. I am enlightened by the historical context with which food and recipes have been intertwined with family stories and am reminded that old prejudices still persist; that there will always be immigrants; and that their existence among us is always a cause for celebration. To conclude, here is my own line from Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam--"Strange, is it not? that of the myriads who Before us pass'd the door of Darkness through, Not one returns to tell us of the Road, Which to discover we must travel too."

Generally the sole purpose of a cookbook is to instruct the reader how to cook. However, Arab Cooking on a Prairie Homestead: Recipes and Recollections from a Syrian Pioneer by Habeeb Salloum, is also a fascinating memoir that is great for curling up and reading. While one doesn’t usually think of pioneers, especially Arab pioneers, homesteading in Canada, this book details the author’s family, how they introduced crops from their homeland to Canada, and gives recipes for the author’s childhood favorites as well as dishes he ate during his travels in his later life.

Middle Eastern food is extremely trendy at present, and this excellent book has dozens of mouthwatering recipes to prepare and eat while reading the stories and vignettes in the book. Ingredients such as chickpeas, olives, zucchini, tahini, fresh mint, lamb, tomatoes, and yogurt are used in many of the recipes, all of which turn out picture perfect. That is, as picture perfect as an imagination can be, since there are no pictures of the dishes in the book. There are, however, a few family pictures in the memoir sections, which help, but a cookbook that has recipes as good as this one should have pictures, since pictures spark the imagination and assist cooks in deciding what to cook at any given time.

Rather than organizing the book into chapters like most cookbooks, i.e., appetizers, breads, salads, etc., this book is divided into sections featuring a single ingredient such as lentils, chickpeas, broad beans, garlic, zucchini, etc. This is nice when searching for something to make when you have an excess of something on hand. Most of the recipes sound appetizing, and the instructions and ingredient lists are succinct and easy to follow. Most importantly, every recipe I tried turned out delicious. Salloum’s version of Zucchini and Eggs is one of the best I’ve tasted, and it used up excess garden produce. The simple Tomato Mint Salad has become a go-to at my house, since it’s quick, easy, and delicious. We also love the Stuffed Potatoes and Yogurt Potato Salad. The Fish Fillet Baked in Tahini was a little more involved, but absolutely worth it; it is definitely worth making again.

The desserts in the book are also excellent; the Arab Shortbread is addicting, and very easy to make. The Fig Tarts are also delicious, and I plan to include them on my Christmas buffet table this year.

All told, Arab Cooking on a Prairie Homestead: Recipes and Recollections from a Syrian Pioneer is a nice cookbook for those who like to follow trends and keep themselves up-to-date on the delicious dishes from the Middle East. It is recommended for everyone who likes to cook new, innovative dishes, and anyone who doesn’t need pictures to inspire them.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

I was expecting this to be a full cookbook so I was a little disappointed to find it only had recipes in less than half of the book. I did find some good recipes and I did read a little bit of the beginning of the book as well, but I was seeking an Arab cookbook so it wasn't exactly what I was looking for.

Habeeb Salloum has written his fascinating autobiography. How his Syrian family settled in Canada and the hardships they encountered. For me, a vegetarian, the majority of the recipes were a disappointment. However, some of the chickpea, zucchini, and potato recipes sound simple and delicious.

This book was given to me for free via Netgalley for an honest review. This book is published September 30, 2017

Super interesting recipes! I think this is a winner because I don't believe I have ever seen a cookbook with this type of cuisine before - so unique!

I enjoyed reading the family's story and all the anecdotes throughout the book. While the recipes look interesting, and I may try a few, most middle eastern food doesn't appeal to me. But I have friends and family who love it! So maybe this book will become gifts! Loads of recipes to try for those interested in middle east cookery. Syrian, Greek, Arab and other recipes.

In the 1920s, Salloum's parents left French Mandate Syria for the vast plains of Saskatoon, where the traditional crops they introduced thrived in the scorching Dust Bowl conditions, allowing the family to survive and build agricultural industries still driving exports in the province today. Salloum's book is a memoir (with excellent recipes) of isolated homesteading, the broadening disruption of WWII, and his family's one-generation assimilation into urban, professional Canadian middle class life. It is useful to be reminded that contemporary Syrian refugees are not the first to seek better futures across the Atlantic, and that they and their children bring valuable knowledge and labor to the countries where they settle.

Not my cup of tea. Disappointing since I love Middle Eastern cooking