Flavors of the Sun by Christine Sahadi Whelan is an amazing book with so many photos and delicious sounding recipes that I can't wait to try. So many new and old flavors used together to create some fantastic looking food.

I absolutely Love the concept of this cookbook. Many times, we buy specialty ingredients to make one dish and then have no idea what to do with them unless we make that same dish again. This book gives you an abundance of ideas on what to do with those fun flavors like sumac and za'tar, feta, and several other wonderful Mediterranean flavors. This opens up a world of possibilities of new recipes. This is a must have for any home cook who enjoys Mediterranean flavors.

Wow… this book was so fun and with some gorgeous pictures. Middle East foods with sourcing ingredients and some wicked looking food!

What did I like? Such an unusual book laced with gorgeous pictures and yummy looking recipes. An easy guide to helping you understand ingredients of the Middle East and what to look for. The recipes themselves look easy and if those pictures are anything to go by…some enjoyable food.

I received a complimentary copy to read and voluntarily left a review!

I received a digital advanced reader copy from the publisher and have already preordered a hard copy for myself. The photos are beautiful, colorful and there are a lot of them! The book is broken down into five sections: bright, savory, spiced, nutty, sweet. Each section focuses on a few different middle eastern ingredients. What has me hooked, is that the author explains each of these ingredients, what they are, where they come from, what their used for, and most importantly, how to find good quality. She doesn't stop there though, she goes beyond by giving several recipe for each ingredient too. This is so much more than just another cookbook, and so much more than just a guide to middle eastern ingredients. It is an absolute must for any foodie!

The chapters of this recipe book are divided into specific flavors such as: Bright, Savory, Spiced, Nutty and Sweet. The author then guides you through the history of her cuisine and the history of her family's Middle Eastern store, Sahadi's, and the way it has impacted people's acceessibility to Middle Eastern ingredients and cuisine.
You will learn how to preserve lemons, which will add zest to your favorite dishes, make almond relish, pickle cauliflower, and make a glaze from pomegranates.
You will learn to cook vegetables, chicken, spices, and marinades in a new, healthy way your family will love!
Learn how to make spicy beef hand pies that your children will love!
Buy this book and go on a flavorful adventure!

Middle Eastern cuisine has something I have always wanted to spend more time experimenting with, but was always slightly apprehensive of the long list of unknown ingredients and where I might find them.

This book was easy to navigate, and although there were still some ingredients I had issues sourcing, the few recipes I did try to make were delicious.

4 delicious stars. What a sumptuous feast for the eyes and belly! So many tasty looking recipes that look delicious, authentic, and, most importantly, accessible and not too difficult to make for home cooks of all skill level. Plus, it was wonderful learning about the traditional ingredients of this cuisine and the myriad of ways they can be incorporated into everyday cooking and baking.

For those interested in exploring the flavors of Middle Eastern cuisine, this is an excellent introduction. With chapters based on flavor profiles, you'll find information about the ingredients with these profiles followed by recipes for all parts f the meal that use them.

As soon as I saw that an advance copy of this book was available from NetGalley, I grabbed it. Flipping through the pages (well, the e-pages, anyway) brought back wonderful memories of shopping in the Sahadi store on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn back when we were a young married couple. As you might expect, the photos are gorgeous, but it’s the content that really shines. The subtitle says it all: The Sahadi’s Guide to Understanding, Buying and Using Middle Eastern Ingredients. The book is not organized in typical cookbook fashion (appetizers, main dishes, side dishes, etc.). Instead it is organized into flavor profiles: Bright, Savory, Spiced, Nutty, and Sweet. Within each category, a few ingredients are explored in depth, with recipes and lots of suggestions for other ways to use the ingredient (such as pomegranate molasses, preserved lemons, za’atar seasoning, feta cheese, harissa, Aleppo pepper, pistachios, tahini, date syrup, and halvah). I can’t wait to get my hands on a print copy!

Thank you to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

This book is a treat for the eyes and the heart. Sahadi Whelan takes us on a journey to places known and unknown by American readers but always delicious. Readers will be clamoring to try every recipe.

I've thoroughly enjoyed learning to incorporate Middle Eastern flavors into my meals with the influx of cookbooks from the region in recent years. Flavors of the Sun is another standout in this genre and offers flavorful and colorful dishes that can be added to your weekly family dinner rotation. The recipes are matched with beautiful photography that spotlights the healthy and mouthwatering ingredients. I'd love to have this book in my kitchen!

Thank you to Chronicle Books and NetGalley for this ARC.

Thank you Chronicle Books and Netgalley for the Arc to read and review.

FLAVORS OF THE SUN

If you obsess over Middle Eastern Cuisine like I do you cannot live without this book. Concise and expert information about the core flavors of the cuisine are paired with scrumptious recipes.

Highly recommend for everyone who has adventurous food spirit.

This is an incredible cookbook. It's full of information and gorgeous illustrations. It also avoids one of the most bothersome pitfalls of every single cookbooks I've ever read. Cookbooks that incorporate exotic or unusual ingredients often wind up with you buying an ingredient that languishes in the back of your cabinet, going to waste. However, this one includes a variety of ways to use up that ingredient, with not only multiple recipes to use each ingredient, but also sections that have 10 helpful ways to incorporate that ingredient into everyday recipes. What a brilliant idea!

As a co-owner of New York City's oldest continually operating specialty food store, Sahadi is at the head of a NY institution. They've been in business for more than a century, and clearly know what they're doing. She shares information about the ingredients, where they're sourced, and how to tell if they're quality, in addition to providing an incredible range of recipes.

The recipes themselves are broken down by flavor profile - bright (tart, tangy, citrusy), savory (earthy, salty, herbaceous), spiced (hot, warming, smoky), nutty (rich, meaty, satisfying), and sweet (light, floral, delicate). There are recipes for salads, meats, fish, vegetables, grains, potatoes, breads, desserts, you name it. There's even a section included for menus, such as holiday gatherings or outdoor gatherings. Interspersed are historical photos of Sahadi's and the story of her own family.

I can't even tell you how many recipes I've bookmarked. As someone who has traveled to the Middle East, many of these flavors and recipes are familiar, but more aren't. They aren't limited to one country or region - they come from the entire Middle East, from Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Morocco, Israel, and more. It's an incredible book, so don't do yourself a disservice and miss out on this one.

I really enjoyed this brilliant cookbook, Flavors of the Sun. The recipes are partnered with gorgeous photography and clear instructions. I tried several of the recipes in the book, and they were fantastic. I especially recommend the tahini brownies, which are simple to downsize if you’re not cooking for too many people.

I read the book cover to cover and felt like I travelled around the globe. The recipes combine new flavors with familiar ingredients and techniques. Definitely worth a look if you miss traveling.

I've been wanting to get more into this style of cooking, so I was delighted to be approved for an ARC of this! Flavors of the Sun is delightful, creative, visually pleasing, and easy to follow. Christine Sahadi Whelan has done a fantastic job with putting this together, and it's actually even kind of changed the way I look at cooking and food. More than anything, Flavors of the Sun makes me excited to create connections with food, and I think that that's something I haven't gotten out of cookbooks before. Definitely recommend!

I received Flavors of the Sun as part of a NetGalley giveaway.

Once considered foreign and obscure by mainstream America, Middle Eastern cuisine has become ubiquitous in the last 10-15 years. Flavors of the Sun explores the diverse spices and ingredients used in the region in an array of contexts, from drinks to desserts.

Flavors of the Sun has a lovely presentation with gorgeous photography that evokes the tastes and smells that are the staples of Middle Eastern cuisine. The chapters are divided by "taste": bright, savory, spiced, nutty, and sweet, which is a nice change of pace from most cookbooks divided by "type" of dish (appetizer, entree, etc.) or food (chicken, beef, etc.), The ingredients are fairly accessible, but some of the recipes may be best for an intermediate chef.

This cookbook has many tempting recipes because of the beautiful photos included. The recipes are categorized differently than your average cook book. Rather than sections on appetizers, main courses, and dessert, the author chooses to break down the sections in a novel way such as "Nutty." This allows for a focus of recipes that are all based on nuts with information about how central nuts are to daily life in the Middle East. The author goes beyond the recipes providing a wealth of knowledge about ingredients and how the ingredients have been sold in New York City since the late 1800s by her family. The authors passion and knowledge shines through in this cookbook.

I received a free e-ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Flavours of the Sun is a delightful addition to any home cook's library. Containing over 120 recipes, this cookbook is a love letter to Middle Eastern ingredients.
I really loved the layout of this book. It was easy to follow, and it's visually appealing, with plenty of colour and photographs. But what makes it special is how it is divided into five sections devoted to a 'type' of flavour: bright, spiced, sweet, savoury, and nutty. Within each section you explore around five to seven ingredients. For example, the chapter that introduces 'Nutty' flavours includes pistachios, tahini, basmati rice, mastic, dried beans, pine nuts, and dukkah.
To start with you're introduced to the ingredients and how they're used, then how to tell if the ingredient is good quality (i.e. what to look for when you're buying said ingredient), followed by suggestions for what you can serve it with. Harissa, apparently, goes well with fish and other seafood ingredients. The recipes are divided into sections such as 'Starters,' 'Entrées,' 'Soups, Salads and Side,' and 'Sweets.' There are also further sections with ideas about other ways you can use that ingredient. For example, mint can be used in a savoury marinade, or a minted strawberry lemonade, or even a mint chimichurri. The possibilities seem absolutely endless.
This cookbook is very much about encouraging home cooks to experiment with different ingredients, to change the recipes provided to suit your needs and tastes, and to incorporate the ingredients into your own recipes.
I also liked how there were menu ideas featured at the end of the book.

Flavours of the Sun is a must-have book for anyone who loves Middle Eastern flavours, and anyone who loves to experiment in the kitchen. I can't wait to buy a physical copies to give to my loved ones (and one for myself, of course!)

I love how this cookbook is divided up into different chapters based on taste - bright, savory, spiced, nutty, and sweet. This layout is very simple and I really like it. There are a lot of interesting dishes in this cookbook that I will have to try out.

I really loved this book - I found it to be incredibly informative, beautiful, and inspiring. Before picking it up I was familiar with Sahadis from social media but I have never been. Flavors of the Sun will give you a quick overview of the history of the multi-generational family business in Brooklyn while making you fall in love with Middle Eastern ingredients and the possibilities they hold in your kitchen. I am not exaggerating when I say that 90% of the 120 recipes shared in this book are recipes that I am eager to make.

I love that this book is centered around ingredients. It is broken into 5 sections: bright, spiced, sweet, savory, and nutty. Each section features 5-7 ingredients and dives further into each ingredient along with tips, tricks, and recipes to confidently incorporate them into your cooking. I already have most of these spices in my cabinet so I am thrilled to have some exciting new ways to use them, but if these are new to you the author offers helpful suggestions for how to find them and what to look for. At the end of the book she also provides menus ideas which I find helpful and inspiring.

Some standout recipes that I cannot wait to make: Grilled Whole Snapper with Preserved Lemon Vinaigrette, Chicken Kebabs with Toum, Za'atar Bloody Mary, Roast Fingerlings with Burrata and Mint Salsa, Portobellos Stuffed with Herbed White Beans, and Tahini Swirl Brownies.

I would recommend this book to any food and spice lover, or anyone interested in learning more about a Brooklyn business that has been around for so many years and has evolved as tastes in this country have. I will 100% be purchasing this book when it comes out and expect it will have stained pages from all of my cooking in no time.