Great source of inspiration for less common spices and flavors. Lovely recipes, great background info, and nice organization/flow of information. This book is good for those that live both near and far of Sahadi’s.

I love the concept of this book. It introduces the reader to a number of common middle eastern ingredients and explains how to make the most of them. As a cook, I enjoy making new recipes, but sometimes shy away from recipes with "obscure" ingredients that I may not use again. Unfortunately, that can be really limiting! I love middle eastern food, and this book will definitely encourage me to expand my pantry since I'll be more confident about using ingredients for several different recipes.

Thank you to the publisher for giving me this ARC in exchange for a fair review.

A wonderful cookbook to learn to use the most essential spices of middle eastern cuisine. I loved the way it was divided by sour, savoury, hot, meaty and sweet. The recipes look so bright and tasty I want to try everything! Though I will admit I am big on tangy flavours so the first section of the book was perfect to suck me in.
There is the classic recipies but many are much more modern takes and perfect for family meals and people with less time of less ingredients at hand. Lots of things are not necessarily complicated but all look like they pack a punch of flavours.
The history of the book is also lovely, learning about the spice store in the family of the author explains a lot about her passion and knowledge.
This is really a cookbook I see myself going back to again and again. Absolutely love it!

As a serious collector of cookbooks it's not often that with every page I learn something new. This timeless Middle eastern cookbook is worth its weight in gold.

Like many others, my interest in dishes from the Middle East has grown. I used to be satisfied trying new, exotic dishes when I went out to eat. Then I began to notice increased availability of the spices used and I became more curious to try some of these recipes in my own home. This book was written for people exactly like me. The chapters are broken up into five sections: bright, savory, spiced, nutty and sweet. Each section provides recipes, descriptions, helpful tips and beautiful, mouth water images of the dishes. More than words and measurements on paper, the recipes are clear and informative, simple enough for even the most novice cook to attempt. I received a complimentary copy from the publisher via NetGalley and all opinions expressed are my own, freely given.

Sumac. Aleppo peppers. Date molasses, za’tar, preserved lemons. Until fairly recently, it required time and ingenuity to track down these staples of Middle Eastern cooking, most of which were rarely seen outside of ethnic markets in communities with large immigrant populations.

As New York City’s oldest continually operating speciality food store, Sahadi’s has been importing and selling Middle Eastern provisions and prepared food for over a hundred years. They have helped generations of cooks who immigrated from Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, and beyond, keep cherished family traditions alive, while at the same time introducing a new generation of chefs and home cooks to unfamiliar and exciting new flavours.

Christine Sahadi Whelan has arranged the recipes in ‘Flavours of the Sun’ by the broad flavour profiles that characterize Middle Eastern cooking: Bright, Savory, Spiced, Nutty, and Sweet.

Bright: Tart, Tangy, Citrusy, using Hibiscus, Pomegrate Molasses, Preserved Lemons, Sumac and Pickled Vegetables.

Savory: Earthy, Salty, Herbaceous, using Feta Cheese, Nigella, Za’tar, Olives and Mint.

Spiced: Hot, Warming, Smoky, using Harissa, Ras El Hanout, Berbere, Shawarma Spices, Aleppo Pepper and Urfa Pepper.

Nutty: Rich, Meaty, Satisfying, using Pistachios, Tahini, Basmati Rice, Mastic, Dried Beans, Pine Nuts and Dukkah.

Sweet: Light, Floral, Delicate, using Natural Flower Waters, Dried Fruit, Date Syrup, Honey, Halvah and Mahlab.

‘Flavours of the Sun’ not only contains 120 accessible and inspirational Middle Eastern recipes together with beautiful photographs by Kristin Teig, but is also a magical treasury for the palate and as comprehensive a guide to vibrant ingredients and flavours as one could wish to find.

A huge thank you to @NetGalley and @chroniclebooks for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I just love Middle Eastern food and this book gives you so much! It is more of an encyclopedia of ingredients and flavors than just a cookbook. I like how it is segregated by “tastes”. It gives you the opportunity to create your own ideas in addition to trying the fabulous recipes that are already provided. I also like how certain ingredients are featured with lists of common uses. This may be my favorite Middle Eastern cookbook ever. Just perfect.

Eastern cuisine was always something that I wanted to try but somehow never had the chance. Now I have no more excuses and I will have to start cooking some delicious dishes. Of course, some of the ingredients might not be available where I live (I mean, avocado is still a tropical wonder here!) but some of the recipes would be perfectly doable (makable? :D) and I can't wait to try them out.