A+ for ease to follow. A+ for introducing new spices. I really enjoyed this cookbooks. I tried several of the recipes. If you don't have access to a middle eastern store, no worries. I bought my spices on Amazon or elsewhere on the internet.

Buy a copy for yourself and pick up a couple to give as gifts.

So many yummy Middle Eastern recipes. You won't be disappointed with Flavors of the Sun. The beautiful pictures will make you wish you had all those dishes in front of you.
ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

One of my favorite cuisines to cook (and eat) is middle eastern, so I was super excited to get approved for this one! It did not disappoint. The book is divided into the following chapters...BRIGHT, SAVORY, SPICED, NUTTY, SWEET, and MENUS. Each chapter is well laid out with information about ingredients, easy to follow recipes and plenty of yummy looking photos! I can definitely see myself picking this one up to use repeatedly!

**ARC Via NetGalley**

This is one of the best cookbooks I've found in 2021. The recipes are well written and presented, and the organization makes sense. I tried several recipes from the book, to rave reviews, and also found even those that seemed like they would be more complex to be easy to follow. Highly recommended. I bought this for my personal library and to give as gifts.

Thank you to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for the opportunity to review an advanced copy of Flavors of the Sun. I was drawn to the cover and title of this cookbook and was not disappointed by the clear and practical recipes and advice with the focal point of flavors and foods found in the Middle East. Artistic and lovely photographs complement delicious recipes that will be both familiar and unfamiliar to readers. A comprehensive guide that will be at home in any cookbook collection!

For anyone who loves Middle Eastern food, Flavors of the Sun: The Sahadi’s Guide to Understanding, Buying, and Using Middle Eastern Ingredients by Middle Eastern Food expert, Christine Sahadi Whelan, is amazing. Not only does it have information on little known and well-known ingredients, but also includes fabulous recipes to make with those ingredients.

This is the most comprehensive book on Middle Eastern ingredients I have ever seen, and it will not only have a prominent place on my cookbook shelf, but will be used constantly. Middle Eastern food connoisseurs probably have unique ingredients such as Ras al Hanout, pomegranate molasses, preserved lemons, and sumac (to name a few) in their cupboards, and have used them in the past to make one or two dishes. This cookbook names those ingredients and then gives numerous different ways to use those ingredients. The book is divided into five different chapters, each covering several ingredients: Bright, Savory, Spiced, Nutty, and Sweet. In each category, there is information on choosing, storing, and cooking with the ingredients.

The cookbook is well-organized, and it is very easy to find an ingredient and what to do with it. There are beautiful photographs of most of the dishes. The recipes are written in the traditional way and are easy-to-follow for anyone with beginning to advanced cooking skills.

If you aren’t familiar with Middle Eastern ingredients, you’ll need to take a trip to a good Middle Eastern grocery store with a list from this cookbook, but it will be fun and definitely well-worth it. The dishes are mouthwatering and will appeal to almost everyone, so the ingredients won’t be wasted.
If you are tempted by the flavors and health benefits of Middle Eastern cooking, this is a “must have” cookbook. It is definitely worth more than five stars.

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

This is how I want to eat every day! "Flavors of the Sun" is rich with the tastes of lemon, sumac, cumin and cinnamon. The recipes glow with brightness and health.

When I review a new cookbook, I use it to make my shopping list for our family’s dinners for the week. Recipes I chose from “Flavors” included Fattoush, Harissa Mac and Cheese, Sheet Pan Chicken thighs with Sumac and Delicate Squash, and Spicy Escarole with Beans and Eggs. All were big hits with the family, and except for the Mac and Cheese, will enter the permanent meal rotation. (Although the addition of harissa to what is close to my own mac and cheese recipe was tasty, it didn’t fill the same craving that the traditional version does!)

There are plenty more recipes that I intend to try as the weather starts to cool off, including the Sweet-and Sour Beef Hand Pies and the Pomegranate-Roasted Beets with Goat Cheese.

I certainly envy New Yorkers their easy access to Sahadi’s take out counter where many of the dishes are available on demand. And I appreciate their being made available to us West Coasters!


I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Beautiful cookbook with gorgeous photos and delicious looking recipes. I plan to work through and try them all!

Flavors of the Sun by Christine Sahadi Whelan

9781452182452

352 Pages
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Release Date: September 7, 2021

Nonfiction, Food & Wine, Cooking, Middle Eastern, Lebannon

The book is divided into five sections. There is also a menu section at the end of the book.

Bright: Hibiscus, Pomegranate Molasses, Preserved Lemons, Sumac, Pickled Vegetables
Savory: Feta Cheese, Nigella, Za’Atar Olives, Mint
Spiced: Harissa, Ras El Hanout, BerBere, Shawarma Spices, Aleppo Pepper, Urfa Pepper
Nutty: Pistachios, Tahini, Basmati Rice, Mastic, Dried Beans, Pine Nuts, Dukkah
Sweet: Natural Flower Waters, Dried Fruit, Date Syrup, Honey, Halvah, Mahlab

Each of the sections covers drinks & starters, salads & sides, entrees, and sweets. The photography in the book is beautifully done. There are also photos that show the history of the family store, Shadi Importing Co. I have been trying a couple of recipes at a time. Most of the ingredients are readily available. I think my favorites are blueberry melon salsa, and spicy escarole and beans., easy meat filling, and sweet and spicy nut brittle. The spices are good, but I learned that a little goes a long way. This book is excellent for anyone that wants to learn Lebanese cooking.

These recipes look so yummy I wish I could have them in front of me right now. They were very unique and unlike anything I've seen in recipes before.

if you live or visit New York and have any interest in Middle Eastern cuisine a visit to Sahadis’ food emporium is a requirement. Christine Sahadi Whelan scion of the family lays out how to use that array of spices and condiments with exotic names such as Ras el hanout or Dukkah. She explains why one should always purchase feta cheese in brine instead of those tasteless containers of dry crumbles. She reminds you to carefully read the label when selecting pomegranate molasses or orange flower water which has a real affinity for chocolate, Who knew? Sahadi Whelan shares the authority of an Arab Christian family whose approach to cooking is based on how the actual condiment should be used . These are then grouped into five categories : bright, savory , spiced, nutty, and sweet . So instead of looking at the traditional presentation of recipes as : appetizers, soups, main dish etc. we are introduced to Aleppo pepper and shown a myriad number of ways to inventively use it in all kinds of dishes that will delight the palate. Recipes for all your favorite Middle Eastern dishes are here, I might add. There is fattoush, the fresh salad of vegetables and crunchy pita bread chips or red lentil soup which can be whipped up in short time and is always delicious. This marvelous book sent me searching my local Armenian market looking for preserved lemons (best from Morocco). Since I only found a jar from Egypt I decided to pass and may buy them through mail order now that I know what I should be looking for. Maybe I will try my hand at the recipe for ‘Paula Wolfert’s preserved lemons’. Speaking of Paula Wolfert and Yotem Ottolenghi and other amazing cooks who over the years have introduced fans to this ancient cuisine , Flavors of the Sun belongs solidly next to those other authors on your bookshelf. With its beautiful illustrations I look forward to adding a physical copy to my collection as soon as it is available.

Flavors of the Sun has amazingly gorgeous photography. I just wish I could get inside of the pictures to get a little slice of Tahini Brownies or a slice of Rose Almond Olive Oil Cake, and a glass of Pomegranate Cranberry Sangria. Really interesting recipes highlighting Middle Eastern spices and ingredients make it easy to want to make almost all of the recipes here. And this book has everything: from entrée to dessert. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are present here. And none of the recipes feel difficult or burdensome to make. It's truly a delight of a cookbook.

Flavors of the Sun by Christine Sahadi Whelan
The Sahadi’s Guide to Understanding, Buying and Using Middle Eastern Ingredients

Married in 1978, I moved to Lebanon. Before coming I tried to learn a few words of Arabic and what foods might be offered when I arrived. Forty-three years later I read cookbooks with ingredients I can’t find easily here in Lebanon giving up on many unless I am aware of substitutions I can make. THIS book is quite the opposite as every single recipe in this book is one that I thought about making almost immediately and could taste mentally without any difficulty at all. It was a joy to read and I will be recommending it to my family and friends.

What I liked:
* The history of the family that founded Sahadi’s in New York.
* Reading about a family that survived and thrived and how they did so.
* Thinking about relatives of my husband’s family that I have never met because they left long ago for South America, America and other countries.
* The gorgeous photographs from the past along with the photos of finished recipes
* The information about ingredients and what to look for when buying them
* That multiple ways to use an ingredient were provided along with recipes to try them in
* That ingredients were used in multiple meal course offerings
* The fact that many generations of the Sahadi family have been and continue to be involved in the family business
* Wanting to try recipes that had interesting new ways for me to use local ingredients
* The beverages that incorporated more than one ingredient
* Reading portions of the book aloud to my Lebanese husband and having him say it would be fun to visit the shop in New York
* The recipes for some foods that I have always wanted to try but have only seen recipes written down in Arabic for.
* The excellent index that would make finding recipes easy
* The menus listed at the end that utilize the recipes in the book
* All of it…absolutely!

What I didn’t like:
* Not a dislike but a quandary…and that was that I couldn’t figure out WHICH recipe to try making first!

Thank you to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars

Oh my! Oh my, my, my! What beautiful recipes and flavor pallets are included in this Cookbook!

As I’m getting older, I’m really loving to spend more time in the kitchen, trying new dishes and expanding my knowledge on flavor combinations. I can get heartburn just looking at a pepper, so for most of my life I’ve been pretty plain jane with my cooking. But I’ve started to realize that I can cook with so many spices, more than I thought I could, and keep the heat very mild so that I don’t have any physical side effects.

So, I feel basically like a new cook in the kitchen in many ways, especially with foods from different cultures around the world. When I saw the Flavors of the Sun Cookbook, I knew that I simply had to read it! And I’m so happy that I did.

My husband walked in the kitchen, looked over my shoulder at my pc and promptly pulled up a chair, completely forgetting what he came in for.

Him: “What is that?”
Me: “I don’t know.”
Him: “What does that spice taste like”
Me: “I don’t know.”
Him: “Can you get that at the grocery store?”
Me: “I don’t know.”
Him: “What do you think that tastes like?”
Me: “I don’t know.”
Him: “Everything looks so good!”
Me: “Yeeesssss”
Him: “How soon can we try these?”
Me: “Soon!”

With recipes like Rosewater Marshmallows, Quinoa Tabbouleh with Chickpeas, Alicia’s Saffron Chicken Soup, Spicy Beef Kebabs with Tzatziki, all different flavors of Hand Pies, Christmas Rice and Hibiscus Shortbread Icebox Cookies, there are some seriously amazing dishes in here!

I’ve basically no experience with Middle Eastern dishes but I now need to obtain a few of these spices and start making some of these beautiful recipes!!

The photos are luscious and so very beautiful! This Cookbook would be a fantastic edition to any kitchen!

Thank you to #ChronicleBooks and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

How I adore this book and I can't wait to add a copy to my kitchen bookshelf! Much more than just a cookbook, it tells the story of a family, their journey to America and the history of the iconic Sahadi's Market, first established in 1898.

The organization of the book is divided into categories most cookbooks are not -- bright, spiced, savory, nutty, and sweet - all of the Flavors of the Sun. This book is full of time-honored recipes that showcase unique Middle Eastern and North African ingredients like preserved lemons, Aleppo peppers, Za'atar and hibiscus. The recipes are uncomplicated and full of bright, fresh ingredients. The photos sprinkled throughout the book are lovely and I feel as though I'm sitting at a cozy farmhouse kitchen in a foreign land, surrounded by gardens, fruit trees and olive groves.

Flavors of the Sun is a terrific book by Christine Sahadi Whelan. The book is about middle eastern food and ingredients, written by the owner of Sahadi's specialty market. She breaks down the book in categories - Bright, savory, spiced, nutty, and sweet - with detailed information about how to use middle eastern food/spices, along with recipes. Already tried the whipped feta spread recipe and it was easy to make plus super tasty! Book includes 10 ways to use different ingredients like za'atar, preserved lemons and mint. Love this book and would recommend to everyone! Combination of unique and attainable recipes.

#FlavorsoftheSun #NetGalley Such a lovely and comprehensive ode to middle eastern cuisine. I'm very excited to try the surprising combinations I've never tried before.

Makes you want to lick the photos…

LOL I know, weird, but when you read this book you will want to do the same! Part history, part shopping list, and all parts delicious recipes, this guide book was just that. A ticket to another world of cooking and shopping. A sneak peek behind a successful business that has kept true to its roots while expanding to include all lovers of flavour.

I mentioned the photos and they are worth mentioning again. They make me wish I were a better cook as they display the ingredients in raw form as well as their delicious end state. From the freshest of veggies, to spices familiar and totally foreign, there is a recipe for everyone. Split into different categories, you can hone in on the tart or the savory, the sweet and tangy. There is something (to me) new and exciting in each to try.

I have the first things already at the top of my list to try – Hibiscus Shortbread Icebox Cookies and the Spatchcocked Chicken with Preserved Lemon Marinade. These will be dishes to discover first-hand while shared with family and friends…

The e-book was laid out well and one of the better cookbooks to do so. Still, I can’t wait to find this in print form!

Christine Sahadi Whelan introduces the beginner and the professional to middle eastern ingredients in the ideal way. Not overwhelming, the book is laid out with fantastic descriptions for everyone to enjoy

I love getting to know more about different cuisines and their ingredients and this book is perfect to get to know some ingredients and how to use them. With some of them I am familiar but still I was happy to get new ideas. The recipes are easy to follow and they look delicious, I can't wait to try to make some of them. I love that it offers more ideas or ways on how to use different ingredients.