Mesopotamian Kitchen  المطبخ العراقي

a documentary about food in Iraq

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based on Nawal Nasrallah’s

DELIGHTS FROM THE GARDEN OF EDEN

NAWAL NASRALLAH

author and culinary guide

Praise for Nawal’s Delights from the Garden of Eden

‘This cookbook is more than an introduction to Iraqi cuisine. It is in fact an introduction to Arab cooking in general researched with the kind of depth not seen before in a cookbook of the Arab world and Middle East.’
From the Foreword of the forthcoming second edition by Clifford A. Wright, author of  A Mediterranean Feast

'A culinary odyssey through 8,000 years of Mesopotamian culture and some of the world’s oldest recipes, preserved on 3,700-year old cuneiform tablets.'
Ralph Blumenthal, New York Times


'A monument to energy, knowledge and enthusiasm. It is an account of origins and development as well as of the complex ethnic make-up of present-day Iraq.'
Tom Jaine, Petits Propos Culinaires

'Delights from the Garden of Eden
is a project of meticulous and thorough research. Not only Iraqis will be proud of Nawal’s achievement in presenting information, known in the main only to specialized Assyriologists and anthropologists, in such an accessible and easy-to-read volume.

Thank you Nawal, for introducing this rich cuisine to anglophone readers. The dishes we’ve cooked so far have tasted delicious.'
Margaret Obank, Banipal


'There are over 400 recipes, and the ones I have tried are wonderful. But although the recipes are in a way the main point of a cookbook, in another way they are here a mere vehicle for the stories, the food lore, the proverbs, the poetry, the word play and the sociological tidbits that Nasrallah has to share.'
Christine Barbour, Herald Times of Bloomington, IN


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Links:

--New York Times article on Nawal and her Delights from the Garden of Eden  (April 2, 2003)

  Taking Comfort From an Unexpected Source - NYTimes.com



--An article by Nawal on the national Iraqi cookie Kleicha:

THE IRAQI COOKIE  KLEICHA, AND THE SEARCH FOR IDENTITY

in REPAST. VOLUME XXIV, NUMBER 4. FALL 2008. Pp 4 ff.

     Sweets from the Middle East (Part 1)



--Article by Nawal  in Boston Globe Magazine (March 9, 2008)

An Iraqi Meal - The Boston Globe



-- One of Nawal’s  eggplant recipes that featured in Food and Wine Magazine (Non. 2007):

Iraqi Lamb and Eggplant Stew with Pitas Recipe - Jessie Sheidlower ...



-- Arab American Museum  award for Nawal’s English translation of 10th-century Baghdadi cookbook Annals of trhe Caliphs’ Kitchens (2008)

2008 Book Award Winners


An email Nawal received from a U.S. soldier serving in Iraq:


subject: You helped me a long time ago

date:  12/08/05 04:44 AM


I received two books from you as a gift about a year and a half ago.  I am still in you home land and working in Mada'in and Narhawan.  I have made many friends with the people of Iraq, and trained many of the police.  What you gave me was more than a book, you gave me a link to the people.  When I knew of some of the foods all were delighted.  
Anyway I will be home over Christmas,  so I am looking forward to that.  
All is not as bad as they are saying on television, and nearly all of the people here want to have a better life for the children.
Thanks again

Phillip


Copyright © 2011 Jean Marie Offenbacher. All rights reserved.