Product Description

The Mediterranean is full of varied and diverse cuisines, but the one thing they all share is a basic reliance on bread. From Italian focaccia and French brioche to Lebanese tabouneh (sourdough pita) and Egyptian fiteer (flatbread), bread is the single most important staple in Mediterranean diets, and serves as the foundation for countless other savory dishes. In Savory Baking from the Mediterranean, Anissa Helou presents a collection of classic and favorite recipes that will provide home cooks with a broad overview of Mediterranean savory baking, from countless variations on flatbreads like pita, focaccia, and lavash, to raised breads such as French Bacon Bread, Greek Spinach and Olive Bread, and Italian Nut Bread. In addition, she offers recipes for a wide variety of pies, tarts, and savory pastries, such as calzones, empanadas, pizzas, and spanakopitta. Savory Baking from the Mediterranean is illustrated through out with 100 artful black and while photographs of landscapes, communities, and breads.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #177653 in Books
• Published on: 2007-08-01
• Released on: 2007-08-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 352 pages

From Publishers Weekly
In Helou's (Mediterranean Street Food) latest, breads that are often overlooked get a star turn: pitas that enfold spicy meats, pillowy focaccia that serves as a platter for rich tomato sauce and flatbreads used to scoop up hummus. Helou draws on cultures from around the region to offer everything from Piquitos (rich Spanish breadsticks) to Sicilian eggplant bread rolls, a lamb-filled Cretan Easter Pie to Moroccan Triangles with Minced Meat, with the similarities between ingredients and preparations demonstrating how much the cultures share despite national divisions. Along with entries as familiar and simple as the aptly named Regular Italian Bread and classic Neapolitan Pizza, Helou delves into less charted territory with recipes like the dazzling sweet Greek Holy Bread and the flavorful Lebanese Strained Yogurt Triangles. Unfortunately for a book about such a colorful region, the accompanying photos of bakers and breads are all in black and white, but home cooks who just want the goods will appreciate the straightforward, easy-to-follow steps and the often detailed remarks about ingredients, history and preparation that preface many of the recipes. Helou has created a paean to the foundation of Mediterranean food. (Aug.)
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Review
"...Hurray for [Anissa's] regional research. My copy bristles with many markers; my fingers yearn to plunge into the doughs." -- Carol Field, author of The Italian Baker, Celebrating Italy, and Italy in Small Bites

"...Hurray for [Anissa’s] regional research. My copy bristles with many markers; my fingers yearn to plunge into the doughs." -- Carol Field, author of The Italian Baker, Celebrating Italy, and Italy in Small Bites

"...a comprehensive look at a fascinating subject." -- Nancy Harmon Jenkins, author of Cucina del Sole

"...unlocks the mysteries of all these lovely little breads..." -- NPR.org

"Anissa has done it again; I wouldn't have believed it possible... Her newest contribution will inspire many bakers. " -- Mark H. Furstenberg, Founder of Marvelous Market and The BreadLine and co-owner of Ma-Mi Bistro and Bakery

"Anissa has done it again; I wouldn’t have believed it possible... Her newest contribution will inspire many bakers. -- Mark H. Furstenberg, Founder of Marvelous Market and The BreadLine and co-owner of Ma-Mi Bistro and Bakery

"Helou has created a paean to the foundation of Mediterranean food." -- Publishers Weekly

A New York Times Best Book of 2007 "If Western notions of ‘the Mediterranean diet’ are moving from naive cliches to better understanding, writers like Anissa Helou have had a lot to do with the change..." -- New York Times

I love the spirit of this book. -- Alice Waters, Chez Panisse

About the Author

Anissa Helou is a writer, journalist, and broadcaster. Born and raised in Beirut, Lebanon, she knows the Mediterranean as only a well-traveled native can. Lebanese Cuisine, her first book, was nominated for the prestigious Andre Simon Award and was named one of the best cookbooks of 1998 by the Los Angeles Times. Mediterranean Street Food was described by the New York Times as "a marvelous book." It won the Gourmand World Cookbook Award 2002 as the best Mediterranean cuisine book in English. Helou lives in London, where she has her own cooking school, Anissa's School. She appears frequently on British television and radio. She has written many articles for the Weekend Financial Times, and has contributed to several other publications including Gourmet, the Chicago Tribune, and the Washington Post. An accomplished photographer and intrepid traveler, Helou is fluent in French and Arabic as well as English.

Customer Reviews

Not on the Short List of Baking Books
Admittedly a book about flatbreads but not what I had hoped it would be. Recipes seem straightforward but not the most appetizing fare I could imagine, i.e., I would not use any of the recipes if I were preparing a meal for guests. It might be fun to play around with and experiment with some of the recipes but I can't imagine actually wanting to spend the time and effort making these breads. At best, it will fill a little-used niche in my collection of bread books. I can't recommend it for more than an esoteric group of bread bakers.

Good selection of savory recipes
Got what I needed from this book; a good selection of Mediterranean cracker, flatbread, rusk, etc. recipes not limited to the usual Italian suspects. The ones I have tried work as written, which is not always the case in baking books.

A few of the recipes seem to wander off to the very edge of what I would call savory baking, with meats and fish and other ingredients. You could consider this a bonus or not, as your temperament dictates.

No other book covers all of this ground, so this is the one you need.

Very good, though not what I expected
I'll be honest - I bought this book having never seen it, thinking it would be a book specifically about flatbreads and other specialty breads from the Mediterranean. I am interested in expanding my horizons into flatbreads and eastern breads, so this book looked like a good possibility in that regard. It does cover these, but it's not specifically about flatbreads.

Many tomes on bread emphasize travels and personal anecdotes. This is not the case with this book. There is a brief (14 pages) intro at the beginning that has some personal insights and thoughts, but that's almost all there is for personal reflections - immediately after the introduction, it plunges in to the formulas.

Each recipe has a description, but these descriptions tend to be brief and specific. There are occasional personal notes attached at these points, but the author does not consume a lot of effort in these write-ups. Instead, she gives a short bit of background or history regarding each formula before giving the formula itself.

There are some top-notch recipes in this book! I did get what I wanted in terms of flatbreads - there are mutiple recipes for focaccia, and all of them are very different in terms of the final result. Emphasis is on authenticity, and with each region there is a different "standard" - the author does a splendid job of pointing out the differences.

Where I am in uncharted waters, though, involves some of the recipes included that use meats and fish. The book includes several recipes that call for anchovies - I likely will never try those, simply because I prefer anchovies on the side. Regardless, some breads are an entire meal unto themselves, and this is in line with the traditions of the region.

Also included are multiple recipes for savory pies, containing vegetables and/or meats. This thought had not crossed my mind in terms of bread baking, and it has given me a new area to explore.

On a more abstract level, the writing style is approachable and clear. The page layout is also pleasant on the eyes. There are a few pictures contained within but they are black-and--white and do not dominate.

I was shopping for a specialty book on regional breads - just breads. What I got was an abstract geography lesson with some wonderful new ideas. Had I known that this book was a little more than just a bread book I am not so sure I would have purchased it, but I am very pleased with it regardless. If you're looking for a good introduction to Mediterranean breads that go beyond flatbreads, this is a good book worth your consideration.