“Butcher’s tongue-in-cheek personal narrative is simply irresistible
Her more than 130 recipes yield, in addition to giggles, a great deal of wisdom
Not only is almost every recipe accompanied by elegant color photographs, but each recipe features enough patter to coax anyone into the “try it, you’ll like it” mindset.”
—Booklist on The New Middle Eastern Vegetarian
Following the great success of Sally Butcher’s last cookbook, The New Middle Eastern Vegetarian: Modern Recipes from Veggiestan, Interlink is delighted to be publishing Butcher’s third cookbook, New Middle Eastern Street Food: Snacks, Comfort Food, and Mezze from Snackistan. Her two previous books were both highly praised—Persia in Peckham was selected as Cookbook of the Year by the London Times, and The New Middle Eastern Vegetarian was shortlisted for Cookbook of the Year by the UK Guild of Food Writers.
With over 100 delicious mezze-style recipes, New Middle Eastern Street Food is an irresistible collection of healthy and easy-to-prepare recipes—classic street foods like kebabs, dolmeh, falafel, kibbeh, shawarma, pulaos, salads, egg dishes and meat pies, pickled veggies, tagines, hummus, couscous, rice, bean and lentil dishes, as well as Sally’s own creations like Lamb-Stuffed Prunes, Orange Blossom and Mint Lemonade, Sweet Tabouleh Salad, Zucchini and Eggplant Cake, Israeli Veggie Dagwood, and Spinach with Rhubarb and Pomegranate. As co-owner of one of London’s most popular Middle Eastern food emporiums, Persepolis, Sally Butcher’s love and knowledge of Middle Eastern cuisine is extensive, and “Snackistan,” her imaginary country, is one we will all want to visit again and again.
This new addition to our international cookbook collection will delight your palate, expand your culinary repertoire, and make you laugh out loud. Butcher’s culinary expertise, her sense of humor and wit, and Yuki Sugiura’s stunning color photography combine to create an exuberant and mouth-watering read.
46 Crosby Street · Northampton MA 01060-1804 · Tel: (413) 582 7054 · Fax: (413) 582 7057
“Reading this book was like sitting down with a good, well traveled foodie friend – and a funny one at that this is a cookbook that informs and delights the reader even as it surprises and enchants
“Veggiestan” may be a made up country, but once you get there, you will want to visit over and over again.”—Christian Science Monitor
New Middle Eastern
Street Food
Snacks, Comfort Food, and Mezze
from Snackistan
By Sally Butcher
The indomitable Sally Butcher is back and at it again after the success of her wonderful and well-received cookbook, The New Middle Eastern Vegetarian. New Middle Eastern Street Food: Snacks, Comfort Food, and Mezze from Snackistan is a mouth-watering collection of over 100 quick, healthy, and easy-to-prepare, and—most importantly—delicious recipes from “Snackistan,” a fictitious land where tummies are always full, and there’s a slightly naughty smile on every face. It features simple fare that people actually eat on a daily basis: street food, dishes prepared at home, cooked to share with friends, or to look forward to indulging in at the end of the week.
New Middle Eastern Street Food picks out the Middle East’s most exciting street foods and mezze dishes, together with a variety of homey, simple snack recipes elicited from family and friends. Chapters include Nuts and Nibbles, Fishy Things, Meat on Sticks, Meat Not on Sticks, Salady Stuff, Hot Veggie Dishes, Mostly Carbs, Puds, and Something to Wash it Down With. The burst of flavors is intoxicating, as is Sally’s trademark wit and attention to detail—making New Middle Eastern Street Food a must-have for all Middle Eastern food enthusiasts. Welcome to Snackistan, please have your boarding passes ready!
Sally Butcher is a London-based food writer and cookbook author. She and her Iranian husband own Persepolis, the acclaimed Persian food store in London. Her most recent book The New Middle Eastern Vegetarian (also published by Interlink) has been hugely successful and was shortlisted for the Guild of Food Writers’ Cookery Book of the Year Award.
New Middle Eastern Street Food: Snacks, Comfort Food, and Mezze from Snackistan
by Sally Butcher
Publication Date: January 2014
Interlink Books, an imprint of Interlink Publishing Group, Inc.
Ethnic Cooking • 7 ½” x 9 ¾” • 208 pages • full-color photos
ISBN 978-1-56656-958-3 • hardcover • $30.00
Carrots with Cardamom and Cumin
Carrots, cumin, and cardamom are a cozy threesome, oft found together on the pages of recipe books. It’s a relationship that clearly works, so who am I to argue?
3 large carrots
1½ tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp coarse ground black pepper
½ tsp ground sea salt
2 tbsp sunflower or canola oil
Preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C.
Peel the carrots and slice them very thinly. A mandoline would be handy here, although I find them scary and dangerous. The dextrous among you may well be able to shave off decent slices with a vegetable peeler.
Mix the spices and seasoning together with the oil, then toss the carrots in the mixture, turning them over until they are all coated. Spread them out on a baking tray and bake for 6–7 minutes, or until they are starting to brown and curl at the edges.
Cool them on a wire rack—they will crisp up more as they cool. These are pretty addictive on their own, but also team well with houmous. They keep for a few days in a plastic tub.
Mother-in-Law’s Tas Kebab
Every country/province/village/household makes it differently, but the principles are the same: meat or chicken is layered with vegetables and fruit and baked in a fragrant tomato sauce. In Turkey, tas means bowl, and tas kebab is usually prepared contained within an inverted bowl in the oven: the Persian version we offer here is much simpler. Unlike most of the khoreshts (stews) of Iran, tas kebab is usually eaten with bread as a comforting supper: the leftovers make for great anytime snack food. It is a hearty fare, but economical, as the ingredients are varied according to season and market price. I usually make it with the leftover pieces of vegetables in the bottom of the fridge. It is lovely with cooking apples or quince, when they are available. My mother-in-law normally uses chicken (as here), but occasionally she will prepare it with baby lamb kufteh.
COMFORT FOOD FOR 4–6
2 onions, sliced
1 leek, roughly chopped
3 sticks celery, cut into fat chunks
1 chicken, skinned and cut into 8 pieces
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp lime powder
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 carrots, cut into fat sticks
1 green bell pepper, cut into chunks
6–8 mushrooms, wiped
½ small butternut squash, peeled and cut into chunks
3 medium waxy potatoes, peeled and cut into slabs
1 large eggplant, cut into ¾in/2cm cubes
1 cup/7oz/200g prunes (soaked if necessary)
2 tbsp good tomato paste
1 can (14oz/400g) chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp olive oil
around 1 glass water
My, this is easy. But I might have mentioned that already. Preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C.
Layer the onions, leek, and celery into the bottom of a fairly deep baking tray. Arrange the chicken on top and sprinkle it with the spices and seasoning. Dot the rest of the vegetables and the prunes evenly around and on top of the chicken.
Mix the tomato paste, tomatoes, and olive oil together, and add the cold water. Pour the liquid over the chicken and vegetables, cover the tray properly with foil, and bake for around 1 hour 10 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are tender. Serve with warm bread.
These recipes may be reproduced with the following credit:
Recipe(s) from New Middle Eastern Street Food: Snacks, Comfort Food, and Mezze from Snackistan by Sally Butcher
Published by Interlink Books, an imprint of Interlink Publishing Group, Inc.
$30.00 hardcover; ISBN: 978-1-56656-958-3
Praise for Sally Butcher’s Previous Cookbook
The New Middle Eastern Vegetarian
Modern Recipes from Veggiestan
Shortlisted for Cook Book of the Year by the UK Guild of Food Writers
“Novice and experienced chefs who have little interest in Middle Eastern vegetarianism should, nevertheless, read this book
simply irresistible
Her more than 130 recipes yield, in addition to giggles, a great deal of wisdom. Side bars
are all educational and occasionally eye-opening
each recipe features enough patter to coax anyone into the “try it, you’ll like it” mindset. The range is enticing.”—Booklist
“It's rare for me to read a cookbook cover to cover, but a trip to Veggiestan
was irresistible
Knowledgeable as all get out, Ms. Butcher is a London-based food writer who, with her husband, runs the renowned Persepolis—a Middle Eastern food store where
her enthusiasm and tenacity is in no short supply. This comes bursting through the pages of her new book—transforming scholarly authenticity into joy
the array of recipes from elsewhere in Veggiestan is dazzling in their scope and in their use of exotic (but findable) ingredients.”—Huffington Post
“If you are tired of your go-to vegetarian meals, try a visit to "Veggiestan.”...Leafing through the book, I was transported across the region with stories, fun facts, and recipes making use of rose petals, saffron, and tumeric
Reading this book was like sitting down with a good, well traveled foodie friend – and a funny one at that
Indeed, this is a cookbook that informs and delights the reader even as it surprises and enchants
it's perfect for cooks who are tired of their go-to vegetarian meals...“Veggiestan” may be a made up country, but once you get there, you will want to visit over and over again.”—Christian Science Monitor
“Veggiestan, home of delicious dishes
a cookbook that demonstrates a love of vegetarian cooking, a deep understanding of the flavors of the Middle East and a wicked sense of fun
a land of tradition and innovation, a place of joy, energy and really tasty food
This is a volume to cook your way through, one delicious mouthful at a time.”—Marialisa Calta, “Stir It Up” column, UPI
“The New Middle Eastern Vegetarian is a handsome book full of thoughtful recipes that celebrate vegetables—but could easily fit into a meal with meat. Next time you are in London, you’ll want to explore Persepolis—but till then, explore Sally’s recipes.”—SuperChef
“This is a book to discover and savor.”—In Mama’s Kitchen
“Last week, I picked up Sally Butcher’s The New Middle Eastern Vegetarian and I couldn’t be happier
. The author isn’t vegetarian and admits to a “terrible weakness for chorizo,” yet she does cut a broad swath of delicious territory that even vegans will want to explore.”—SavorSA
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It’s the 1940’s and the desert sun is setting in Cairo. This is the scene of Layla’s story. A beautiful, young girl forced into prostitution at age 12 by her own mother, Layla dreams of freedom in Europe. While set more than 70 years ago, Layla’s dream is not far from that of those living in today’s modern-day, protest-laden Egypt.
In a powerful and interesting feature interview, Fuad’s book addresses: the drastic differences between Layla and Mona’s upbringings in Egyptian society; prostitution in Egypt — then and now; life during the Arabic Revolution; behind the royal curtain: a look at the life and luxury of King Farouk; and, the Egyptian-American Dream, Mona’s story of success in the U.S.
