Falastin: A Cookbook

Very well written, with a sensitive treatment of the political situation. It acknowledges the challenges faced by the Palestinian people with a sympathetic unbiased perspective. Interspersed between the food sections are occasionally heartwarming and all too often heart-wrenching profiles that don't pull any punches but don't resort to inflammatory rhetoric like Yasmin Khan did in Zaitoun: Recipes from the Palestinian Kitchen. The two books are quite similar in many respects, same subject matter and format, but this one is so much better. The other can be safely avoided.

The photography is gorgeous and artistic, and showcases both the food and the people and terroir behind it.

The recipes look fantastic, they are well introduced, well show more formatted, and clearly written. The quantities for most ingredients are listed in both cups/oz as well as grams, which is extremely helpful.

Overall the approach is respectful of tradition yet playful. Indicative of someone who has a deep understanding of the cuisine, its ingredients, and is able to apply modern techniques to achieve something new while preserving the spirit of the old. As opposed to his restaurant partner Yotam Ottolenghi, who often seems to get carried away with weird flavour combinations that don't always work out, Tamini sticks a little bit closer to the mainstream, while still putting his personal twist on things. For instance, he innovates with elements of traditional dishes, such as using panko instead of ground almonds in muhammara, or replacing molokhieh with spinach and okra.
As a result, there are quite a few recipes that look like they sprang from the kitchen of a modern upscale restaurant, while retaining the essence of the traditional recipe upon which they are based, and still accessible for the home cook in a normal kitchen with regular ingredients. There are also lots of creative vegetable dishes, which tends to be a weak area in many cookbooks.

I look forward to trying a bunch of the recipes in this book, something that I can't say for a lot of the cookbooks I've read recently. show less