LEBANESE CUISINE, by Madelain Farah

Madelain Farah
Lebanese Cuisine
More than 200 Simple, Delicious, Authentic Recipes

Try these three sample recipes right from the book

Lebanese Cuisine was first self-published by Madelain Farah in 1972. She wrote the book to preserve the recipes of her mother and grandmother, to share the cuisine of Lebanon where her mother and grandmother were born.

Over the course of the book's first twenty-five years, it sold more than 150,000 copies to individuals and Middle Eastern distributors. Fans of Lebanese Cuisine have said the following in praise of the book: "Best book I have seen on authentic Lebanese home cooking.… It's a classic." "Every recipe I have tried results in the same flavor and tastes that I remember from my childhood growing up in Beirut."

Now, Lebanese Cuisine is available for the first time to bookstores nationwide. This edition has a new design and the recipes have been updated from the 1985 edition to reflect slight changes in ingredients and technique.

In Lebanese Cuisine, there are chapters on Bread and Bread Dishes; Soups; Salads; Fish; Entrees; Kibbi; Mihshi; Rice Dishes; Lenten (VeSauces; Condiments; and Desserts and Beverages.

Recipes range from Spinach Triangle Pies, Eggplant Salad, and Lentil with Swiss Chard Soup to Baked Kibbi, Grilled Meat Kabobs, and Stuffed Grape Leaves. Farah also includes classic desserts, such as Baqlawa, Shreaded Wheat Pastry, as well as the secret to brewing great Arabic Coffee.

Lebanese Cuisine includes a new introduction by the author's daughter. Not unlike her mother, Leila Habib Kirske wanted to continue the family tradition with a new edition of the book for a broader market.

Madelain Farah was born in Portland, Oregon, to Lebanese parents. One time model and beauty queen, teacher, linguist, and writer, she received her Ph.D. in Middle East studies and was a Fulbright scholar. Farah is also the coauthor of Pocket Bread Potpourri. She died in 1987.