I had a look at this book - a third of the 300'ish pages is the story of finding and setting up a guest house which they named Beit Trad in Kfour in the mountainous region of Lebanon. It is gorgeously photographed and covers finding the house, decorating it, developing the food and experience philosophy, setting up the kitchen and staff, and the menus of course.

The rest of the book contains the recipes of the dishes that are served at Beit Trad. None of them are difficult. They are traditional home recipes of the cuisine they are keeping alive there.

My only complaint is that the text in the first part of the book is small and could be a bit darker in colour. It is harder for aging eyes to read.

It is a lovely coffee table book that you'll use in the kitchen.

#Food #CookbookBrowsing #LebaneseFood #Cookbooks

Cookbook browsing ....

I once read that a very senior editor in a top publishing house considers it good going – a downright success, even – if the consumer cooks two recipes from a cookbook they buy. Two!

(Margaret Fulton's daughter writes about cookbooks: https://www.theguardian.com/food/2022/nov/05/whats-the-point-of-cookbooks-hope-love-and-beauty-but-not-cooking).

I have a determination to not let that happen. I love cookbooks. And I want them to be an active part of my everyday-ness. I love to browse them, just like I might a photograph album. And read them, just like I might a novel.

In sharing my browsings, I hope you too will occasionally get a cookbook down off a shelf. Or from your eReader. Flick through it. Maybe read a recipe or two. Be inspired by them.

But remember, recipes are not reality (like a photo, really). They reflect the author's intent, and that is not always to have you cooking easy, healthy and delicious meals for yourself and your family. Plus, and its a big plus, it is a competitive world, and everyone wants to put out a cookbook. Choose wisely.

So, push and prod those recipes into something that uses what you have or are prepared to purchase, without moving too far away from intent and flavour profiles (unless you are comfortable doing so ).

#cookbookBrowsing #cookbooks #Food