The best middle eastern cookbook right now–this is the best middle eastern cookbook of 2018, full of delicious middle eastern recipes to kick off your spring.

It’s finally(sort of) warming up here in DC, and I’m getting the itch to grill and get outside and remember what Vitamin D on my skin feels like.

Pepper has been a little droopy lately, too, and she keeps threatening to report us to the ASPCA if we don’t let her roll around in the mud at the dog park. (Dogs are so entitled these days. Ugh. Millenials.)

Has it been warming up in your corner of the country yet? Do you have any tips for how to discipline a willful dog? Do you want a free dog?

To kick off our downhill ride into spring and VEGETABLES (glory, glory), here’s your cookbook review of the month. I have a feeling you’ll like it, because last I checked, we all needed the next Ottolenghi to teach us how to spruce up our produce bins.

And hey, if we’re staking the bold claim that this is the best middle eastern cookbook right now, we’ll need you all to weigh in, too!

If You Love Ottolenghi, This is the Cookbook You Need in March

What’s the sign of a great cookbook in 2018? You don’t know what shelf to put it on.

Does Shaya by James Beard award-winning chef Alon Shaya go next to the Israeli cookbooks? Or next to Marcella Hazan, since Shaya also owns two Italian restaurants, Domenica and Pizza Domenica? Or should we slide it next to Brock? Shaya’s empire is in New Orleans, after all, and there’s a hard-to-resist recipe for red beans and rice on page 197.

My advice? Time to change the way you organize that cookbook shelf.
That’s because the food in Shaya is Southern-Italian-Israeli, and that makes complete sense as soon as you crunch into your first bite of za’atar fried chicken.

Click here to keep reading this article on The Kitchn!

For more cookbook reviews and tips, keep reading:

What I’m Reading This Week

Book Towns Are Made for Book Lovers (Sarah Laskow for Atlas Obscura): Nothing gets the heart going like finding an adorable bookshop when you’re on vacation, right? I’m already daydreaming about our trip to Cook the Books in Auckland next week and doing my best bookish rain dance to summon a few other cute shops in New Zealand.

Gone Girl’s gone, hello Eleanor Oliphant: why we’re all reading ‘up lit’ (Hannah Beckerman for The Guardian): I’m so happy to see that the pendulum’s swinging the other way and books about community and kindness are back in after the Gone Girl era. Yes, it’s because I’m wimpy, but I also think the crazy-twist-you’ll-never-guess thing was getting a little tired. What do you think? Were you getting tired of dark and suspenseful, or are you still on the hunt for the next Gone Girl?

How to Decide Which Exciting Story Idea to Write Next (Kristen Kieffer of Well-Storied): “Have a hundred thrilling story ideas rumbling around in your brain? Choosing which of those many ideas to write next can seem impossible — especially when you’re of unsure which idea best aligns with your aims and abilities as a writer.”

How Did Salt and Pepper Become the Soulmates of Western Cuisine? (Natalie Jacewicz for NPR’s The Salt): I’ve always wondered why pepper became the go-to seasoning. (H/T to Dianne Jacob for first sharing this in her excellent newsletter.)

What We’re Eating This Week

I’m still cooking, happy as a clam, from Once Upon a Chef by Jenn Segal. I’ll be reviewing the book in my April column for The Kitchn, but here’s a sneak peek at what I’m testing and turning cartwheels over:

Monday: Did I mention that I love the Persian Kofta recipe in OUAC? Did I mention that I made it twice in one week? Did I mention that I have no regrets and if someone doesn’t stop me, I’m going to make it again this weekend? Have we talked about these things?

Tuesday: Guys, I made TOMATO SOUP. I don’t even like tomato soup. But then I read Jenn’s recipe for it and my wheels started turning…maybe if it were homemade, maybe if the tomatoes were roasted, maybe if it had a perfect kick of heat… And then BOOM. Transformed into a tomato soup lover. What’s next? Eggplant? (Stay away from me, vile nightshade.)

Wednesday: Jarrett’s think tank is co-hosting a Virginia is for Happy Hour Lovers event at Jack Rose, which means I don’t have to cook and I don’t have to be the one doing the public speaking. So dinner will be deviled eggs and gin eaten standing in a corner. I am very, very excited.

Thursday: The Segal Steakhouse Burgers from OUAC, which have a super secret (read: not secret, but v. clever), technique for recreating juicy, tender steakhouse burgers at home. I guess you’ll have to wait until April’s column for the big, groundbreaking reveal…(ha ha!).

Friday: It’s Friday. Why don’t you figure out what’s for dinner? (Oh, you’re making gin and deviled eggs? You have good taste.)

c&b is on vacation!

Jarrett and I will be stomping around New Zealand for the next two weeks, so things will be a little quiet around here. But I do have a free cookbook giveaway and one of my most popular articles coming your way while we’re gone–keep an eye out and follow along on our NZ adventures on Instagram! (There will be bookshops.)

Cheers!

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This is the best middle eastern cookbook right now