New Cookbook, A Cigar, Iced Coffee - Heaven

[ecowper]

I got a little peace and quiet this morning, so I grabbed a cigar, put together an iced coffee, grabbed my new cookbook and headed out to the backyard for an hour or so.

"Chasing Smoke: Cooking Over Fire Around The Levant", by Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich. Last week I saw this on a cooking website (the one where I got the Moroccan kebabs recipe from) and thought it sounded like a fun way to learn more about Middle Eastern and Mediterranean foods.

[ecowper]

Tons of great stuff in this cookbook, and I will definitely be adding this style of food and cooking into the mix. The first one I intend to try, as soon as I can figure out how to get reasonably fresh sardines, is the Sardines in Vine Leaves recipe. And I will be using leaves from my own grape vines, as suggested in the recipe. It sounds amazing …. Sardines, lemon, garlic, pepper wrapped up in grape leaves and then cooked over direct fire

[58limited]

I guess I need to add this cookbook to my collection. I've done some Middle Eastern/Mediterranean cooking but mostly with limited recipes that I've run across here and there.

[ecowper]

I’ve easily found 10 new recipes in it …. Like grilled prawns and watermelon with chili and feta!

[mnavarre]

I'm going to have to grab that book, I need to get myself out of the Asian/Mexican stuff I've kinda been stuck on lately. Another book you might want to check out:



There's a lot of good stuff in there, and actually more grilling recipes than I remembered.

[ecowper]

das85 you’ve been to Honey & Smoke? Awesome. Stacy and I put it on our list for the next time we are England.

[das85]

ecowper Ah no I meant Zahav - my wife used to live in Philly so I spent a lot of time there. I am officially now putting Honey & Smoke on my list too though.. I used to live pretty near there, looks like they opened soon after I moved back to the US so I missed them.

(Btw in adjacent neighborhood I would also recommend Lobos, which does an excellent job grilling the Iberico cuts that I've tried at home following Henrik 's advice, but have never found in US restaurant..)

[ecowper]

das85 okay, great, now I have a place in Philly I have to go to and a place in London. Thanks! Last couple times I was in London area I stayed in Westminster and ate dinner multiple times in Fitzrovia. There’s a lot of good food there. Just didn’t discover Honey & Smoke.

[Greygoose]

On a quick side bar,,,,,does anyone have Francis Mallman’s 7 fires cook book and whadja think of it,,,,
back to main topic

[ecowper]

Nooooooo, but now I”m intrigued. Tell me more

[das85]

Likewise would love to hear about this

[Greygoose]

I don’t have it but I am interested in it.
Venezuelan Open fire cooking techniques,,,,parilla,chapa (CI skillet),infiernillo(fire),horno de barro ( clay oven),rescoldo (ashes and embers),asador (iron cross) and caldero ( cauldron )
There was an episode on the Netflix Chefs Table about Francis Mallman and it was very interesting.
he has written a few cook books.
I was curious to find out I’d any of the fire eaters on AR may have it and what their thoughts were.

[ecowper]

Well, now I’m going to have to check it out. Might buy it

[rickgregory]

I ran across this today and thought of this thread. Not limited to smoking/grilling, it's a great book both for the recipes and the stories

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/...2uzyC6e&rank=1

[ecowper]

thanks for the recommendation ..... that was one of the reasons I really liked the cookbook I kicked the thread off with ..... awesome stories AND great recipes

[FireMan]

Greygoose , Francis Mallman has two books, 7 Fires which you mentioned & Mallman On Fire. He will take you into "outdoor " cooking like you’ve never thought of. I have tried two cooks by him & I have a friend who has worked 4 or 5 of his cooks. They seem other worldly. Yes, I have both books.

[IFindZeroBadCooks]

Are his cooks doable on a regular kettle or something like the MB560? My sense is no…

[mnavarre]

Yeah, for the most part you can cook pretty much all Mallman's stuff on the kettle. You might need a cast iron pan or griddle for some stuff.

[FireMan]

ecowper , as far as a grill based culture, can you say Moses coming out of Egypt. For the Passover they roasted a whole lamb, that was 3500 years ago.

[ecowper]

Yeah, absolutely

[Attjack]

The Levant:



Here's my newest cookbook:

[ecowper]

Apparently, in ye olden medieval days, The Levant referred to the entire eastern end of the Mediterranean, including southern Turkey and Greece. It could even include what is now Syria and Iraq. It is an English term stolen from Italian, and means, roughly, where the sun rises. I didn’t know this until I googled "The Levant" yesterday