Books

Secrets of Healthy Middle Eastern Cuisine

By Sanaa Abourezk, Interlink Books, 2000, 188 pp. (paperback). List: $17.95; AET: $13.50.

Reviewed by Mary Garrigan

The cuisine of her native Syria is a world away from the food of her adopted country, America, but Sanaa Abourezk's cookbook, Secrets of Healthy Middle Eastern Cuisine, proves that good food crosses all cultures.

With this cookbook, Abourezk brings the flavors of the eastern shores of the Mediterranean that she defines as Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine and Syria—into the kitchens of America. And she does it in a low-fat, low-calorie, heart-healthy way.

The book is a collection of 150 appealing recipes, courtesy of Abourezk's childhood spent in the cities and rural villages of Syria, where she was surrounded by a large, extended family of good cooks. Although today she lives in Sioux Falls, S.D., she spent the first 20 years of her life in Syria.

Her Secrets of Healthy Middle Eastern Cuisine is so much more than just recipes, however. It is also a treasure trove of nutritional information and a travelogue through the eastern Mediterranean world, including a trip to a bustling market in Damascus where spice vendors called attars ply their trade. Snippets of Arab folklore sprinkled throughout the pages also serve up a warm family memoir that offers fascinating glimpses into the lives and kitchens of Arab women.

The genius of Abourezk's cookbook is that you may open it to find her authentic, but low-fat, recipe for hummus, and, as an added bonus, get a charming story of a beloved family ritual from the Arab culture, as well.

As the author notes, the diet of her native land has many things to recommend it, filled as it is with whole grains, high fiber, and lots of fresh, seasonal fruits and vegetables. It is also a cuisine that uses high-cholesterol meats sparingly. Even so, however, traditional eastern Mediterranean foods often are loaded with more fat and calories than Abourezk, a nutritionist with a master's degree from California State Polytechnic University, would like to see people consume.

Despite the Mediterranean diet's reputation as a healthful diet, it can be laden with too many fats from butter, cheese and olive oil.

Armed with the knowledge of a dietitian and the tastebuds of a talented chef (she trained at cooking schools in Italy and Paris), Abourezk recasts much of the classic cuisine of her childhood into a cookbook that is a veritable Middle Eastern bazaar of low-fat, high-taste recipes.

The book, Abourezk's second published cookbook, is actually the first one she wrote.

Her first, a slim volume of soy-based recipes, was written to show that many traditional Middle Eastern dishes could be successfully prepared using soy protein in place of meats, cheeses and other dairy products.

This second cookbook of 208 pages, first published in 2000 and now released in paperback, contains 12 pages of color photography by Neil Cassidy.

I've had a copy of it in my own kitchen for three years now, and am continually surprised how often I turn to what is essentially a Middle Eastern cookbook for great-tasting soups, salads and side dishes to accompany my typical American meals. The sections on grains, legumes and vegetables offer delightfully different treatments that are surprisingly easy, quick and simple to prepare.

While it is a decidedly ethnic cookbook, filled with wonderful recipes for classic Arabic dishes like tabbouli and falafel, it is not limited by that label. Abourezk's recipes for creative ways to use rice, lentils, chickpeas and bulgur will please any cook who is looking for a lower-fat way to prepare Middle Eastern specialties.

Here is her version of hummus, so easy it is almost quicker than opening a tub of store-bought hummus, and much, much tastier. In the Arab world, Abourezk says, hummus is served in a shallow dish, sprinkled with paprika and black pepper and covered with olive oil. Skip the garnish of olive oil to lower the fat content of this recipe.

Mary Garrigan lives and cooks in Rapid City, SD, where she is a staff writer and food editor at a daily newspaper.

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Hummus

3 cups cooked chickpeas

2 tablespoons tahini

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/2 cup non-fat yogurt

1 tablespoon ground cumin

Put the cooked chickpeas and two tablespoons of water into a blender. Blend for about 3 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and blend, stopping a few times to stir until the mixture has turned to a smooth paste.

Yields 6 servings. Per serving: 170 calories; 5 g fat; 0 cholesterol; 5 g fiber; 12 mg sodium.