Arabian cooking seems to most Westerners as exotic as the Arabian Nights. This book presents the well known intricate dishes such as the numerous ... stuffed vegetables that originated in the elegant courts of the Caliphates.

Other foods have a cultural significance, marking the end of the Ramadan fast or the birth of a child. Arabian hospitality demands that coffee and refreshments be offered in abundance to bid each honored guest welcome.

But the greatest appeal of Arabian cuisine lies in the simple family dishes that have served a rugged people for centuries. Thick nutritious soups are a meal in themselves. The great variety of Middle Eastern vegetables combines with a small quantity of meat to produce tasty stews. A wide selection of seasonal fresh foods is supplemented by winter favorites like burghol and dried beans, always with the right touch of herbs and spices.

Arabian cooking, part of the familiar Mediterranean tradition, is the original health food: imaginative, very economical, and superbly delicious.