You don't even try.
You cook."
A couple weeks ago I started reading The Janissary Tree, a murder mystery which takes place in Istanbul in 1836. In turn I started thinking about Middle Eastern food. I bought the ingredients and The Dulcinea did the cooking. It all turned out very well to my palate.
First we had bamia which is a stew with meat – beef, in this case – and okra. Spices in the dish are cumin, coriander, and allspice.
I have to wonder if folks in the Middle East treat it like gumbo: is it bamia if it doesn't have okra?
The next meal was chicken schwarma. Extra cardamom was added and I really liked how the flavor was at the fore. Goes well with yoghurt.
The final meal in the trio was falafel and tabouleh. Rather typical Madison hippie food but very tasty. Loved the fresh parsley.
Although I finished The Janissary Tree, I've started another book that takes place in Istanbul so our next culinary diversion will have to wait until I am done reading this story and find one that takes place in another part of the world. I recently bought a book by Victor Pelevin so maybe Russian food will be next. (*Ralph Wiggum voice*: chicken necks?) Or perhaps I can pick up something by Jorge Luis Borges as Argentinian food sounds good although I know nothing about it.
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