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aziz_reads's review
5.0
Unlike a lot of reviewers I see, I haven't actually been to Oman. My roots lie in Bangladesh and truthfully, I've not even been there yet. But I love the culture and I love cooking. So I requested a copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The forward, written by a colleague, gave us a view of Campell as a friend, and then her introduction gave us a view of her as a person, along with Oman's history and facts that add gravitas to the meaning of the recipes ahead. After all, if you know how recipes came to be, they somehow come out greater than just blindly throwing things together. Being already familiar with the spices used thanks to many Sunday cooking sessions with my dad, I didn't need to be in front of the dishes for my mouth to start watering. Campell includes recipes for all sorts of palates-- fish lovers, meat lovers, vegans*, Vegetarians, and these recipes, by nature, are all low fat or can be slightly tweaked to be low fat. Throughout the recipes, Campell includes pictures and passages of Omani culture.
Overall: Would I buy this for my shelves at home? In a heartbeat. Would I buy it for a friend? Definitely.
*many recipes call for ghee, which can be animal-based fat. This can be substituted by coconut oil.
My rating: 5/5
Overall: Would I buy this for my shelves at home? In a heartbeat. Would I buy it for a friend? Definitely.
*many recipes call for ghee, which can be animal-based fat. This can be substituted by coconut oil.
My rating: 5/5
_zora_'s review
5.0
So fascinating! This really makes me want to go to Oman, which, from this book, seems to hit all kinds of great food points: so many spices and techniques I already know from Indian and Iranian food, all combined in ways I hadn't previously considered.
Great photos, and I appreciate that the names of the recipes are all Arabic (with English below). (Sure, picky me would like to see Arabic script as well, just to be absolutely complete, but I wouldn't wish that proofreading job on anyone.) And the recipe notes seem very good at noting if and how recipes have been tweaked for convenience or taste--I always like to know what the traditional baseline is, even if I might not end up cooking it that way.
Great photos, and I appreciate that the names of the recipes are all Arabic (with English below). (Sure, picky me would like to see Arabic script as well, just to be absolutely complete, but I wouldn't wish that proofreading job on anyone.) And the recipe notes seem very good at noting if and how recipes have been tweaked for convenience or taste--I always like to know what the traditional baseline is, even if I might not end up cooking it that way.
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