Silvena Rowe invites you on a journey through Oriental Mediterranean history, sampling some of the best-kept secrets of the culinary world along the way. The olive, rosemary and basil of the west are here combined with the exotic spices of the east, for a contemporary cuisine of surprising lightness and variety - proof, if proof were needed, that there is more to the Mediterranean than just Italy and France. It's food for sharing, food for healthy living, food for celebrating - and above all it's delicious! Silvena Rowe gives her own modern twist to the classic recipes of a rich tradition, following in the footsteps of the great Ottoman chefs who combined the sweet and the sour, the fresh and the dried, the honey and cinnamon, saffron and sumac, scented rose and orange flower waters. Presenting mouth-watering recipes alongside stunning photography, "Purple Citrus & Sweet Perfume" brings to life the natural beauty and irresistible flavours of the Eastern Mediterranean.

About the Author

Silvena Rowe was born and raised in the ancient city of Plovdiv, just 500 kilometres from the Ottoman capital of Constantinople. Her Turkish father instilled in her a love of cooking, and he passed down, as generations had before him, the traditions of the Ottoman cuisine. Silvena's familial and professional backgrounds place her in a unique position to share with others the best of the Eastern Mediterranean kitchen. Silvena is the executive chef at the Baltic Group restaurants, which includes the London restaurants Baltic, Chez Kristoff and Wodka. She regularly appears on Saturday Kitchen (BBC1) where she is among the highest-profile female chefs. In the past she has appeared on ITV's Saturday Cook and Great Food Live (UKTV Food Network) where she cooked on an almost weekly basis. Most recently Silvena was the judge on the BBC's Young Chef of the Year. Her diverse experience in the food world ranges from working in conjunction with major brands such as Waitrose's Delicatezze, to writing for the Guardian, and to working on David Cronenberg's film, Eastern Promises. Silvena's first book, Feasts, won a prestigious Glendfiddich Food and Drink award.

Prizes

A delicious peek into the kitchens of the little-known region of the Eastern Mediterranean.

Reviews

Born in Bulgaria of Turkish descent, London chef and television personality Rowe (Feasts: Food for Sharing from Central and Eastern Europe) here offers up a set of mostly Turkish and Syrian recipes. The collection includes many dishes that will be relatively easy for the home cook to master. The flavors emphasized are intriguing without being unfamiliar. This approachable cookbook would have been more appealing had Rowe clearly identified when-if ever-recipes are drawn from other Mediterranean cultures. Moreover, she does not consistently frame each recipe with a story or insights. Readers might also wish that she had provided more detailed background about the two countries' cuisines. VERDICT This is a good, pleasantly illustrated set of accessible recipes, but the level of personality and detail may disappoint. Recommended for collections needing cookbooks focused on this region.-Peter Hepburn, Univ. of Illinois at Chicago (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Rowe, a London-based writer, chef, and TV star, explores "the cuisines of the Eastern Mediterranean," taking home cooks through the "kitchens of Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, the cuisines of the Europeans and Arabs, of Muslims, Christians and Jews"-she doesn't shy away from peppering this solid collection of recipes that follow "in the footsteps of the great Ottoman chefs" with memoirs, poetry, adaptations of short stories, and breathtaking landscapes. Recipes feature ingredients often associated with eastern Mediterranean cooking such as pomegranates, saffron, lamb, and yogurt, as well as flavors that may be new to some U.S. home cooks such as sumac, rose petals, lemon balm, nettles, and nasturtium flowers. Inspired by her Turkish heritage, the author offers regional selections such as gozleme, a Turkish, stuffed street food, and a selection of boreks, Turkish pastry, along with dishes her grandmother cooked such as baba ghanoush, and her mother's yiahni, a Turkish stew. This title takes readers far beyond their kitchen through the spices and stories of the enthusiastic and talented author. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.