This ever-popular volume is THE resource for anyone interested in Middle Eastern food. Basic dishes and savory menus abound, filled with ingredients redolent of their sunbaked origins: bulger, chick peas, feta cheese, rose flower water, pine nuts, and pomegranate seeds (to name but a few) are the staples of this enticingly exotic, yet simple and healthy, cuisine. In a lively and personal style, Mary Laird Hamady takes us to the highlands of Lebanon, homeland of her grandmother-in-law, where food is still prepared from recipes handed down from generation to generation. One of the glories of Middle Eastern cooking is that once the basics are mastered, it becomes easy to put together meals for even forty or fifty people at a time. This is truly food for communal dining, wonderfully festive fare for families and friends alike. Evocatively atmospheric drawings by Jana Fothergill provide the perfect complement. This practical, comprehensive, beautifully designed book is the definitive introduction to a sensuous food world that is rarely well-represented.