Just Start with Middle Eastern Cooking
Middle Eastern cooking spans a vast arc of flavors, from the herb-heavy salads of Lebanon to the saffron-scented rice dishes of Iran, the slow-cooked tagines of Morocco, and the spice-layered kebabs of Turkey. What ties these traditions together is a shared pantry of ingredients: tahini, sumac, za’atar, pomegranate molasses, rose water, and preserved lemons. Once you learn to work with these building blocks, an entire world of cooking opens up to you.
Start here
Jerusalem: A Cookbook
Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi · 320 pages · 2012 · Moderate
Themes: Middle Eastern cuisine, Israeli cooking, Palestinian cooking, cross-cultural food, vegetable-forward
A landmark cookbook that explores the food of one of the world’s most culturally layered cities. Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi, both born in Jerusalem in the same year on opposite sides of the city, combine their Jewish and Palestinian culinary traditions into 120 recipes that celebrate the city’s extraordinary diversity.
Why Start Here
Jerusalem is the ideal entry point for Middle Eastern cooking because it bridges cultures rather than focusing on a single tradition. Ottolenghi grew up in the Jewish west side, Tamimi on the Arab east side, and together they present dishes drawn from the Muslim, Jewish, and Christian communities that have shaped Jerusalem’s food for centuries. This cross-cultural perspective gives you a wider foundation than any single-tradition cookbook could.
The recipes are genuinely approachable. Dishes like roasted cauliflower with tahini, lamb shawarma, and mejadra (lentils and rice with crispy onions) are the kind of food you can cook on a weeknight once you have stocked your pantry. The book teaches you to work with the core ingredients of Middle Eastern cooking, including tahini, za’atar, sumac, pomegranate molasses, and preserved lemons, through recipes you will actually want to cook again and again.
The book was named Cookbook of the Year by the International Association of Culinary Professionals, won Best International Cookbook from the James Beard Foundation, and was named by The New York Times as one of the 25 most influential cookbooks of the past century.
What to Expect
A beautifully photographed 320-page hardcover with 130 full-color images. The book is organized by ingredient type: roots and tubers, pulses and grains, vegetables, meat, fish, and baked goods. You will need to stock some specialty items like za’atar, sumac, tahini, and pomegranate molasses, but most are available at well-stocked supermarkets or Middle Eastern grocery stores. The writing is warm and personal, with stories about the city woven between the recipes.
Alternatives
Adeena Sussman · 368 pages · 2019 · Easy
A joyful, sun-drenched Israeli cookbook by the American food writer Adeena Sussman, who moved to Tel Aviv and fell in love with the city’s vibrant market culture. Sababa, which means “everything is awesome” in Hebrew, captures the spirit of Israeli home cooking with 125 recipes built around fresh produce, bold spices, and the generous use of tahini.
Why This Book
Sababa is the most approachable book in this guide. Where Jerusalem offers cultural depth and Roden provides encyclopedic breadth, Sussman focuses on the practical: what does a modern home cook in the Middle East actually make for dinner? Her recipes are streamlined, clearly written, and designed to work in a regular home kitchen without hard-to-find ingredients.
The book shines in its treatment of everyday Israeli dishes. You will learn to make perfect hummus, crispy falafel, shakshuka, and an impressive range of salads that go far beyond the basics. Sussman also includes her famous tahini-based recipes, chocolate tahini spread, and a collection of Shabbat dishes that are perfect for weekend entertaining.
What to Expect
A 368-page hardcover with vibrant photography that captures the colors of Tel Aviv’s Carmel Market. The recipes are organized by meal occasion, from breakfast through dessert, with a helpful pantry section at the front. Most ingredients are easy to find at a regular supermarket. The tone is warm and encouraging, making this an excellent choice if you are new to Middle Eastern flavors and want a book that holds your hand through the process.
Claudia Roden · 528 pages · 2000 · Moderate
The definitive encyclopedic reference on Middle Eastern cooking, originally published in 1968 and thoroughly expanded in this 2000 edition. Claudia Roden spent decades traveling the region, collecting more than 800 recipes and the stories behind them. James Beard called the original “a landmark in the field of cookery,” and this updated version only strengthens that claim.
Why This Book
If Jerusalem is the best starting point, The New Book of Middle Eastern Food is the book you graduate to when you want the full picture. Where Jerusalem focuses on one city’s food culture, Roden covers the entire region: the refined rice dishes of Iran, the kebabs and savory pies of Turkey, the mezze traditions of Lebanon and Syria, and the tagines and couscous of North Africa. No other single volume comes close to this breadth.
Roden writes with the authority of someone who has spent a lifetime studying these cuisines, but the tone is never academic. Recipes are clearly written and well-tested, with headnotes that explain the cultural context and regional variations. You will learn not just how to cook a dish, but where it comes from and why it matters.
What to Expect
A substantial 528-page volume that functions as both cookbook and cultural history. The recipes range from simple mezze and salads to elaborate celebration dishes. The book is organized by course and technique rather than by country, which makes it easy to browse. There are no photographs, which some readers find disappointing, but the writing is vivid enough to compensate. This is a book you will return to for years.