The Aleppo Cookbook: Celebrating the Legendary Cuisine of Syria

Heard about this book on the radio and bought it on spec. Initially I was disappointed, as so many recipes have ingredients that are impossible to source unless you live in a big city or have a sizeable Syrian population. It would have been good if suitable alternatives were suggested for some items, especially the grains. One thing to note - Fluids are measured in ml or the vile 'cups' so adored by Americans which is a pain - what the hell is a 'cup'? Also the book is very heavy - too heavy to hold in one hand while stirring a pot!Having spent more time with the book, there are a lot of things I am planning to try, and as an inventive cook, am sure I will find the spice mixes alone useful additions to my repertoire. On reflection this was an impulse buy based on a favourable review and I could probably have done better.

Less than 10% of the recipes in this book are accompanied by pictures. It is astonishing that a 2017 cookery book tries to pull this off. This shows a lack of understanding of, and contempt for, eating, cooking and learning.1. People eat with their eyes. This has been scientifically proven. A Japanese study showed a direct link between seeing food and the drive to eat. Viz. a picture of a dish is a catalyst to cooking it.2. People need a frame of reference when making an unfamiliar dish. How is one to know that one's dish came out correctly, if there's no picture of the end product for comparison.3. Visual learners learn by seeing.4. The absence of photos implies the author and/or publisher were too lazy and/or cheap to photograph the dishes.5. The standard format for cookery bestsellers is a photograph per recipes. This is the age were there is a YouTube video for almost anything you could want to learn. Why would one want a book centred on text and text alone?This may contain the best recipes in world, but it is destined to just lie on a shelf and gather dust, because another book will almost certainly be in use in its place.

Excellent

My review is based on the poor packaging fro amazon. Lovely book and was a present but arrived with torn cover. As this was a present im unable to give now and contact the seller is not easy to find and the long process of amazon chat and downloafing another app is too time consuming as is making arrangements to return.. most books come in firm robust packaging, but this arrived in a paper bag hence the damage.. in future as feedback you have ruined a lovely book due to your poor packaging. Unacceptable.