[Sca-cooks] Book Question

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

On Apr 26, 2011, at 10:48 AM, Meisterin Katarina Helene wrote:
>  Medieval Cuisine of the Islamic World: A Concise History with 174
>  Recipes

Johnnae quoted some salient parts from my various comments and review.

While the hardcover edition of the book for $40, the site linked 
offers it for $16.98.

There is also a paperback edition, available from Amazon for $13.01 
(lists for $18.95)

I am rather shocked that the price has gone up $15 in 4 years. In my 
opinion, it is in no way worth $40, but it is definitely worth the 
paperback price or the discounted price.

I will add, if anyone is just looking for some new recipes from 
medieval Arabic language sources, this is a good book. If one is 
seeking deep scholarship along with the recipes, this book is not the 
one. The introductory section adds little to what has already been 
written in a number of books - although if one owns none of them, it 
is definitely useful.

If someone is looking for *just one* book on medieval Arabic language 
cooking to have in their library, then i would highly and strongly 
recommend Medieval Arab Cookery, since it includes 3 (or is it 4) 
complete cookbook texts, plus many very informative and helpful essay 
on a wide variety of related topics. I notice that Oxbow Books (the 
linked-to site) has Medieval Arab Cookery for $50, rather than the 
list price of $75. I would say to the list in general, if the topic 
is of interest, and you don't have this book, THIS is the book to 
get, not Zaouali.

On the other hand, if anyone wants to have as expansive a library as 
they can on the topic of medieval Arabic language cooking and already 
owns Medieval Arab Cookery, then Zaouali is a useful addition.

Finally, i recommend
http://www.bookfinder.com/
which is a meta search engine for finding used - and new - books.
-- 
Urtatim [that's err-tah-TEEM]
the persona formerly known as Anahita