Maydan: Recipes from Lebanon and Beyond

Rose Previte, the creator of Michelin-starred restaurant Maydan and Compass Rose, has released a debut cookbook that explores bold flavors, accessible, shareable recipes, and overlapping foodways, spanning from the Middle East to North Africa. The book offers guidance on how to build our own tables, emphasizing mixing and matching, scaling up or down, making a weeknight meal, creating the ideal spread of Lebanese small plates for entertaining guests, and a project day. The food is accessible and delicious, perfect for the home cook.

Format: Hardback
Length: 256 pages
Publication date: 07 December 2023
Publisher: Abrams

The debut cookbook from Rose Previte, creator of the Michelin-starred restaurant Maydan and beloved Compass Rose, explores bold flavors, accessible, shareable recipes, and overlapping foodways, spanning from the Middle East to North Africa. Rose Previte introduces readers to the eclectic cultures of the region spanning North Africa, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East through food, offering a nuanced, informed, and yet entirely warm and personal way in. Before opening her beloved Washington, DC, restaurants Maydan and Compass Rose, Previte traveled old spice trade routes to learn from home cooks, and it became apparent how adjacent cooking traditions informed and folded back on one another, creating a constant dialogue. Ancient foodways don't recognize geopolitical boundaries. For instance, the harissa found in Tunisia is incredibly similar to the adjika used in Georgia, and the lineage of baking bread in clay ovens stretches across the region with strikingly parallel methods. And in that vein, the word maydan has roots in a number of languages and has been crossing borders for generations, from Tangier to Tehran and from Beirut to Batumi. It means "gathering place" or "square," often located in the middle of a city, and originates in Arabic, but translates to Hindi, Urdu, Persian, Ukrainian, and even Latin. To Previte, it symbolizes how food brings us together and everyone can add a personal twist. Previte's culinary journey began at home with her Lebanese-American mother and Sicilian-American father. And many of the recipes and techniques in this book were imparted to Previte by home cooks, often grandmothers, whom she learned from on her travels in the Middle East and beyond. With more than 150 recipes, Maydan offers guidance on: how to build our own tables, taking cues from the way Previte approaches food. She shares her knowledge of Middle Eastern spices, herbs, and seasonings, as well as her tips for cooking with them. She also offers advice on how to create a menu that reflects the flavors of the region, from mezze plates to tagines and kebabs. And she shares her personal stories and anecdotes, adding a touch of warmth and humor to the book. Whether you're a seasoned cook or a novice in the kitchen, Maydan is a must-have cookbook for anyone who loves the flavors of the Middle East and North Africa. It's a celebration of the region's rich culinary heritage and a testament to the power of food to bring people together. So, gather your friends and family, and let's get cooking!

Weight: 1372g
Dimension: 210 x 324 x 30 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781419763137