Samarkand - by Caroline Eden (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Over hundreds of years, various ethnic groups have passed through Samarkand, sharing and influencing each other's cuisine and leaving their culinary stamp. This book is a love letter to Central Asia and the Caucasus, containing personal travel essays and recipes little known in the West that have been expertly adapted for the home cook.

An array of delicious dishes introduce the region and its different ethnic groups - Uzbek, Tajik, Russian, Turkish, Korean, Caucasian and Jewish - along with a detailed introduction on the Silk Road and a useful cupboard of essential ingredients.

Chapters are divided into Shared Table, Soups, Roast Meats & Kebabs, Warming Dishes, Pilavs & Plovs, Accompaniments, Breads & Doughs, Drinks and Desserts. 100 recipes are showcased, including Apricot & Red Lentil Soup, Chapli Kebabs with Tomato Relish, Rosh Hashanah Palov with Barberries, Pomegranate and Quince, Curd Pancakes with Red Berry Compote and the all-important breads of the region. And with evocative travel features like On the Road to Samarkand, A Banquet on the Caspian Sea and Shopping for Spices under Solomon's Throne, you will be charmed and enticed by this region and its cuisine, which has remained relatively untouched in centuries.

About the Author

Caroline Eden is a writer contributing to the travel, food and arts pages of the Guardian, Financial Times and the Times Literary Supplement. She is the author of three other books focusing on the former Soviet Union and the Turkic-speaking World, Black Sea (Quadrille, 2018), Red Sands (Quadrille, 2020) and The Land of the Anka Bird (Cornucopia Books, 2020).
Website: carolineeden.com
Twitter and Instagram: @edentravels

Eleanor Ford writes about food, travel and recipes. Her writing has won awards from the Guild of Food Writers, Gourmand World Cookbook Awards and the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards.
Website: eleanorfordfood.com
Instagram: @eleanorfordfood