ZAHAV-A World of Israeli Cooking

Authors: Michael Solomononov and Steven Cook

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

 

If you haven't had the fantastic opportunity to dine at Zahav in Philadelphia, you are missing a gastronomical wonderland. The dishes are beautifully presented and laden with ingredients to enhance each and every culinary experience.

The author with his book, “Zahav,” takes us on our own extraordinary tour of discovery inside this fabled restaurant’s recipes. The book also presents the authors own path to self-discovery, both past and present. He was born in Israel, but his family moved to the United States when he was quite young. At the age of 15, his family moved back with him to Israel, but for Michael, the US was his designated home. And so, his journey began.

First of all, he awakened all of our senses with the beautiful photographs in his book. I felt I was out in a heavenly garden surrounded by fields of grains, seeds, and vegetables. The fish and fowl are presented in all their glory and many are enhanced with “tehina,” a sesame paste, which he blends with garlic, lemon, water and salt.

All ingredients are listed so the “cook” in your kitchen will find the format easy to follow. None of this “a pinch of this and a pinch of that” lingo. As I perused the book my salivary glands were working overtime.

Chapter after chapter convinced me that “Zahav” was a cooking book to treasure. It is the next best thing to embarking on a journey to their fabled restaurant in Philadelphia.