“Packed with history, humor, and delicious food, this travelogue-memoir-cookbook checks every box. Anna's encyclopaedic knowledge of the subject, combined with compelling personal stories and recipes deeply rooted in a unique culinary culture, add a new voice to an important food story.”
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Adeena Sussman
“A delectable feast for the senses. Anna Ansari traverses the colorful cuisines of the Silk Roads with curiosity, knowledge, and empathy.”
Naz Deravian
“A superb culinary journey along Silk Roads less travelled.”
Jay Rayner
This is the story of the world’s most famous trade routes, retold through recipes.
In this rich and delicious cookbook, Iranian-American cook and writer Anna Ansari takes us on a culinary, historical, and personal odyssey across the Silk Roads.
Weaving together essays, family photography and 90 recipes, Ansari brings life to the flavors of the Silk Roads – from the walnut groves of her father’s Iranian childhood, across Central Asian markets brimming with fragrant melons and thronged with fat-tailed sheep, and into the neighborhoods of modern-day Chinese cities.
Discover delectable dishes from Baku to Beijing – Azeri-Iranian stews served with crispy-bottomed rice, dill-infused noodles from Western Uzbekistan, Georgian cornbread, Uyghur lamb chops and all kinds of dumplings, from fat, spiraled oromo to tiny, stuffed dushbara in a delicate saffron broth. Plus, you’ll find refreshing drinks and sharbats, and American-inspired desserts like apple pie with quince, sticky persimmon pudding, and walnut-studded spiced blondies.
“A book of delicious recipes interwoven with histories, family stories and a good dash of humour is what we all need just now.”
Olia Hercules