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zellreads's review against another edition
2.0
The intro sections felt tedious, as I was looking for a cookbook experience. The text/formatting didn't make the reading any easier, and the recipes felt confusingly grouped. Beautiful pictures but no desire to cook anything from this.
katelarsenkeys's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
5.0
An extraordinary combination of sociopolitical history, family memoir and culinary guide, which includes a recipe for the best eggplant dish of all time, and some sobering observations about dogma, war, forced migration, resilience and the enduring expression of culture.
brnycx's review against another edition
4.0
"Finding sanctuary gave us the means necessary to dream again, but these dreams were deeply attached to the mourning of all that had been lost ... On lands far from our ancestral home, the profundity of remembering through food would bind us."
I read a lot of cookbooks and never usually add them to Goodreads, but this one felt different.
Parwana is a restaurant in Australia run by a refugee family from Afghanistan. The book is beautifully put together and a visual feast to leaf through. But it's more than a cookbook - it tells the history of Afghanistan, the personal history of the author's family, and how they use food to keep the memory of their country alive from overseas.
I read a lot of cookbooks and never usually add them to Goodreads, but this one felt different.
Parwana is a restaurant in Australia run by a refugee family from Afghanistan. The book is beautifully put together and a visual feast to leaf through. But it's more than a cookbook - it tells the history of Afghanistan, the personal history of the author's family, and how they use food to keep the memory of their country alive from overseas.
zellm's review against another edition
2.0
The intro sections felt tedious, as I was looking for a cookbook experience. The text/formatting didn't make the reading any easier, and the recipes felt confusingly grouped. Beautiful pictures but no desire to cook anything from this.
shereadsontrains's review against another edition
5.0
This is such a beautiful and fascinating cookbook. One part family history, one part the history of Afghanistan, and one part wonderful looking recipes, this is a rare find.
A must add to any collection looking for authentic cuisine from the region or to have an international collection.
I received a copy from Edelweiss+. All opinions are my own.
A must add to any collection looking for authentic cuisine from the region or to have an international collection.
I received a copy from Edelweiss+. All opinions are my own.
mellambert's review against another edition
5.0
This cookbook is one of the most beautiful cookbooks I've ever read. The images to go along with the recipes are phenomenal. Along with that, it also weaves in the story of the Parwana restaurant and Ayubi's family and their journey in Aghanistan and also as immigrants. It's not just a cookbook with amazing looking recipes, it's also a history lesson and a story of family. I can't wait to try many of the recipes - including a tea that starts out as green tea but turns red! Can't wait to look up the chemistry behind that.
jekanayake's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
5.0
eila's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
I haven't been this excited to review a cookbook in ages, and 'Parwana: Recipes and Stories from an Afghan Kitchen' has not only exceeded my expectations, it has taken me on an emotional journey that I completely wasn't expecting. If you read no further, do this: buy the book. Then buy it for any food-lover in your life.
I'm an experienced, resourceful cook - I grew up under an oppressive regime which meant everything had to be made from scratch (the only thing we didn't do was mill our own flour) and my household has several food allergies to contend with; add to that a love for learning about the diverse foodways in our world, and at current count I have just over 300 cookbooks to my name (and counting). Which is to say: I love food, I love cooking, and I love cookbooks; I've also seen every style, from recipes-only to 98% memoir. I'll admit I can be jaded and skip through to the actual cooking, but I always at least skim the intro and some of the author's asides. With this book, I'm so glad I did. I started skimming the intro; stopped, got myself a cup of coffee, and settled in to read. Durkhanai Ayubi then took me on a journey that was both incredibly educational and touching, weaving together the history of Afghanistan with that of her own family and their journey through time. My family were also political refugees, though never in the overt and direct danger that Ayubi's were, and we also left 'home' in the 80s; her family's journey brought up memories I hadn't connected with in ages, but you needn't have had the 'refugee experience' to understand the heartbreak and fear that surround leaving a place you love.
All of that is to say: this is so much more than a cookbook. You can, of course, buy it just for the recipes, but if you have a moment, please take the time to read it through.
Regarding the recipes, standouts at dinner have been: Sabzi (spinach/lamb curry) - tender, comforting, super delicious; Kebabeh Degee Morgh (chicken kebab in a tomato sauce) - gently spiced, super juicy, and disappeared before I could save some for leftovers; and Shorwa (broth with veggies) - exactly what we wanted on a cold day.
There is a photo for every recipe, and the recipes are written clearly and reassuringly. Some of the curry recipes recommend a pressure cooker - while the description makes it clear this is the stovetop version, I've used the same timings with my InstantPot to perfect effect. (If you wish to do the same, keep in mind that the PSI of the InstantPot is lower than a conventional stovetop pressure cooker; you may need to add a few minutes to cooking times if things aren't perfectly tender the first time 'round, but I haven't had this issue.)
All in all, a beautiful book, beautifully written, with beautiful food. A must have.
Advance reader copy kindly provided by Murdoch Books.
I'm still waiting for Afghan food to have its 'moment', so more people realise just how gorgeous and comforting it is - for the uninitiated (though it does the complex subtleties of Afghan food no justice) think an intersection of north Indian/Kashmiri and Persian - gentle spicing, gorgeous rice, dried nuts/fruit, curries/stews, grilled skewers of deliciousness, pillowy breads.
I'm an experienced, resourceful cook - I grew up under an oppressive regime which meant everything had to be made from scratch (the only thing we didn't do was mill our own flour) and my household has several food allergies to contend with; add to that a love for learning about the diverse foodways in our world, and at current count I have just over 300 cookbooks to my name (and counting). Which is to say: I love food, I love cooking, and I love cookbooks; I've also seen every style, from recipes-only to 98% memoir. I'll admit I can be jaded and skip through to the actual cooking, but I always at least skim the intro and some of the author's asides. With this book, I'm so glad I did. I started skimming the intro; stopped, got myself a cup of coffee, and settled in to read. Durkhanai Ayubi then took me on a journey that was both incredibly educational and touching, weaving together the history of Afghanistan with that of her own family and their journey through time. My family were also political refugees, though never in the overt and direct danger that Ayubi's were, and we also left 'home' in the 80s; her family's journey brought up memories I hadn't connected with in ages, but you needn't have had the 'refugee experience' to understand the heartbreak and fear that surround leaving a place you love.
All of that is to say: this is so much more than a cookbook. You can, of course, buy it just for the recipes, but if you have a moment, please take the time to read it through.
Regarding the recipes, standouts at dinner have been: Sabzi (spinach/lamb curry) - tender, comforting, super delicious; Kebabeh Degee Morgh (chicken kebab in a tomato sauce) - gently spiced, super juicy, and disappeared before I could save some for leftovers; and Shorwa (broth with veggies) - exactly what we wanted on a cold day.
There is a photo for every recipe, and the recipes are written clearly and reassuringly. Some of the curry recipes recommend a pressure cooker - while the description makes it clear this is the stovetop version, I've used the same timings with my InstantPot to perfect effect. (If you wish to do the same, keep in mind that the PSI of the InstantPot is lower than a conventional stovetop pressure cooker; you may need to add a few minutes to cooking times if things aren't perfectly tender the first time 'round, but I haven't had this issue.)
All in all, a beautiful book, beautifully written, with beautiful food. A must have.
Advance reader copy kindly provided by Murdoch Books.
I'm still waiting for Afghan food to have its 'moment', so more people realise just how gorgeous and comforting it is - for the uninitiated (though it does the complex subtleties of Afghan food no justice) think an intersection of north Indian/Kashmiri and Persian - gentle spicing, gorgeous rice, dried nuts/fruit, curries/stews, grilled skewers of deliciousness, pillowy breads.
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