Black Sea: Dispatches and Recipes, Through Darkness and Light Hardcover – May 21, 2019

Caroline Eden’s Black Sea is a spectacular guide to this fascinating region, and you can’t help but feel inspired to start planning your own journey there as you savor each page of this gorgeous book. There are recipes here, of course: showcases for ripe vegetables, savory pies, fish and seafood, simple soups and stews, sweets, and more. Great care has gone into adapting dishes the author experienced in her travels so that the reader can simply recreate similar tastes at home without having to track down exotic, hard-to-find ingredients.It’s a mistake to think of Black Sea as just another cookbook, though. For our author is a journalist and travel writer, and each recipe is set in context in Ms. Eden’s lyrical descriptions of each unique place. The recipes, like the lush, evocative photos, are sprinkled throughout to enrich the narrative of the journey.And what a journey! We begin in Odessa, in southern Ukraine. Ms. Eden has perfectly captured its charm, faded elegance, its crazy patchwork quilt of different peoples and cultures and unique history that have always made this city something apart from whatever empire or country it belonged to throughout the centuries.Black Sea then takes us overland to the Bessarabian region, the coasts of Romania and Bulgaria, into Istanbul, and finally to Trabzon, in the far northeastern corner of Turkey. Along the way, Ms. Eden meets an incredible and unlikely cast of characters, and here her talents as a journalist really shine. Her conversations with and observations of the people who live on the Black Sea are what linger in the mind long after you put the book down.Black Sea is that rarest of books that can gracefully adorn your coffee table, keep you spellbound as you read it from introduction to end, and guide you in the kitchen to experience some new dishes that may become your favorites. Highest recommendation!

Caroline's wonderful book about her travels in the Black Sea region and the delicious food there is a great addition to her collection of these kinds of books. Having returned recently from a few years living in the area, it was great to read her take on the culture, the people, and the food. The recipes are authentic and (so far, knock in wood) I've had good success in putting them to use. And just a great multi-purpose read... fun coffee table tome with photography and stories and an incredibly useful cookbook and travel guide to boot!

Some of the best books, cooking or otherwise, transport you to a particular time and place. Even though you may not have ever visited the location, the printed words place you squarely there in your mind. 'Black Sea' is such a book - inviting the reader to a specific region (Odessa, Instanbul and Trabzon) to learn the history and taste the cuisine. Author Caroline Eden weaves stories and shares recipes from local residents, creating a fascinating read. We were excited to explore this unfamiliar culinary landscape, thanks in part to the gorgeous photography and inviting descriptions throughout. Here are the dishes we chose:• Potemkin Cocktail - Grapefruit and vodka aren't unfamiliar flavor profiles to us. We've featured similar combinations before. Rosemary is a welcome guest at this gathering. Pro tip: when adding any herbs to a cocktail, gently heat them for a few seconds using a lighter or match. This will release some of the essential oils and really enhance the taste and aroma of the drink. This is a simple, tasty cocktail. While we are uncertain the salted rim of the glass is necessary, it makes for a pleasant presentation if serving to guests• A Bigos For Adam Mickiewicz - This is not a precious dish - nor should it be treated as such. Bigos, Poland's wintertime stew, is rustic, hearty and packed with flavor! It's a perfect marriage of sweet (courtesy of the red bell pepper, prunes, brown sugar and apple), sour (from the sauerkraut), earthy (hello dried porcini mushrooms!) and smoky (enter bacon and Polish kielbasa). This is what happens when you simmer something over low heat for a few hours. Fair warning: this recipe will yield a lot of stew. Plan ahead. Invite some friends. Serve with some rustic bread and cold vodka• Black Sesame Challah - Unfortunately, this never made it past the initial mixing stage. We attempted the dough twice and it just never came together. We thought perhaps we made an error with the ratios and even made minor adjustments (using two kinds of yeast and measuring the flour by weight rather than volume, for example). No luck. The ingredients, when mixed in our trusty stand mixer, never came together beyond being a crumbly, gummy dough. Too bad. We were really looking forward to making (and eating) this.• Raspberry Buttermilk Tart - Taking a bite of this tangy tart was surprising, in such a pleasant way. Even though you know what it’s supposed to taste like, it is still somehow unexpected. The raspberry in this dish is a great temper for the tartness. Although this ultimately was successful and quite tasty, it required a much longer cooking time than indicated.•Banker's Fish Soup - Every time we make a delicious fish dish, such as this, we always exclaim, "We should eat more seafood." Consisting of diced carrot and celery root, as well as onion and garlic, this was the perfect cold-weather soup. We chose a rugged cod filet for the fish and it provided the perfect sturdy texture needed. The cherry tomatoes and lemon zest brought a pleasant acidity to the party. We finished with a bit of parsley and dill. Although a substantial, filling meal, you don't feel uncomfortable afterwards.• Bedtime Pudding with Tahini Cream - Looking for a unique dessert alternative? Look no further! The star of the show here is the candied pumpkin - which is prepared the day before. Since we made this dish on Halloween, it would be the perfect solution for what to do with any pumpkins you may need to do something with. The flavor is definitely unlike anything else. The pumpkin is not too sweet. The tahini-swirled creme fraiche is the perfect compliment - with some crushed walnuts (we used pecans we had on hand) adding a pleasant crunch. We'd serve this to guests and watch their eyes light up with delight as they attempt to mentally unpack what they are tasting.

I had only just begun to browse when I came across the four ingredient recipe for rum ice cream that does not use an ice cream machine and references Mark Twain. I made it in five minutes, put it in a Tovolo ice cream container at the back of my freezer and enjoyed it six hours later. So much more to explore in this book. I didn't buy the book as a cookbook, but I am open to trying more recipes that catch my eye. The history, culture, and photos make for very enjoyable armchair travel to places, both familiar and unfamiliar.Update: I thoroughly enjoyed reading the whole book. I read a section or two at a time over the course of a couple of weeks. In hindsight, I had arm chair traveled at a leisurely pace that suited the book. I appreciate the historical and geographic details interwoven into the author's experiences with the local people and their traditional foods. For me, the recipes became descriptive elements of the stories. I could better imagine the flavors and textures of the food.This is not a cookbook. However, as I was reading some of the recipes, I found myself tbinking that I would later go back and possibly make a few of the recipes because they are simple. At a minimum, I will compare the recipe for manti with one I have in my favorite Turkish cookbook.As a conclusion, I had the pleasure of daydreaming of being in back in Istambul and going beyond.

A beautiful book through a fascinating part of the world.

Livre avec belles images et commentaires remarcables. Bonnes recettes

Caroline Eden takes the reader on an incredible journey through the unknown and mysterious regions and skilfully tells the untold stories of the people and history of those remote places. Her knowledge of the regional literature and folklore is overwhelming . A definite must for those interested in off-the-beaten- track countries and their true essence- the local Food.

This book was highly recommended on the BBC Radio 4 Cookery programme and sounded just the book for a Christmas present for a sister who is very interested travel, having travel widely in Europe, and the food culture of country. Exactly the right choice.The subject is all around the Black Sea, with the recipes interspersed in the chapters about that country. The beautiful pictures are not just of the food but of that country. The book is a pleasure to hold and feels like a 'proper' book with heavy weight paper. I've not read it through but picked out the recipes - they are in a different type face. They are not adapted for standard available ingredients, but an imaginative cook would be use them as a basis for their own cooking. The quantity of portions is variable. We have got very used to recipe always being in 4' s or 6's They give you much more understanding of the country being described. They are 'straight forward peasant and everyday recipes.As I said EXACTLY the book for my sister, but if you are looking for standard traditional cookery book, this is not the best choice. It's a good read!

Arrived safe