What Is Delights from the Garden of Eden, and What Does the Iraqi Cookbook Cover?

Updated

Delights from the Garden of Eden: A Cookbook and History of the Iraqi Cuisine is Nawal Nasrallah's book on Iraqi food, combining recipes with culinary history and culture. A new abridged edition (440 pages) is available in print from Amazon, ISD (the US distributor), and Equinox Publishing (the UK publisher); the original complete edition (572 pages) remains available as an e-book on iBooks. Choose the abridged print edition for a shorter, heavily illustrated reference, or the complete e-book if you want the full original text.

What the book is

The site describes it as both a cookbook and a history of Iraqi cuisine. The revised edition from Equinox Publishing includes more than 300 color images related to food, art, history, and culture. SAVEUR magazine named it one of its top 10 cookbooks of 2013 (issue 161, December 2013), and the Times Literary Supplement called it "a splendid achievement" and "a labour of love" (Eamonn Gearon, 1 November 2013).

What it covers

The chapter list runs from everyday staples to desserts:

Chapters Topics
Introduction Iraqi food in perspective
1–2 Breads; dairy products
3–6 Vegetarian appetizers and salads; soups; snacks, sandwiches, and side dishes (with meat and vegetarian)
7–9 Stews; rice; other grains and beans
10–13 Lamb and beef; stuffed foods; poultry; fish
14–16 Savory pastries; desserts (puddings and ice creams); desserts with syrup

Beyond recipes, the book includes historical and cultural material. The site offers downloadable PDFs listing the indexes of foods and ingredients (ancient, medieval, and present), the table of contents, the complete list of 145 "By-Ways and Asides," and the works cited — useful for seeing the depth of the historical content before buying.

Which edition to get

  • New abridged edition (440 pp., print): the current release, with the color images and the revised presentation. Best if you want a physical, visually rich book.
  • Original complete edition (572 pp., e-book on iBooks): the full original text. Best if you want the most complete material and prefer digital.

The site does not list prices; check the retailer pages for current pricing and availability.

Where to find it and related material

Purchase links on the site point to amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, ISD (US distributor), Equinox Publishing (UK publisher), and iBooks for the e-book. The same site links to Nasrallah's other books, Annals of the Caliphs' Kitchens and Dates: A Global History, and to her blog, "In my Iraqi Kitchen: Recipes, History and Culture," for additional recipes and background.