Scents and Flavors

“An extraordinary achievement, a brilliant translation of a very important work by an author who really understands cooking, and a valuable addition to our understanding of Middle Eastern culture and gastronomy.” - Claudia Roden, author of The New Book of Middle Eastern Food “An extensive glossary, plus facing pages of the original Arabic text, make this a desirable reference work for scholars.” (AramcoWorld) “Hopefully, this cookbook can be made part of many library collections around the world, accessible to many Syrian chefs and food-lovers, wherever they may be.” (Qantara.de) “The book will interest epicures and cultural historians alike.” (Islamic Horizons) “We can learn a lot from an old cookbook. And the recent release of Scents and Flavors, a new translation from NYU Press’s Library of Arabic Literature, provides a glimpse of social history that feels particularly timely.” (FoodandWine.com) “A significant scholarly contribution … Presented and framed in a way that renders it accessible to food scholars who work on other regions and cuisines … Provides a useful framing of the cookbook in the broader context of Middle Eastern culinary history, medieval Islamic medicine, and the specific sequencing and practices of feasting in thirteenth-century Syria.” (Gastronomica) “A good example of the best that can come out of a combination of quality scholarship and practical experience.” (Journal of the American Oriental Society) “Fun for history buffs and amateur chefs, the recipes making for a fantastic dinner party.” (AlJazeera)

Charles Perry is a culinary historian who has written widely on cooking in the medieval Middle East. He has published and consulted on Middle Eastern food history and has translated several pre-modern texts, including A Baghdad Cookery Book: The Book of Dishes.