Anissa’s Books

This treasure trove of a book is all you need, really, to cook the food of the Levant. It is as comprehensive and conclusive as it gets, but it also tells charming personal stories and masterfully takes you on a journey to all those enchanted. This treasure trove of a book is all you need, really, to cook the food of the Levant. It is as comprehensive and conclusive as it gets, but it also tells charming personal stories and masterfully takes you on a journey to all those enchanted. 

Mezze is a flexible, sociable way of eating at a leisurely pace with diners sharing a wonderful array of small dishes. It has become increasingly popular in the West, and Anissa brings this brilliant, relaxed, and healthy style of food to the home cook, offering a tempting collection of 100 recipes from Lebanon, Turkey, Greece, Morocco, and Iran. There are recipes for delicious dips and fragrant herby salads, crisp pastries, tasty pulse and grain dishes, colourful vegetables, fish and shellfish bites, plus tempting mezze meat.

An instant classic, The Fifth Quarter was first published in 2004. It has since been reissued as Offal, updated and expanded with the addition of striking colour food photography, and until very recently, it was the only book in print in the English language dedicated exclusively to the subject of Offal — a subject currently enjoying a resurgence in popularity and fashion. From foie gras to cod’s roe and from sheep’s head to testicles, Offal draws on recipes and traditions from all over the world.

A book for cooks as well as seasoned and armchair travellers, in which Anissa brings together some of the most memorable food in the world —everyday delicacies sold by street vendors or in simple shops. Interspersed with fascinating stories of her food adventures across the continents, Helou offers definitive recipes for favourites like Spanish tortilla, Italian panini, Moroccan tagines, Egyptian ful medammes, Turkish kebabs, and French pan bagnat. 

Each recipe offers a delectable window into the rich food world of the Mediterranean. Mediterranean Street Food was recently chosen by Cooking Light as one of the 100 best cookbooks of the last 25 years. 

A fascinating book, which was short-listed for the prestigious Andre Simon Award when it was first published, Lebanese Cuisine is a valuable contribution to our culinary knowledge with over 250 classical recipes which represent an important part of the rich and turbulent history of a beautiful and bountiful country.

The delicious array of world-famous mezze, offering light and refined dishes, a delight to both eye and palate, provides a style of eating perfectly suited to today’s health-conscious cook. There are wonderful vegetarian dishes as well as aromatic stews, many of which can be left to cook slowly, allowing flavours to develop and often tasting even better when eaten the following day. It is Mediterranean food of elegance and infinite variety, using simple, healthy ingredients in delectable combinations. 

A melting pot of cultures, Moroccan cooking incorporates Arab, African, Mediterranean, and Persian influences in food that is simple and fragrant. In this book, Anissa presents 75 authentic recipes, explaining the key cooking techniques and methods of Moroccan cooking in an approachable way.

The Mediterranean is full of varied and diverse cuisines, but the one thing they all share is a basic reliance on bread. From Italian focaccia and French brioche to Lebanese tabouneh (sourdough pita) and Egyptian fiteer (flatbread), bread is the single most important staple in Mediterranean diets, and serves as the foundation for countless other savory dishes. 

In Savory Baking from the Mediterranean, Anissa presents a collection of classic and favorite recipes that will provide home cooks with a broad overview of Mediterranean savory baking, from countless variations on flatbreads like pita, focaccia, and lavash, to raised breads such as French Bacon Bread, Greek Spinach and Olive Bread, and Italian Nut Bread. In addition, she offers recipes for a wide variety of pies, tarts, and savory pastries, such as calzone, empanada, pizza, and spanakopitta.