My Egypt: Cooking from My Roots

This attractive book from the San Francisco-based chef Michael Mina straddles several worlds. It is a salute to the traditional food of Egypt, where he was born, and a testament to Mina’s creative insights as a chef. It offers humble home and street foods, as well as elegantly plated dishes fit for Michelin-starred restaurants.

As much as the book is a showcase for Mina’ culinary imagination, it is firmly planted in Cairo, with many photographs of market and street scenes, as well as the Nile and some of the most famous monuments in the world. Abundant sidebars help conjure everyday life and give us a sense of how the country’s food is distinct within the broader Middle Eastern culinary culture.

Among the recipes here:

• Ta’amaeya, known elsewhere as falafel and prepared from fava beans rather than chickpeas

• Za’atar-cured salmon

• Pumpkin and red lentil soup

• Lamb meatballs with ricotta dumplings and date chutney

• Crispy okra with shallots and chile

• Mango basbousa, a glazed semolina cake

Fresh and attractive.

Hardcover. Color photographs throughout.