OP: Noshe Djan (hardcover)

Prospect Books, 1986. Hardcover. Near Fine. First printing.

Linking the food traditions of the Mideast, central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent, the cooking of Afghanistan is highly admired. Hearty and flavorful, the dishes suggest eating both indoors and out. They feature meats, grains, and a few sturdy vegetables, consumed with bread or rice, acknowledging delicacy only in fragrant desserts and other sweets. 

Noshe Djan (a polite phrase meaning “come in and eat”), published in 1986 by Alan Davidson’s distinguished Prospect Books, is truly authoritative. British-born author Helen Saberi married into an Afghan family and lived in the country for more than ten years. 

Beyond the many dishes—savory kabobs of lamb, hot yogurt soups, a rich variety of flatbreads, and fried pastries, etc.—Saberi supplies close to forty pages of background information on Afghan food traditions and customs, as well as discussions of ingredients, tools, and other elements of the Afghan kitchen. Additional useful notes appear in many of the recipes. 

Our copy is a first printing of the uncommon hardcover. It is a trim, attractive volume, published without dust jacket, in Fine condition. It is nicely illustrated throughout with black-and-white illustrations by Abdullah Breshna.