Silk Road Vegetarian. Dahlia Abraham-Klein

      Silk Road. Have two words ever carried more exotic intrigue? Dahlia Abraham-Klein takes us on a culinary journey through the lands of her heritage. While reading the book I learned about her family, I sat at her table, I tasted her food.

      Dahlia traces her family’s history back to the Babylonian Exile of the Jewish people during the sixth century BCE. Her ancestors have lived in present day Iraq, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. More recently her parents traveled the world and her mother incorporated all the cuisines she tasted into dishes that melded with their Central-Asian Jewish heritage. Dahlia’s recipes emphasize the use of spices, legumes, and grains. She offers in-depth information on these staples we take for granted, improving our cooking and allowing us to savor the flavors even more deeply.

      What makes this book unique is that it is vegetarian, making it supremely accessible to so many readers. You can serve these dishes alongside meat or—as I do—make them the flavorful centerpieces of a plant-based table. Dahlia and I have a similar story, finding wellness and healing through changing our diets by eliminating wheat, dairy, meat, and sugar. As a plant-based cook and blogger, I appreciate that this book is filled with recipes I can make without having to make substitutions. Gluten-free recipes are clearly labeled, and the book brims with a healthful ethos. At the same time, all readers will feel welcome at her table, no matter their dietary preferences.

      I treasure cookbooks that take me on a journey, that challenge me to incorporate a palette of spices with vegetables and use them successfully. I had never stuffed grape leaves or made falafel before; now I have. The falafels, made with red lentils instead of chickpeas, were light, fluffy, and crispy. The grape leaves had deep, complex flavors with a tangy zing, unlike any grape leaves I have ever eaten before. As I leaf through these pages I can practically smell the savory soups, taste the crisp salads, and I begin to envision dinner parties revolving around the various main, side, and rice dishes. I’m looking forward to following a sumptuous vegetarian meal with the Baked Lemon Rice Pudding or the tasty Rhubarb Crisp.

      “I treasure cookbooks that take me on a journey, that challenge me to incorporate a palette of spices with vegetables and use them successfully.”

      I love the array of spices that Dahlia skillfully blends, and the rich historical context that she relates through these recipes. I know that she and her family have made them time and again. Her authority shines through on page after beautiful page. Having started a community-supported agriculture group in her Long Island community, Dahlia is in tune with seasonal eating. The realities of urban life in the cool Northeast, however, have led her to become an expert at freezing fruits and vegetables at their peak to enjoy later. I appreciated the step-by-step instructions explaining how and why to use different techniques to make the most of my freezer.

      Savor this book, read the introduction and early chapters, understand how and why these recipes came to be. And then, say grace and enjoy.

      Stephanie Weaver

      author of the Recipe Renovator blog and

      Golden Angels: A Pet Loss Memoir

      My Culinary Pilgrimage

      Every Wednesday, I anxiously check my watch every few minutes until 2 p.m., the hour I pull my car out of the garage to make room for the load of fresh veggies for my Community Supported Agriculture group. At the stroke of two, Cornelius, the driver from Golden Earthworm, a farm on the east end of Long Island, New York, skillfully maneuvers his refrigerated truck just below the drive. He and Edvin, the farmer, are already exhausted from a long day’s work, but they haul box after box up the steep incline to my garage.

      Slowly, the garage blossoms—until every nook and cranny holds a box near bursting with good, organically grown foods, the scent of earth still clinging to the just-picked produce. Soon, the CSA will open its doors and the members will come to collect their weekly boxes, buzzing with excitement to see what’s inside. For a few minutes, though, I’m alone with the bounty of summer, fragrant and ready to eat—ears of silken sweet corn, fragrant summer peaches, ripe red tomatoes, sleek green zucchini, dimpled raspberries the color of jewels.

      I’ve traveled a long journey to arrive in the middle of this cornucopia. And though it might sound odd, it was a journey that began before I was born—several centuries before, actually, when my ancestors headed east from ancient Israel to Central Asia, joining countless other travelers on the storied trade route known as the Silk Road, where both commodities and cultures mingled. Sometimes, when I’m cozily ensconced in my home in Long Island, New York, surrounded by the riches of my CSA, I feel as though I am traveling with them, still on a Silk Road of sorts. My parents, Yehuda and Zina, instilled in me a love of learning about the many cultures of the world, and this love was often manifest at our table. Like so many people who love food and its historical aspects, I pick up recipes and ideas everywhere I go, from almost everyone I meet, and I fold them into my kitchen repertoire, just as my ancestors did.

      But I’m getting ahead of myself. I grew up in New York, in a home where fresh, home-cooked food and enthusiastic entertaining, whether with our large extended family or international business associates, was the norm rather than the exception. Our dinner table regularly sat twenty guests from all over the world and was often elbow-to-elbow full. During the holidays, my parents adopted the literal meaning of the biblical words, “All who are hungry, let them come and eat.” It was a festive tableau of silverware clanking, wine goblets clinking to the words, “L’chaim—To life,” a table overflowing with luscious heirloom rice dishes and stuffed vegetables, aromatic stews and

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