So you might have read in my update three that I went to visit this very cute and lovely restaurant in Peckham called Persepolis. They serve amazing Persian food in here and it’s such a nice place to go for dinner (or breakfast or lunch)! That being said, the place is owned by Sally Butcher and her husband, who is also known as mister shopkeeper. Sally Butcher wrote several books such as Veggiestan (which I gave to my sister as a birthday present and I’m still quite jealous of it) and Snackistan. Two beautiful books with delicious (vegetarian) dishes in there.
And now she wrote a new book called Salmagundi! This is book, with a beautiful cover just like the other ones, about salads from the Middle East and beyond. And since I’ve got only three weeks left in London I thought it was time to buy myself a souvenir. And what could be better than a book full of lovely flavours from the Middle East bought at this amazing restaurant AND signed by Sally Butcher herself!? Basically nothing. So I will tell you how I feel about this book in this post and share one of the many tasty recipes.
First of all I think the cover is beautiful. Colourful tiles give you the Middle East vibe right away. This book you can definitely judge by it’s cover I think, since the inside is just as pretty..
There are beautiful photos inside and the text is very elegant. Not all the recipes include photos and usually this bothers me a lot because I just need to know what the dish is supposed to look like! But because it’s all salads in there and they usually get messy anyway it is not a big problem for me with this book.
But the salads in there are not just salads. There are so many different chapters such as herbs & leaves, roots & squash, grains & pasta, meat, fish, and so on. And all of the salads contain spices and herbs that makes them so different than any other salad. Sally also has a good sense of humor so it is really nice to read all the text she wrote above each recipe. There is also a dips and a dressing chapter so enough inspiration! I bought this book because I really love salad but could use some inspiration to create something different than the usual. And I can hear you thinking: is a book full of salads not going to bore me? No it will definitely not! If you feel like making salads now you can get the book here or here or do it like me and buy it at the store/restaurant Persepolis in Peckham and ask Sally to sign it for you! If you are curious to the first recipe I made out of this book click here.