Cooking with the Bible: Recipes for Biblical Meals

Each chapter begins with a biblical passage, a historical exploration, notes on the passage, the menu, the preparation and the recipes. I found the preparation section to be most interesting with insights into what the biblical terms meant (for example, John the Baptist likely ate carob beans, the fruit of the locust tree, not the insects), what foods were available at the time and some explanation of the recipes included. The meals were tested on real people and tested by real people (a church Bible class). While I might not make many of the recipes because of the ingredients (some of which are quite authentic, using camel milk and goat meat and even a recipe for locust soup!) and the number of servings, this book is a carefully researched and creatively presented history of food in the Bible and biblical times. It would be an excellent addition to a biblical library.

This cookbook contains 18 biblical meals, 6 relating to the Gospels, each preceded by the biblical text, relevant history and notes on the biblical passage. There are ~9-12 recipes per meal, nicely presented but with small, black-and-white photos, followed by a meal-specific bibliography. It also contains a dated chronology of the events, maps, weights and measures, and 150 pages of food lore. The meals included are: Abraham serving the angels, Esau's birthright meal, Esau's blessing meal, Joseph eating at the Egyptian palace, with his long-lost brothers, Passover, a combination of food eaten when they wandered in the desert for forty years and what they whined about missing from Egypt, a combination of Ruth's meal with Boaz and those eaten during the festival of Shavuot, Abigail's meal for David and his men, David's wedding feast, the potential wedding feast for the love-sick couple in the Song of Solomon, Elisha's meal at Gilgal, what Nehemiah ate with his workers, the traditional foods celebrating Purim, when Esther saved her people from annihilation, food John the Baptist may have encountered by the Jordan River, the feast celebrating the return of the prodigal son, Jesus' dinner with a Pharisee, the wedding feast at Cana, and the breakfast Jesus cooked for the disciples on the shores of the Galilee, after his resurrection. The authors are rather creative in their take on what might have been eaten. I'm guessing John the Baptist didn't really eat honey-carob brownies, or honey-roasted lamb with cous-cous. That said, they do point out their liberal take on things, and they also encompass a very large topic in their recipes - e.g., while they say they are naming it a meal in the wilderness, and expanding that in the explanatory text to include anything John might have encountered by the Jordan River, the recipes expand yet again to include Zechariah's (his father the priest) Temple Loaf. There's nothing wrong with this - given the limited information available, it's rather necessary to cover quite a range, but don't buy it expecting to receive exactly what would have been eaten. They are modern takes on it, quite suitable for a unique twist on the old church or synagogue social. The section on the lore of the ingredients gives information on every conceivable ingredient, including `vanilla, madagascar bourbon, `zaatar' and crabapple jelly! A lot of the value in this book, as opposed to books like Kitty Morse's cookbook `A Biblical Feast,' is the combination of historical information, culinary background, and organization by biblical meal. I have to say, there are a mighty lot of feasts - a chapter on daily food, such as `A Fishermen's Meal,' or `A Farmers Meal,' would have been nice. Or perhaps `A Priests Meal' - what did the Temple priests eat?

Judeo-Christian cooking has long centered on meals as a form of not only sustenance, but hospitality. Most cookbooks covering such cuisine focuses on the recipes; but COOKIGN WITH THE BIBLE: BIBLICAL FOOD, FEASTS AND LORE is different: recipes here are plentiful but secondary to the historical review of meal contents, rituals, and underlying cultural meaning. Bible stories of meals form the foundation of recipes which begin with a menu for a biblical feast, an essay surveying its historical and cultural significance, and explanations of traditional versus modern cooking methods. Any cook who also harbors affection for the Bible will find COOKING WITH THE BIBLE an intriguing, different guide. Diane C. Donovan California Bookwatch

No. The Bible is not a cookbook, however, its history is a great source for culinary research. Performing this research was Anthony F. Chiffolo, Editorial Director of Praeger Publishers and prolific author and Rayner W. Hesse, Jr., an Episcopal priest. They titled their interesting compilation, Cooking with the Bible. Mediterranean cooking is exciting due a bold use of fruits, nuts and wheats with vegetables and some meat. The area's recommended wines are paired with each meal.This is healthy eating! The feasts, or "The Meals" presented number 18, some of which are: Joseph Dines with His Brothers The Reapers' Meal Kind David's Nuptials Elisha Cooks Masterfully at Gilgal The Prodigal Son Returns The Wedding Feast at Cana The general formatting for each menu is thus: * Maps * Chronology * Biblical text lining out the feast * Historic explanation * The menu * Preparation in Biblical times * Recipes for preparation in today's kitchens * Finally a lengthy "Lore of the Ingredients" section One of the meals, The prodigal Son Returns, as others, has interesting names, as well as familiar, for each recipe. This particular feast: Poor Lad's Loaf Veal Kebabs Honey-Baked Goat with Mint Sauce Heifer Fondue Fresh Mallow with Pomegranate Vinaigrette Grilled Corn on the Cob Fresh Kefir Yogurt with Concord Grapes Figs in Chamomile Tea and Cream Carob Cake for Two Sons Some interesting recipe food combinations: * Rice of Beersheba: Combines broth, basmati rice, dill and capers. * Israeli Salad: Calls for cucumbers, tomatoes, radishes, parsley, olive oil, lemon, green pepper, scallions and the spice, zataar. * Fasooleyah Khodra Bi Zeit: (Arabian Beans and Sun-dried Tomatoes): Largely Green beans, onions, garlic, allspice, basmati rice and dried tomatoes * Aroz de Bodas (Sephardic Wedding Rice: A mold of basmati rice, scallions, turmeric, seedless green grapes, pine nuts and fresh mint leaves * Field Herbs with Corn: To corn they add vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, marjoram, dill, parsley, bay leaf and sumac. * Musakhan (Chicken and Onion Bread): Mixes chicken, olive oil, lemon, scallions, garlic, saffron, sumac, cinnamon, nutmeg, cayenne and pine nuts atop any flatbread * Vegetable Cholent: Mixes lima beans, kidney beans, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, barley, broccoli, cauliflower, peppers and garlic, cayenne, sage, cumin, ginger and feta cheese * Wilderness Squash: Combines Acorn squash, honey, pistachios, dried apricots. Butter, onions and Angostura bitters * St. Peter's Fish with Parsley Sauce: Utilizes a pesto of parsley, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and onion and bass or trout * Manaish with Goat Cheese: s Spread flatbread with a mixture of olive oil, zaatar, sumac and goat cheese. Serve with peppermint tea. This well-researched book is pricey, however it's an excellent reference source and very possibly might serve as a format for a years-worth of fare for culinary groups' gatherings. © Marty Martindale, 2006, Largo FL