Third Culture cooking is American cooking: Delicious everyday multicultural recipes, borrowing from our parents and their parents' homes, melding the old with the new and the familiar with the unfamiliar to create bold flavors and new classics for the next generation of cooks.
The food that author Zaynab Issa cooks-inspired by her East African and South Asian roots, the American suburban delights she grew up eating, and her international travels-is packed with unique and flavorful riffs.
Her affectionate homages to the chain restaurants we love are reflected here: fluffy cinnamon rolls that rival Cinnabon's, Baskin Robbins-inspired almond fudge squares, and an artichoke dip that recalls TGI Fridays' delights that will make you want to stay in.
To complete the collection, Zaynab looked to her primary inspiration, the women who've fed her, and meticulously recorded her favorite traditional dishes from each of them.
Beyond the recipes, Zaynab shares her tips on establishing yourself as a confident cook-one who prepares food consciously, hosts with pride, and is never without a well-stocked pantry.
The book includes sections like "Set Yourself Up for Success," which outlines Zaynab's essential kitchen tools and ingredients, "On Food & Feelings" to guide the reader through cooking based on their mood, and "Host with the Most" featuring suggested menus and Zaynab's method for executing any organized dinner. Finally, look to "Eating with Your Eyes" for her philosophy on serving beautiful food.
For extravagant entertaining as well as weeknight ease, Third Culture Cooking is a love letter to American home-cooking and the many influences that make it so.
Recipes include:
French Onion Ramen
Samosas Two WaysChocolate Cake with Chai Buttercream
Farzana's BiryaniThai-Style Crispy Salmon
Steak Sandwich with Date Chutney
Tandoori Tacos
Baklava Granola
Banana Cake with Tahini Fudge
Chicken Kitchri
and many more! About the Author Zaynab Issa is a recipe developer, food editor, content creator, and
Bon Appetit contributor. After working on a self-published zine that formalized her family's East African Indian recipes, she began freelancing at Buzzfeed and contributing culturally rooted recipes and stories to
Bon Appetit and
Food52.
Industry Reviews
"It is not every day that you open a cookbook and can't find a single recipe you don't want to eat. In fact, I don't know if I ever have...until now. Zaynab's food is a lot of things-intentional, smart, storied, beautiful-and above all else, divinely delicious. She is the kind of cook that simply 'gets it' and this book is a very clear testament to that. In Zaynab Issa we trust." * Molly Baz, author of Cook this Book and More Is More *
"Third Culture Cooking is my new book for instant inspiration. Each page holds either something I haven't learned or a new take on a comfort classic. Issa is the one who (famously!!) brought green chutney into my life, and now I can say she's given me 100 more things that I am excited to get on my table." * Justine Doiron, author of Justine Cooks *
"It should be no surprise to me that Zaynab has created a cookbook that is at once a work of art and extremely approachable-and yet here I am, gasping in awe with every turn of a page. Delicious, drop dead gorgeous and deeply down-to-earth, this book is both the girl I want to be and the girl I want to be best friends with, just like Zaynab herself. I guess some girls really can do it all! And now, so can we." * Dan Pelosi, New York Times bestselling author of Let's Eat: 101 Recipes to Fill Your Heart and Home *
"Zaynab Issa's debut book captures the joy and passion she pours into her cooking. Third Culture Cooking transcends the traditional cookbook, offering not just recipes but a narrative of culinary identity and heritage. It's a thoughtful and innovative collection that invites readers on a voyage through flavors and stories, appealing to the spirit and the palate of any curious cook." * Andy Baraghani, New York Times bestselling and James Beard Award winning author of The Cook You Want *
"What a breathtakingly beautiful book. I love everything about it, from the intro where Zaynab describes herself as "busy, hungry, intentional, nostalgic, lazy and a little fancy" to the recipes which manage to reflect all those adjectives, and more. The book is almost too pretty to cook from, until you read the recipes and realize that you have to make everything. Now." * Jessie Sheehan, author of Snackable Bakes and Salty, Cheesy Herby Crispy Snackable Bakes *
"Zaynab has delved deep into her personal history, of interwoven continents and culinary traditions, to create recipes that are steeped in tradition yet fully modern, and immediately craveable." * Chris Morocco, food director at Bon Appetit and Epicurious *
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