As a recent graduate and a lowly shift worker with limited funds, I am often looking for free and productive things to do in my copious amounts of leisure time. Thankfully this predicament lead me to rediscover the local library and in particular the cooking section. On my recent visit I discovered this book called “The Complete and Illustrated Food and Cooking of Africa and the Middle East” and honestly I think I have fallen in love! The title alone covers so much of  the type of cuisine I enjoy making as well as being diverse enough to include completely new cultures and dishes for me to experiment with. I think I have bookmarked nearly every page of this book so far and find myself unconsciously looking at the pictures before bed time. In fact, this particular picture below of a Jerusalem Cheese Cake called Kodafa almost brought me to tears (I really wish that was an exaggeration but it is not). I have been so inspired by this book filled with so many of my favourite middle eastern treats (sweets in particular) that I thought I should give it its own very special mention: it has definitely become my new food bible.