Spicy cheese Syrian fatayer a savoury sample of Islamic world cuisine

This cookbook is an epic volume, 300 recipes spread out over 500 pages, covering the cuisine and culinary culture of a quarter of the world's population.

Feast: Food of the Islamic World, is written by Anissa Helou. Islam is the dominant religion in Central Asia, Indonesia, the Middle East and North Africa, and Helou dives into the rich food traditions of countries from Turkey and Syria to India, Pakistan, Indonesia and Zanzibar.

The book is gorgeous, grounded in tradition and rich with stories of the people she met and drew experience from: the street vendors, bakers and home cooks. Helou is not Muslim herself, but was and raised in Lebanon with a Lebanese mother and Syrian father, and has researched and written extensively on the food of North Africa, the Mediterranean and the Middle East.

For armchair travellers or those who have never experienced these countries and regions, it's a great way to get to know a huge part of the world you may not be familiar with. And even if you are, it's a thorough recipe resource.

There are, of course, commonalities in holidays and celebrations, dishes and cooking techniques, and it's interesting to note the nuances and differences in dishes like biryani. The book includes seven recipes for the dish, mostly from regions of India. It also details grilled kebabs, fritters and milk sweets, reflective of regional politics, agricultural systems, climate and terroir.

The recipes themselves, divided into chapters concentrating on ingredients or types of food fundamental to the foods of Islam, with the two largest chapters devoted to the main staples, bread and rice, are surprisingly approachable.

• For more of Julie Van Rosendaal's tasty meals, bookmark cbc.ca/juliesrecipes

While goat (often referred to as mutton) is common in Islamic countries, she suggests substituting lamb in North America, where goat can be more tough. A glossary of ingredients and cooking terms clarifies details you may not be familiar with.

Feast is a beautiful, interesting, educational book, one I'll be cooking through all summer long: crunchy fattoush, grilled Afghan Sikh kebabs, spiced fried eggplant, scallion pancakes and cool lassi. I'll be sharing those dishes with friends I know love to meander around the world from their own kitchens.

Syrian fatayer

Feast offers recipes for both Lebanese and Syrian fatayer, small dough pockets with savoury fillings.

While the Lebanese version is made with an unleavened dough and pinched into triangles, Syrian varieties are often oblong and tapered on the ends, like boats.

I made the Syrian version with the spinach and onion and spicy cheese version that ultimately wound up together in the same pockets.

This recipe has been adapted from Feast: Food of the Islamic World, by Anissa Helou.

Dough ingredients:

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour.

1 pkg. (or two ¼ tsp) instant or active dry yeast.

1 tsp. sugar.

½ tsp. salt.

1/8 tsp. mahlep, (optional).

1 large egg.

¼ cup milk.

Spinach-onion filling ingredients:

2 to 3 green onions, chopped.

Kosher or sea salt.

Finely ground pepper.

1 tbsp. ground sumac.

1 packed cup of baby spinach, thinly sliced.

Juice of half a lemon, about 1 ½ tbsp.

1 tbsp. pine nuts, optional.

1 tbsp. olive oil.

Spicy cheese filling ingredients:

4 ounces of crumbled feta cheese.

½ tsp Aleppo pepper, or to taste.

Preparation:

To make the dough, combine the flour, yeast, sugar, salt and mahlep in a large bowl.

Whisk together the egg, milk and two tablespoons of water.

Add to the dry ingredients, stirring until the dough comes together.

Knead for a few minutes, then cover and let rest for 15 minutes.

Knead for another few minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Cover and let rise for an hour, or until doubled in size.

To make the filling, combine the onions, sumac, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Add the spinach, sprinkle with a bit more salt and rub with your fingers until it starts to wilt. Add the lemon juice, pine nuts and olive oil.

For the cheese filling, combine the feta and Aleppo pepper.

Divide the dough into eight pieces, shape each into a ball, cover with a tea towel and let rest for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 232 C/450 F.

Using your fingers, flatten each ball into a thin round, 15-centimetres in diameter. Stretch the round into an oval.

Spread some filling down the middle and fold a third of the dough lengthwise over the filling, pinching the ends to seal so there's a narrow opening running down the middle.

Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. I found it easiest to assemble them on the baking sheet.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until golden.

Serving: Serve hot, warm or at room temperature. Makes eight fatayer.

Listen to Julie Van Rosendaal's latest trip through her cookbook shelf:

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With files from the Calgary Eyeopener.