Linda Dangoor
From the Tigris to the Thames
Flavours of a Journey
Barnsley, UK: Greenhill & Green Bean Books, 2025, ISBN: 9781805001829
Reviewed by Annette B. Fromm1
I became acquainted with Linda Dangoor and her culinary knowledge during the extended months of the COVID-19 lockdown. She was one of a number of skilled cooks and chefs who shared their knowledge of Jewish food via zoom. Through her presentations I learned about the rich food traditions of the Jewish community of Iraq, where her family originated. This well-written and richly illustrated book traces the peregrinations of her family and the author herself after the forced departure from the centuries-old home in Baghdad. Interwoven in the narrative of her lifetime are stories and recipes of foods enjoyed in the many places where she has lived. At each stop along the way, new dishes are adopted and their recipes found in the pages of the book. Through six chapters, Dangoor documents and shares a life-time of journeys, which I imagine is not yet over.
Cooks and readers (after all much of the enjoyment of a good cookbook is found in the reading) start in Baghdad where she was born. Next is a brief sojourn in Beirut followed by a few years in London. The author next takes readers to Ibiza where her family moved following her father’s work. Paris and a return to London follow. In each section, she weaves stories filled with observations of life, along with her experiences. The recipes in each reflect the food heritage of that community.
Photos of the family that illustrate the storytelling are found in the early sections of the book. They supplement the delightful stories of growing up in a loving extended family. She writes about her integration into a new life and culture in London. Her mother’s cooking repertoire changed here, too. Dangoor shares thoughts about inevitable changes to her identity. Although she grew up with a strong Iraqi Jewish identity, in her teen years in London, with the introduction of many unavoidable, outside influences, it was eroded only to reemerge later in life. I was delighted to learn that we both share the realization that our curly hair was not suitable to the stylish Vidal Sassoon haircuts trending in the mid-60s when the world was awash with everything English. The descriptive narratives continue and bring to life her stories of life in other locations.
This is not simply a book of wonderfully written, easy-to-follow recipes, accompanied with rich narratives, photographs. The author fills in the text with asides that help to explain aspects of traditional culture that are essential to her family. She writes in the introduction that the book is “part memoir, part cookbook” (p. 11). This added content makes it more than a memoir, but a documentation of her heritage. Iraqi Jewish traditions such as amulets given at birth (p.17), coffee cup reading (p. 61), and more fill the pages. In addition, ingredients that are now becoming more familiar in our global world are explored, including amba, a pickled green mango condiment (p. 24); silan or date syrup (p. 44); aioli (p. 126); and quince (p. 316).
The book closes with a useful assortment of recipes divided into bread, salads, soups and vegetables, egg and cheese, rice, fish, lamb and chicken, and sweets. The explanation of her pantry or “store cupboard” (p. 180) including lemons, olive oil, zaatar, fresh herbs, preserved lemon, and more gives insights into the mind of the cook. Throughout, the reader learns more about the author’s practice. She writes of how “accidents” lead to experimentation that end in delicious results, for example, butternut squash and beetroot soup (pp. 238-239).
In addition, several useful tools are included. The glossary of UK and US terms and conversion tables for temperatures and measurements makes the book useable by cooks worldwide. In addition, measurements in the recipes are given both in metric and ounces. She also provides a marvelous bibliography which leaves me with the desire to explore further.
In From the Tigris to the Thames, Linda Dangoor introduces readers and cooks to distinctive foods from many places in the world with clear instructions. She brings together a multifaceted knowledge of cross-cultural food traditions, food history, Jewish customs, and more. Reading this cookbook is reading about a rich and varied life and so many elements that Dangoor appreciated along the way. Her descriptive use of language and storytelling brings her many experiences and their association with foods to life. My copy of the book is littered with small post-its and turned down pages of many more recipes I would like to try.
1 Annette B. Fromm is the review editor and associate editor of Sephardic Horizons. She is a descendant of a Greek Jewish family on her mother’s side.