“Lebanese food writer and photographer Massaad, a proponent of the slow food movement, spent the winter of 2014/15 visiting a refugee camp for displaced Syrians in Lebanon, bringing a car full of food each time. The plight of the refugees, and the world’s failure to help them, led the author to create this book of recipes by an international gathering of chefs and cookbook authors (Anthony Bourdain, Yotam Ottolenghi, Paula Wolfert, and others), with all profits going to various organizations’ food relief efforts. Though the recipes are by internationally known chefs, there are arrangements for hearty, down-to-earth soups (mostly hot, some chilled) that will be wonderful for home tables. Leek and potato, lentil and Swiss chard, and split pea soup are some of the entries that will be most familiar to American cooks, but the book also pays homage to the refugees’ region of the world, offering, for example, instructions for Middle Eastern meatball soup with vegetables, Moroccan lentil and chickpea soup with cumin-fried whitebait, and chicken soup with freekeh. Dishes from other areas of the globe make appearances, too. Accompanying the recipes are dozens of photos, and most importantly, of the people who inspired the book: full-page and -spread images of Syrian children and adults complement the text and make this title stand out from other soup recipe sources. VERDICT Worth the purchase for the recipes alone, but with the profits going to such an important cause, this is a must-have.” — Library Journal, Starred Review

“One of the best non-fiction books for 2016.” — Los Angeles Public Library

“Soup for Syria may be the most compelling cookbook ever created. Through her photographs and collected recipes, Barbara Massaad directly connects us with a people in dire need of our help. Just holding this book is nourishment for the soul.” — Jim Clancy, former CNN Correspondent and Anchor, awarded A.H. Boerma medal for coverage of food and hunger issues by F.A.O. (U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization)

“Soup is elemental, and it always makes sense, even when the world around us fails to.” — Anthony Bourdain

“Soup is the ultimate comfort food: nurturing, sustaining and all good things. One recipe is a drop in the ocean but, if awareness of the plight of the Syrian refugees is raised with each batch made and shared then that is a force for good. As well as being a delicious meal in and of itself.” — Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi

“When I visited the Syrian refugees in Lebanon, I said to them: ‘Had I been a barber, I would have cut your hair for free. Because I am a cookbook writer and photographer, I am doing what I can do to help through my work.'” — Barbara Abdeni Massaad

“Whether we are in times of crisis or times of peace, gathering family and friends together around the table and sharing food is one of the most powerful and life-affirming acts we can do. And there is nothing more comforting and nourishing than a bowl of warm soup.” — Alice Waters

“There is hope that this marvelous collection of soup recipes from chefs all over the world will remind us of those in Syria who have lost their homes and so much more. Let us all make soup to create some relief and provide more outreach to those that are in need.” — Ana Sortun