This is Cuban food in its proper context. Let Cuban-born author and experienced chef Ramona Abella take you on a multilevel tour of her homeland. Learn about the roots of Cuban cuisine within the framework of the culture, humor, and psychology of her people. You will find this collection of family pictures and anecdotes to be as interesting, digestible, and satisfying as their favorite dishes. And the recipes--from delicious appetizers to fantastic desserts--all graced with a Cuban accent, will bring you pleasure and give you a glimpse into the heart of the Cuban experience.

Secrets of Heavenly Food, the follow-up to Hajjah Naziha's Heavenly Foods, contains over 150 recipes from a broad range of locales. Ranging from Cyprus, Lebanon, the Indian-subcontinent to Southeast Asia and even the US, these invariably delicious recipes range in difficulty from simple to involved. With step-by-step instructions and pictures it is possible for even a novice to successfully prepare the most complex dishes in this book. Introductions by the author's father, Shaykh Nazim, her husband Shaykh Hisham, and herself, expound upon the connection between food and spirituality. The heart of this book is the legacy it carries from Hajjah Amina, the author's mother, a scholar and a refugee from Russia. During the advent of communism, Hajjah Amina's family fled their native homeland of Kazan, Russia, in order to preserve their right to observe their religious faith. They sacrificed home, country, and language for the sake of their spirituality. Herein are the recipes which Hajjah Naziha has passed down from her blessed mother, Hajjah Amina. A number of recipes are exceedingly rare, and cannot be found in other sources, including the Small Meat-Filled Dumplings in Savory Tomato Broth (Peel Meen), Rose Pastries (Gul), and Golden Fingertip Pastries (Borsok). The Gul and Borsok were famously prepared by Hajjah Amina in celebration of both Eids and Mawlid an-Nabi. Hajjah Amina brought these recipes from her native country and passed them down to her daughter, Hajjah Naziha, who in turn passed them down to her own daughter, Sajeda. Through this work, Hajjah Naziha generously passes down these recipes to her "daughters" in tariqah, the female students who come to learn on the Sufi path."

An Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire ( a class of knighthood). Tremain spent the 17 years before 1989 running Boston's historic Copley Plaza Hotel. He used his international contacts and social and business acumen to turn the Copley from a faltering property into a lucrative draw for the prosperous and photogenic. Tremain became a celebrity. He had a television show called Words and Music and interviewed many famous people including Luciano Pavarotti, Sebastian Cabot, Peter Falk, Elizabeth Taylor and the author, Thornton Wilder. His Cannes townhouse on the French Riviera even appeared on television's "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous." In October, 2009 Tremain hosted a television show on WXEL in the Palm Beaches entitled "Meet the Chef." Harking back to the interview with the Serendipity Editor of the Palm Beach Society Magazine, Tremain said, "And a final answer to a question which you haven't asked. What would I still like to do? I would like to publish a book called Without Reservation-a fun look at my experiences in the hotel business. Well, here it is.