One Hundred and One Mezze: 31. Potato with garlic and coriander

Potato occupies an awkward spot in Syrian cuisine. 

It is not a true vegetables in the way we use vegetables in our cooking. We don't have the concept of meat and two veg. Instead vegetables are either cooked in some sort of a stew and served as a main or cooked in olive oil and served as a vegetarian side dish. Potato does not fit either. 

Potato is not our main source of carbohydrates. Rice and bulger occupy that spot. 

We don't use it to thicken soup. We don't use it as a pasty filler. We don't make hash brown with it... etc 

As a results potato is often neglected in many Syrian kitchen. I know many Syrian households that never used potato other than chips!

But look a bit under the surface and you would find amazing uses of the humble spud. One of my favourite dishes of all time is my chicken and potato bake with garlic, lemon and oil. Another favourite of mine is a simple breakfast dish of boiled eggs, boiled potato, salt and pepper swimming in olive oil. Another great dish is potato salad and I don't mean the one smothered in mayonnaise, but a fresh sharp salad with tomato, parsley lemon and olive oil. Something similar to my artichoke salad. 

Today's recipe is a very nice and simple mezze dish. Potato with olive oil garlic and coriander. Most people fry the potato cubes however I prefer them boiled. They absorb the olive oil and take on the garlic and coriander aroma.

Ingredients:

Two large potatoes cut into an inch cubes

4 garlic cloves (use more or less to taste)

A handful of coriander 

Olive oil 5 tbsp

Boil the potatoes in salted water.

Heat the olive oil on low heat. Add the garlic and coriander and remove immediately from the heat. You just need them welted. If you burn your garlic throw it and start again.

Add the potato. Mix well and season to taste. 

Paralysis Cheese and other dodgy translations

Syrians have an inherent inability to finish anything right (see Syrian Revolution). They start a wonderful piece of work or a nice project then they ruin it on the final details. Nowhere is that more apparent than restaurants menus. You can hardly see a restaurant menu around damascus without a bleeding obvious spelling mistake or dodgy translation.

The paralysis part of the name comes from the fact the spelling of the word  شلل could refer to a wool hank or paralysis. Needless to say the cheese is named after a wool hank it resembles not after paraplegia. 

To be fair the above picture was not in Syria but it is so funny I couldn't resist. However, Baked Aborigine (baked aubergine) and Jordanian Heater (Jordanian Musakhan) are true menu items in a couple of high end Damascus restaurants.

Harra' Esbao'o (Harra' Esba3o or حراق اصبعو), is possibly the most frequently mistranslated dish ever. It is not really a mistranslation but rather a very literal translation. Harra' mean burning hot and esba3o is his finger. However, no matter if you call it "Finger burner", "Burns his fingers" or any variation of these three words it still doesn't make any sense to the non Arabic speakers trying to order some lunch. In fact it doesn't make any sense even to an Arabic speaker who is not familiar with the dish.

Modern take on presentation. Picture by @Tammamo

Hara' Esba3o is my all time favourite vegetarian dish, hands down. In essence the dish is a simple lentil pasta stew. It is made special with all the extras; crunchy fried croutons, garlic and coriander topping, pomegranate molasses and lots of citrus juice. I am drooling just writing these words! The traditional recipe requires making dough, rolling it thin and cut it into half inch squares, a very time consuming process. Nowadays most people use pasta instead. In Damascus you can actually buy special Harra' Esba3o pasta. Alternatively, you can use shell pasta (Conchiglie), orecchiette, or even lasagne sheets broken into pieces. My favourite however is pappardelle broken into inch long pieces. 

Historically this dish was associated with all-women occasions. It was the brunch of choice to serve in Sobhiyeh (صبحية), a late morning gathering of women usually in the house of a high class house wife. In early twentieth century Damascus, Sobhiyeh would have been an elaborate occasion with with singing, entertainment and a lot of Hara' Esba3o. It was a way of showing wealth and affluent. In modern day Damascus these large Sobhiyehs are all but gone. The name now refers to housewives morning gossip sessions, Turkish coffee and reading fortunes in empty coffee cups. 

My more traditional presentation and iPhone picture!

Here is my version of Harra' Esba3o 

Dry green lentils 200 g

Pappardelle pasta 300 g

Olive oil

Garlic 5 large cloves

Coriander leaves 50 g

Arabic bread 2 medium loaves

Corn starch 1 tbs

Pomegranate molasses 2 tbs

Juice of one lemon

Vegetable oil for frying

One onion 

Pomegranate for decoration (optional)

In a large pot start by cooking the lentils in 4 cups of water until half cooked, roughly 10-15 minutes. Break the pasta into one inch pieces and add to the pot. Season with salt. Cook for further 10-12 minutes depending how al dente you like your pasta.  

While the pasta and lentils are cooking. Heat 4 table spoons of olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Crush the garlic and chop the coriander. Add the garlic first then the coriander to the hot oil and remove from the heat immediately. You just want the leaves to wilt. Avoid burning the garlic.

While the pasta is cooking add half the garlic and coriander mixture, juice of a lemon and the pomegranate molasses. Check seasoning. You can change the lemon/molasses ratio according to taste. 

Just before the pasta is done, dissolve the cornstarch in a little cold water and add to the pot. Let the pot boil for few minutes to thicken the sauce. It needs to be fairly loose at this stage as it will get thicker as it cools down. Add more boiling water if necessary.

plate in a glass oven dish or individual shallow bowls and let cool down. The dish is best served luke warm or room temperature.

While cooling, Cut the bread using kitchen scissors into 2 cm squares.  Heat the vegetable oil in a pot and deep fry the croutons. Keep an eye as they burn very quickly. Drain on a kitchen towel.

 Slice the onion thinly and fry in the same oil after the bread until dark brown. Drain. Onion is almost always served as a topping however I am not a fan so I don't.

When ready to serve, spoon the rest of the garlic and coriander on top. Sprinkle with the onions, croutons and few pomegranate seeds. 

Shanklish, Blue Cheese of The Levant

Shanklish is the only "blue" cheese of Syria and Lebanon. I say blue because the cheese is left to age and develop mould layer on the surface. I used quotation marks because the mould is then rinsed away then the cheese balls are dried and rolled in a herb crust.

Proper Shanklish making is a complicated lengthy process. It starts by turning milk into yoghurt. The yoghurt is placed in a large container and shaken continuously for a good period of time to separate the butter that is then skimmed away. This creates a thin skimmed yoghurt called Shenineh. The next step is to slow heat shenineh until it curdles. These curds are then drained in a cheese cloth for few hours to create Arisheh, a delicately flavoured crumbly white cheese. Arisheh is then salted generously and rolled into tennis-ball sized cheese balls. These are then dried in the sun for a week. Once dried shanklish balls are placed in airtight jars and left in the dark to mature. They will develop a mouldy layer on the surface. Once the desired aging time is reached the cheese balls are rinsed and dried to remove the mould. Shanklish balls are finished by rolling them in dried zaatar or thyme layer.

Each of these by-products mentioned above is an ingredient in its own right. Shenineh makes a light refreshing drink similar but lighter than Ayran (yoghurt drink for those of you who haven't tried it). Arisheh makes a wonderful breakfast dish drizzled with honey or cherry jam and served with warm bread.

Shanklish varies a lot in taste, texture and flavour depending on the length of the aging process. Fresh white shanklish needs only a week of aging. The longer shanklish is matured the darker and smellier it gets. Eating properly aged shanklish is a hard core sport for an elite group of hard core fans.

A common variation of the original is made by adding paprika and Aleppo peppers to Arisheh before it get rolled this will give shanklish orange pink colour. Flavoured shanklish is commonly rolled in Aleppo peppers rather than thyme.

Shanklish is not a native cheese to Damascus. It is very popular in coastal and mountainous areas especially around Tartous and Homs. Up til recent year, and by recent I mean when I was a child, it was not eaten in Damascus at all. The strong smell and the idea of aged mouldy cheese was off putting to most people. I vaguely remember as a child somebody giving us home made shanklish as a gift. It stayed in the fridge for a week or so before my mum chucked it in the bin untouched. Now getting older and wiser I grew to love shanklish. It has a wonderful unique flavour that I absolutely love.

Like I did people of Damascus grew to like shanklish. You can find it in most grocery shops around the city. It is not uncommon to see a man pushing a cart full of the stuff around the city narrow lanes or even farmer women selling their home made shanklish in the city streets.

Shanklish could be eaten as it is with nice piece of bread and some olive oil with tomato, cucumber and mint leaves on the side. I like to make it into a sandwich with some soft boiled eggs. I heard of some people frying it with eggs to make a flavoursome omelet, I never tried it this way. Finally the most common and best way to eat shanklish is to make it into a salad. This will be my next post.

In London you can buy shanklish from Green Valley on Edgware road or Damas Gate in Shepherds Bush.

If you want to read an excellent article on Shanklish go to Abu Fares blog. Abu Fares is a great writer, thinker, humanist and a champion of Tartous and everything related to Tartous including Shanklish.

One Hundred and One Mezze: 28. Cheese Borak

Today's recipe is a must in any Damascene restaurant meal. It is an essential part of any meal you almost get served these by default, sometimes without even ordering them. To start your meal you will get served one of these and one Kibbeh Me'lyieh (Fried Kibbeh) along with the usual suspects of hummus, mutabal and fatoush.

For this recipe I used my mum super fast borak dough recipe. This dough recipe is only good to be fried as it will come out crisp and flaky. If you want oven baked borak you will be better of using puff pastry but you need to roll it really thin so you don't end up with cheese puffs.

I made my borak in the traditional rectangular shape. Not the most aesthetic but diffidently the most traditional.

Here is my Cheese Borak recipe:

Flour 2 cups

Boiling water 3/4 cup

Vegetable oil 1/4 cup

Salt 1 tsp

For the filling:

White cheese 200g

Chopped Parsley 30g

Sesame seeds (optional)

Black sesame seeds (optional)

Black pepper

Start by preparing the filling. Crumble your white cheese and mix with the rest of the ingredients. You can use any type of Arabic white cheese. I usually use Nabulsi cheese. It has a great subtle flavour. If you don't have access to Arabic white cheese then you can try my alternative mix of Feta and Mozzarella.

In a mixing bowl add all the dough ingredients and start mixing with a spoon. Be careful not to burn your fingers with the boiling water. Using hot water allows all the ingredients to come together surprisingly easy. Once mixed into a dough start working it with your hands. The dough is ready to work with almost immediately.

Roll the dough very thinly and cut into rectangles. Spoon some of the cheese mix, fold the dough and press the edges to seal it. You can use a pizza or a ravioli cutter to make the edges pretty (unlike mine!).

Deep fry in vegetable oil, drain on a kitchen towel and serve warm.

Ramadan Special: Oven Cheese Fatayer

Few weeks ago I discovered a new ingredient, Lavash bread. I have always seen it on Middle Eastern grocery shops in West Ealing but I never thought about trying it until recently, and what a discovery! Lavash is a type of very thin bread native to Turkey, Iran, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. The bread is a beautifully versatile ingredient that can be used to make pastries, borak and even oven samosa. For those of you familiar with Syrian breads, lavash is somewhat a cross between Saj bread and Tanoor Bread.

In Ramadan pastries has an essential role on the Iftar table. It adds a nice variety to the meal and nice side to a warm bowl of soup. Cheese, meat and spinach are the classic fillings.

For today's recipe I tried to create a cheese filling that doesn't require a trip to a Middle Eastern shop. I wanted to make a cheese filling that resembles the taste of that used in cheese borak in Syria but without the use of any "specialty" cheeses. I will have to say, the experiment was a great success. Even better than I expected!

Of course using Lavash bread defies the purpose of this whole exercise. So if you want to keep "high street supermarket only" tag to your dish you can use filo pastry or even puff pastry although the latter will produce a completely different dish.


Here is my Oven Baked Cheese Fatayer recipe:

Lavash bread 400 g
Feta 250g
Grated mozzarella 250g
Parsley 50g
Butter 50g
Salt
Black pepper
Milk
one Egg

Heat the oven to 200 degrees.

Mash the feta cheese with a fork and mix it with Mozzarella, chopped parsley, egg, salt and freshly ground black pepper. If your mix is too thick you can add a splash of milk. Be careful not to add too much other wise you will end up with a soggy pastry base.

Butter the bottom of a small baking tin. Add two layers of the bread brushing each layer with melted butter. Spread halt the cheese mixture then another bread layer, more cheese then the top bread layer. Brush the top generously with butter to get a crispy finish.

Bake in the oven for twenty minutes until the top is golden. Let cool for few minutes, cut to individual portions and serve.

One Hundred and One Mezze: 24. Okra in Olive Oil

The British concept of meat and two veg meals doesn't exist in Syrian, and the rest of the Middle East, cuisine. We don't use vegetable boiled or steamed as a side to the meat. Traditional Levantine cooking uses meat and vegetables cooked together in a stew type dishes served with rice or Bulgar.

For every meat based dish there is an "Oil" counter part. These dishes are usually served as side dishes at room temperature or part of a mezze. They are called "Oil" dishes as they cooked in olive. Almost every kind of vegetable can be cooked this way; runner beans, broad beans, spinach and today's vegetable Okra.

Okra or Bamyeh as it is know in Syria is a very popular vegetable in Middle Eastern and East Mediterranean cooking. Traditionally it is cooked with lamb cubes in a tomato-based stew and served with rice. Today's recipe is Bamyeh Bi Zeit or Okra in Olive Oil a meatless counterpart. It is not as frequently cooked but as delicious if not better. I find bamyeh bi zeit at its best if cooked and left in the fridge overnight for the flavour to develop. Next day take out of the fridge let it get back to room temperature and enjoy it with Arabic bread.
Here is my Bamyeh Bi Zeit recipe:

Okra 250g
Tomato 2-3
Chopped coriander leaves 1 tbsp
Garlic 2 cloves
Salt
Olive oil 2 tbsp

Heat the olive oil on medium heat in a heavy bottom pot. Chop the tomatoes roughly and add to the oil. Chop the okra and very thinly slice the garlic. Add to the pot. Season with salt and add a little hot water to cover the bottom of the pot. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.

Once the vegetables are cooked and most of water has evaporated add the chopped coriander. Mix and cover for another 5 minutes.

Serve with Arabic flat bread.

One Hundred and One Mezze: 23. Moussaka

Like stuffed vine leaves, Moussaka is another ex-Ottoman Empire dish. While most of the people outside the region know the Greek version of the dish, other versions of Moussaka exists in many countries from Egypt, The Levant, Turkey and all the way to the Balkans. While I conceded stuffed vine leaves to the Turks due to etymology I can comfortably claim Moussaka to us Levantines for the exact same reasons. Moussaka is a word of Arabic origin. It comes from the Arabic musaqqa'a مسقعة which translates roughly to "Chilled" as the dish is served at room temperature.

The common theme between all the different versions of Moussaka around the world is the two main ingredients aubergines and tomatoes. In Damascus Moussaka is served as a side dish or as part of mezze and strictly vegetarian. In some other parts of Syria ground meat is added and the dish is served as a main. In Lebanon chickpeas is a common extra. The Turkish and Egyptian versions call for ground meat and the Greek one you all know with the traditional layers and white sauce topping.


Here is my Mousska Damascene style:

One large aubergine
Two tomatoes
One onion
One red pepper
Garlic 3-4 cloves
Coriander leaves chopped 1tbsp (optional)
Vegetable oil
Olive oil 3tbsp
Salt

Heat the vegetable oil to fry the Aubergine.

Peel the aubergine in stripes (as above, I just like the way it looks!) and cut into 1.5 cm thick slices. Fry till fully cooked and golden brown in colour.

Slice the onions and the peppers, roughly chop the tomatoes and try to slice the garlic as thin as you can. In a pan, heat the olive oil and fry the onion on medium heat till soft. Add the garlic, tomato and red peppers and cook for 10 minutes or till fully cooked. Add the chopped coriander leaves and season with salt.

Add the fried aubergines and mix gently so you don't break the aubergine slices. Cook for further 5 minutes.

Let cool down and serve with flat Arabic bread.

One Hundred and One Mezze: 22. Tabbouleh

I don't know how did I manage to go over a year of blogging without a recipe for Tabbouleh. After Hummus and the inaccurately named Baba Ghanoush, Tabbouleh is The Levant's third biggest culinary export to the world.
Like all other dishes that moved from local to international status, the tangy parsley-based salad has been bastardised and adapted in endless ways. My friend Tammam has had a "tabbouleh" dish from a supermarket in Geneva withe the ingredients: couscous, raisins, onion, chicken and basil!
Admittedly, not all adapted version are as bad. In most cases of "supermarket tabbouleh" the main ingredients of the original dish are the same but the balance is completely skewed towards Bulgar. Authentic Tabbouleh should be three quarters parsley and one quarter everything else.
In my recipe I tried to use as accurate quantities as I could, so any body trying the recipe can get a taste and feel of what an authentic tabbouleh is. To give tabbouleh its characteristic spicy edge I like to use finely ground black pepper. You can use allspice, mixed spice (baharat) or as they do in Aleppo, Aleppo peppers! 

Edit 29/09/2014
In my recipe I use fine Bulgur wheat which you need to buy from Middle Eastern shops. The grain is very small so you don't need to cook it. Just soak in water for 30 minutes will do. However Bulgur bought from high street supermarket has medium size grain and will not be soft enough just soaked. You will need to boil it for 10 minutes then drain and let cool.

Here is my tabbouleh recipe:
Flat leaf parsley 250g (before trimming the stalks) Mint leaves 30g Fine Bulgar wheat 50g Small red onion One tomato Sumac 1tsp Black pepper 1/2tsp Lemon 1-2 according to taste Salt Olive oil 4-5 tbsp
Start by washing and soaking the Bulgar wheat in cold water for 30 minutes.
The secret to nice crisp tabbouleh is a very sharp knife to chop the parsley without bruising the leafs. Chop the parsley, mint, onion and tomato finely. Drain the Bulgar and squeeze the extra water. Squeeze the lemons.
Mix all the ingredients. And leave for around 30 minutes before serving.
We like to serve tabbouleh with lettuce in Syria. We use lettuce leaves to make small wraps full of the tangy salad.

Enjoy!

One Hundred and One Mezze: 21. Stuffed Vine Leaves

The love of stuffed vine leaves extends way beyond the borders of the Levant. People from The Balkans, Greece, Turkey, Iraq, Iran and all the way to Middle Asia enjoys the tiny tangy wraps. I tried to do some research into the dish origin but I found it difficult to accurately identify where it was first cooked. Many different nations make a claim but without a doubt the Turkish voice remains the loudest. The name most commonly used in all of these countries "Dolma" or a variation of it. Dolma is Turkish for "stuffed".

The dish is most likely invented or at least developed into its current form in the Ottoman Empire. At one point it was one huge country extending from Central Europe to Central Asia and including most of North Africa. Food, ingredients, recipes and even chefs moved freely around the empire. No wonder there are so many similarities and common dishes in all these countries cuisines.

In Syria we use Turkish names to call stuffed vine leaves but interestingly it is not Dolma. We cooked vine leaves in two ways one with meat and rice stuffing, served hot and eaten as a main dish. This dish is called Yaprak, Turkish for "leaf". The other is the vegetarian variant most people know, served cold as a starter or part of a Mezze spread. This version is called Yalangi, Turkish for "fake". Fake because it doesn't contain any meat of course!


Here is my Yalangi recipe:

Vine leaves, preserved 300g
Short grain rice 200g (paella rice works very well, or the more authentic Egyptian rice)
One large tomato
One small onion
One lemon
Chopped parsley 2-3 tbsp
Dried mint 1tsp
Salt
Allspice 1/2 tsp
Olive oil 3-4 tbsp

Wash the rice and soak in cold water for around 30 minutes.

Finely chop the onion and tomato. Sweat the onions in olive oil on medium heat till soft and translucent. Drain the rice and add to the pot. Stir well till the rice grain are heated and coated with the oil. Add the chopped tomato, parsley, mint, allspice. Season with salt and add the juice of half a lemon. Mix well and remove from the heat. Taste the rice mixture for seasoning.

Spoon a small amount of the mixture into the centre of the leaf. Fold the edges and roll as in the picture. If this is your first time, it will start slowly but don't get disheartened. You will soon be much quicker and the roles will look neater.

Cover the bottom of the pot with the left over leaves or sliced potatoes to prevent the wraps sticking to the bottom of the pot. Arrange the rolled leaves in layers. They need to be fairly compact to prevent them opening or breaking. Once you arranged all the wrapped leaves put a small plate on the top preferably with a small weight to keep the vine leaves compact.

Add the juice of the other lemon half and cover with water. Start cooking on a high heat. Once started boiling turn down the heat to medium and cook for another 20-30 minutes. Cooking time will depend on how soft the leaves are. Keep an eye on them.

Once cooked transfer carefully to a plate and let cool down before serving.

There are countless variations to stuffed vine leaves recipe. You can replace the lemon juice with pomegranate molasses. Greeks use dill instead of parsley. Turks add currents or raisins sometimes. Iraqis cook their dolma with tamarind. Feel free to adapt the recipe the way you like it.

Weekend Breakfast

In the traditional Syrian households, kitchen is the woman territory. Dad brings the food, mum cooks the food. I like to believe that this family module is changing. More and more family are breaking this rigid structure, may be very slowly but continuously. May be it is just my liberal brain convincing me that things are changing. I don't know!

Regardless of how traditional, liberal, backward or progressive a family is, two meals remain the father duty. First is, no surprises there, barbecue. Lighting a huge fire, grilling big pieces of meat and filling the place with smoke brings the cave man out of all of us men. We just love it.

The second father's specialty is Friday's breakfast. Friday as many of you know is the day of rest for Muslims so the weekend across all of the Arabic and Islamic countries will be Friday with either Thursday or Saturday. In Syria people will have a lie-in on a Friday morning and the breakfast will be served in late morning, more like a brunch, before people head for Friday's prayer around midday. The Friday's meal will feature the usual breakfast items olives, white cheese and labneh. But it will not be a proper weekend breakfast if it didn't include Hummus Fatteh or Ful Mudamas.

Ful is Arabic for Fava beans or braod beans whichever way you want to call them. Ful Mudamas is a vegetarian warm broad bean salad dish eaten as a filling breakfast or a nice supper. Although Ful Mudamas is the official name of the dish we hardly ever use this name. We simply refer to it as a generic Ful or we call it by the name of its two variations, Ful bi Laban (youghurt Ful) made with a youghrt sauce or Ful bi Ziet (oil ful)which looks more like a salad and uses more olive oil.

For this recipe you can use home cooked dry broad beans as in my Ful Nabit post but to be honest with you the skins remains tough unless you cook them for long time with plenty with Sodium Bicarb. You wouldn't do that in Syria and you will buy your beans ready cooked from the Ful and Hummus shop. Here in London you can buy tinned ful. There is a huge variety in any Middle Eastern supermarket. Some of the tinned ful comes in a variety of flavours and different Middle Eastern recipes. I like to buy a plain ful and chickpeas tin and I do the flavouring myself.


Here is my Ful bi Laban recipe:

Ful (or Ful and Chickpeas) tin
One large tomato
Garlic 1-2 cloves
Greek style yoghurt 200g
Tahini 2-3 tbsp
Lemon
Salt
Parsley
Paprika
Olive oil

Heat the beans with water in a pot or simply empty the can contents into a bowl, cover and microwave for two minutes. Drain the beans and let cool down . They need to be warm but not too hot as the yoghurt will curdle.

Mix the youghrt, tahini, crushed garlic, salt and squeeze of a lemon and mix together. The mixture will stiffen because of the tahini. Add a little bit of water at a time and whisk. You need a fairly loose consistency. Adjust the quantities according to taste. I like more tahini and less lemon but try till you get the taste you like.

Chop the tomato and add to the yoghurt sauce. Add the warm beans and mix together. Transfer to a large bowl or individual portions.

Decorate with paprika, chopped parsley and a generous drizzle of olive oil. Serve with warm bread, a quartered onion and some pickles.

One Hundred and One Mezze: 15. Beetroot Mutabal

This dish is not a traditional Syrian mezze. It made its way onto the menu of few Damascene restaurants in the last few years. Travel guides favourite, Lailas, serves a version of this dish that was much appreciated by ABC reporter on her visit to Syria.

I will have to admit that I never tried this dish in a restaurant so I don't have a reference point. I just made up this recipe the way I like it. It is essentially the same recipe I use for Mutabal but I use beetroot instead of aubergine. The combination of the sweet taste of the beetroot, sour yoghurt and the earthy flavour of tahini works surprisingly well together. This dish works very well served next to lamb kebabs.

Here is my Beetroot Mutabal recipe:
Cooked Beetroot 250g
Tahini 2tbsp
Yoghurt 2tbsp
Lemon
Salt

In a food processor start add the beet root tahini and yoghurt. Process till fine and well mixed. Add a squeeze of lemon and salt to taste.

Spread in a plate. Decorate with pine nuts and a drizzle of olive oil. Serve with Arabic flat bread.

Vermicelli Rice, A Table Essential

When I was a young child I was such a fussy eater. Nothing I liked more than a warm plate of vermicelli rice with some yoghurt. My mum ,understandably, was not that keen on such a diet and she kept trying with me to eat different stuff. I am so glad she did as some of the things I hated as a child I can't live without now.

Vermicelli rice is by far the most common dish cooked in Syria. It is served almost on a daily basis in any Syrian house hold. It is not a meal on its own right but it accompanies main dishes. The rice is served next to vegetable stews, yoghurt based dishes and some oven baked ones.

Rice is not a native product of Syria or the rest of the Levant. And although some rice is grown in eastern parts of the country around the Euphrates, most of the rice consumed in Syria is imported. Historically speaking, apart from bread, the main forms of carbohydrate in Syrian diet came from bulgur and Freekeh (roasted green wheat grains). Although both are still widely consumed, nowadays rice is by far the most popular.

The perfect rice to use is a hotly debated issue. Long grain is the easiest to get right (hence the most popular) but short grain is the most tasty. That was my mum argument, so you know which type of rice I grew up eating. I used short grain rice to make vermicelli rice till I moved to London when I started using Basmati. Now I am totally converted, Basmati is the way to go.

Final note before the recipe; Is it Gordon Ramsay who appoints chefs based on their ability to cook boiled eggs? In Syria, the perfect cook is judged on his or her ability to cook this dish. The perfect rice should be well cooked; not over and not under. The rice grains should not be sticky but sticky enough if that makes any sense.

I truly believe this is the most difficult way to cook rice especially if you are using short grain. It could be very challenging to get it right the first time. You need to estimate the exact amount of water needed for the dish to cook beforehand as there is no bar boiling or draining excess water as with many rice dishes. Perfecting vermicelli rice comes with experience so don't be disappointed if you tried it and it didn't come out right, try again and you will get it perfect.

A couple of tips to help cook the perfect rice. First wash the rice properly before soaking to get rid of all the excess starch to prevent the rice coming out sticky. Secondly don't over-stir the rice. I always say you are only allowed to stir the rice twice; once at the mid point when you turn the heat down, and the second when you turn the heat off.


Here is my recipe:

Rice of your choice 2 cups
Vermicelli pasta a good handful
Ghee clarified butter 2 tbsp
Salt
Hot water

Wash your rice and soak in cold water for 20-30 minutes.

Start by melting the Ghee butter and add the vermicelli pasta. Stir continuously to prevent the pasta burning and get an even browning. You need to fry the pasta till dark brown.

Take the pot of the heat and add the hot water. The amount of water required varies depending the type of rice. Follow the packet instructions. As a general rule 2 cups of rice will need 3-3.5 cups of water. "Easy cook" rice will need less water.

Please be very careful not to burn yourself. Adding water to very hot butter will cause small melted butter droplets to fly out of the pot.

Return the pot on the cooker and add salt. Taste the water and don't worry if it is a bit salty as the rice will absorb the salt. Drain and add the rice to the boiling water and bring back to boil. Turn the heat to medium, cover and cook for ten minutes. Check the rice at this point and stir it very gently. Add a bit of boiling water if necessary.

Turn down the heat to as low as you can, cover and let the rice steam and finish cooking for another ten minutes. Stir for the second time and serve.

One Hundred and One Mezze: 14. Barasia

Barasia is Syrian for Leek. Baby leek to be precise as large leek as we know it in Europe is almost non-existant in Syria.

Today's dish is one of a large group of vegetable based "in oil" dishes. In Syria and the rest of The Levant, most vegetables are cooked two ways. One with meat, mostly as a tomato-based stew, served as a main dish with vermicelli rice. The alternative is vegetables cooked in Olive oil without meat and eaten with Arabic bread. They are served as a side dish or part of a mezze spread. They could be eaten hot, cold, room temperature or at their best slightly warm.

Barasia is almost always cooked in Olive oil. To be honest with you, I am not sure if a meat version does exist. I never tried such a dish. So, If you know a Syrian or Lebanese recipe for leeks cooked in meat please let me know and I will give it a go.

This recipe is adapted from a recipe given to me by fellow Syrian blogger, Maysaloon.

Here is my Brasia recipe:

Three large leeks (or a bunch of baby leeks)

One carrot

Olive oil 4-6 tbsp

Cumin 1/2 tsp

Coriander 2tbsp

Salt to taste

Clean the leeks by cutting the green ends and peeling the outer layer. Chop the leeks into 1 cm pieces. Slice the carrot very thinly to make sure it cooks at the same time as the leeks.

Heat the olive oil in a pot and add the leeks and carrots. Cook on high heat for 5 minutes. Add the cumin and salt to taste and turn down the heat. Cover and let cook on low to medium heat for 20-25 minutes or till the leeks fully cooked. Add the coriander few minutes before the end to keep maximum taste.

Drizzle with some olive oil if you wish and serve slightly warm with Arabic flat bread.

One Hundred and One Mezze: 13. Allspice Tomato Salad

Although the salad market in Syria is dominated by Tabouleh and Fattoush, many others are making presence. In restaurants in Syria people will order one of the many other options available on the menu. Olive, rocket and zaatar salads are as popular as Tabouleh between punters. Don't get me wrong, this doesn't mean the demise of the famous two. You will still get at least one of the two as a matter of default on your mezze spread. At home Tabouleh and Fattoush still dominate the table by a long way.

Today's recipe is a simple tomato salad. Needless to say, you need good quality tomatoes to get a decent tasting salad. The allspice dressing brings an extra depth and warmth to the simple flavour of tomatoes.

This salad can be a great mezze dish especially if you are serving grilled meats and kebabs. Another way I like to serve this salad is as a side to dry(ish) rice based dishes like Riz bi Bazalyah (peas rice) or Riz bi Foul (broad beans rice). These dishes are traditionally served with cucumber yoghurt sauce (tzaziki), but a bit of tomato salad could be a nice alternative.

This recipe is adapted from Po0pa Dwick's excellent book Aromas of Aleppo, The Legendary Cuisine of Syrian Jews.

Here is the Recipe:

Three ripe tomatoes (or good quality cherry tomatoes)

Allspice 1/2 tsp

Aleppo peppers 1/4 tsp (chilli flakes)

Juice of 1/2 a Lemon

Olive oil 2 tbsp

Salt to taste

Parsley (optional to add some colour)

Chop the tomatoes and sprinkle with some chopped parsley leaves. Whisk together all the dressing ingredients. Dress the tomatoes and serve.

One Hundred and One Mezze: 12. Pomegranate Molasses Hummus

As I mentioned on this blog before, Pomegranate molasses is really fashionable these days. Not only here in England but in Syria as well. People are discovering more ways to use it and they are adding it to more and more dishes. The molasses add a nice sweet and sour flavours to dishes and adds an extra depth and warmth of flavours.

Pomegranate Molasses Hummus was introduced, as far as I know, into the culinary scene of Syria few years ago. A small humus shop in Jisr Al-Abyad area of Damascus lays claim to the invention. As always, it is impossible to verify such claims but I thought I should mention it. The trend caught on and more hummus shops around the city are selling it these days.

I tried this version of hummus on my last holiday in Syria. At first I thought it was a gimmick and I wasn't too keen on the flavours. Few bites later and I discovered how addictive it is. I will have to say this is no replacement of hummus but it makes a nice change every once in a while.

Hummus traditionally is served with pickles and raw white onions on the side. Pomegranate molasses version on the other hand, works very well with fresh mint leaves.

Here is my recipe: (the recipe is my wife's hummus with an added molasses)

Chickpeas 1 can

Tahini 75mls

Garlic one clove

Lemon

Pomegranate molasses 1-2 tbsp (to taste)

Salt

Olive oil

Mint leaves

Toasted pine nuts

In a food processor put the drained chickpeas, tahini, molasses, crushed garlic and a squeeze of lemon. Process on high speed for about five minutes till you get smooth texture. Add salt to taste and if the hummus is too thick you can loosen with some water.

Leave the hummus in the fridge over night if you can for the flavours to develop.

Spread in a plate. Decorate with mint and pine nuts and drizzle with olive oil.

Ramadan special: Lentil soup

Lentil soup is a must on Rmadan table in most Arabic countries. It is a perfect start .... (Deja vu! I feel I started all my Ramadan specials with the same sentence but to be honest what makes these dishes relevant to Ramadan is the same thing; soft, warm and easy to eat after a day of starving).

Syrian cuisine (Leventine in general) is poor when it comes to the soup department. Apart from lentil soup, chicken and vermicelli soup is the only other soup that I can truly call authentic native soup (I am sure my Jewish friends will have few words to say about this one!).

There are many different recipes to cook lentil soup. Some only use lentils and water, some add other vegetables, some use stock, some add vermicelli.... Experiment! try different things and see which way you like it.

I cook mine with few vegetables and serve it with bread croutons and a squeeze of a lemon. Most people fry some chopped onion till brown and add to the soup just before serving. I don't do that. I think this works fine with pure lentil and water soup but if you add vegetables like I do the flavours clash.

Here is my lentil soup recipe:

Red lentils 400g

Rice 50g (replace with a small potato)

One quarter of a medium onion

One carrot

One tomato

Ground cumin 1/2 tea spoon

Salt to taste

Water 1L

Arabic bread

Vegetable oil

Peel your tomato. It is very easy to do. Cross the bottom of the tomato with a knife then drop in a boiling water for few second. The skin should come off easy. Check this video to see how.

Peel and chop your vegetable. Add all the ingredients to a pot and bring to boil. Skim the surface if necessary. Lower the heat and cook for 30 - 45 minutes or till everything is fully cooked (over cooked is even better)

Use a blender for a smooth soup consistency. Add more water if the soup is too thick.

Cut your bread to squares or thin strips and fry in the oil till golden.

Serve the soup with the bread croutons and a wedge of lemon.

Sorry there is no photo of the finished soup but my cat Anwar dropped my camera and broke it. Here is a photo of the little criminal instead!

One Hundred and One Mezze: 8. Fatoush

To most people Tabouleh is the queen of all Leventine salads, and I can understand why. Tabouleh looks sophisticated, tastes sophisticated, takes hours to chop all that parsley and uses that super-cool in-fashion ingredient Bulgar. To me a much simpler salad, Fatoush, takes that top position and by long way.

Fatoush is a simple salad of roughly chopped vegetables and fried Arabic bread croutons for nice crunchy texture. A tangy strong dressing brings the flavours together.

To take your fatoush one step up and get that authentic taste you need a rather unusual ingredient, Purslane (pic). Purslane or Pa'aleh (بقلة) in Arabic is a leaf vegtable almost exclusively used in fatoush. It has a slightly tangy earthy flavour with a hint of bitterness. In London you can buy it from Damas Gate in Shepherd's Bush or some of the shops on Edgware Road. I am not sure if you can buy it in normal green grocers or in farmer's markets but don't be put off if you can't find it, use lettuce instead. In my family home in Syria we use lettuce rather than Ba'aleh 70% of the time.

For a healthier version toast your bread under the grill instead of frying. Another variation is to add pomegranate molasses to the dressing (this stuff is in fashion in Syria and people, including myself, are trying to add it to everything).

Here is my fatoush recipe:

Three tomatoes

Cucumber

Ba'aleh one bunch (use lettuce instead)

Arabic bread 1/2 loaf

vegetable oil

For the dressing:

Olive oil 4tbs

White wine vinegar 1tbs

Lemon juice 2tbs

Sumac 1 tea spoon

Dry mint 1 tea spoon

Garlic 1 clove crushed

A sprinkle of salt

Cut the Arabic bread into small squares and fry in vegetable oil till deep golden colour. Drain on kitchen paper and let it cool down.

Roughly chop the tomatoes and cucumber and pick the Ba'aleh leafs. Whisk all the dressing ingredients.

Just before serving mix the bread vegetables and dressing and serve. Make sure you do this the last minute so the bread stays fresh and crunchy.