Dips can be a party starter, part of a mezze or antipasto spread, or even an easy super with some salad and delicious bread. From Europe, through the Middle East to Asia, here are some of my favourite dip recipes.
Cacik Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Turkish cooking class inspired by Somer Sivrioğlu! Yoghurt is a great accompaniment to anything fried as the acid cuts through the richness. I especially love it mixed with garlic and cucumber to make cacik (çaçık in Turkish, pronounced jajuk). Cacik is similar to Greek tzatziki except that […]
Tzatziki Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Greek cooking class inspired by Janni Kyritsis! Yoghurt is served with just about everything in Greece and throughout the eastern Mediterranean – plain, drained as labne, or mixed with garlic and often cucumber. This combination is perhaps best known by its Greek name, tzatziki, while the Turks […]
Maast-O Khiar (Persian Yogurt Dip) Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Persian cooking class! Yoghurt and rice are natural companions and, given that rice appears at virtually all Persian meals, so does yoghurt. At its simplest it’s a bowl of thick, tangy natural yoghurt, but it’s also often maast-o khiar, which is a little […]
Rouille (Spicy Mayonnaise) Like this recipe? You’ll love my online French cooking class featuring the food of Provence! The more I research rouille the more confused I become. Even the most respected experts seem to disagree on what should go into this classic Provençal sauce that’s traditionally served with bouillabaisse. The only thing I can […]
Pistou (Provençal Pesto) Like this recipe? You’ll love my online French cooking class featuring the food of Provence! Pistou is the Provençal cousin of Liguria’s pesto, though it doesn’t contain any cheese or nuts and – unlike a classic pesto alla Genovese – the garlic in pistou packs a real punch. On its own as […]
Coriander Pesto Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Caribbean cooking class! I love classic basil pesto alla Genovese (see video below). Pesto means ‘pounded’ – the same as Provençal pistou – so when I had a couple of bunches of coriander leftover in the fridge I wondered what other ingredients might be added for […]
Ful Medames Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Lebanese cooking class! Ful medames is a creamy Middle Eastern fava bean dip. Served with some fresh warm flatbread, yoghurt, mint, cucumber and olives it’s one of my favourite breakfast dishes, and it’s a great addition to a mezze table too. It’s popular throughout the Middle […]
Labneh Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Lebanese cooking class! This popular Lebanese dip is sometimes referred to as a cheese, but it’s really just strained yoghurt (sometimes called hung yoghurt). It takes a day or so to make, but next-to-no hands-on time. Apart from yoghurt and salt, all you need is some muslin […]
Baba Ghanoush Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Lebanese cooking class! There are two names for a Middle Eastern dip made from eggplant that’s been heavily roasted – ideally over an open fire or charcoal to give it an addictively smoky aroma – mutabbal, and the better known baba ghanoush. Whether they’re different names […]
Sambal Terasi Goreng Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Indonesian cooking class! Sambal terasi goreng is the most common of the many sambals found throughout Indonesia. Sambal means chilli sauce and terasi is Indonesia’s pungent shrimp paste, virtually identical to Malaysian belacan and similar to Thai gapi. Sambal terasi originated in Java, where it’s […]
