One of the many things to love about the Middle East is the central role shared food plays in its culture. Whether it’s offering hospitality to visitors or a meal with family and friends, a large part of the joy of eating is in the sharing. This is nowhere more apparent than in the tradition of mezze, small dishes enjoyed with a drink and the company of others in a leisurely fashion. It can be a few pickles and fresh vegetables with a glass of tea or arak or an elaborate spread of dips, bread and hot and cold dishes that can make a meal in itself.
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 […]
Sabzi Khordan (Persian Fresh Herb Platter) Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Persian cooking class! Persian food reminds me of Vietnamese with its love of fresh herb platters served at every meal. In Iran it’s any combination of mint, parsley, coriander, dill, tarragon, basil, chives, green onions and radishes; other wild or seasonal greens […]
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 […]
Batata Harra (Spicy Fried Potatoes) Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Lebanese cooking class! Spicy batata harra is one of the most delicious potato dishes I’ve ever tasted; it’s popular as part of a meze and is great as a side dish with any meat, poultry or seafood. Traditionally the potato is deep-fried first […]
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 […]
Lebanese Cauliflower Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Lebanese cooking class! I love the deep-fried cauliflower often seen as part of a Lebanese mezze, but it can be a touch oily. So I usually roast my Lebanese cauliflower in the oven instead. Roasting gives the same great caramelised flavour with less mess and fewer […]
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 […]
Lahmacun Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Lebanese cooking class! Lahmacun (or lahmajun) is a contraction of ‘lahm bi ajeen’ literally meaning ‘meat with bread’; and these simple tasty flatbreads are also sometimes referred to as Armenian or Turkish pizza. The dough and lamb topping can also be used to make little Lebanese meat […]
Za’atar Manouche Like this recipe? You’ll love my online Lebanese cooking class! Flatbreads called manouche (or manakish, manaqish, man’ousheh and other variations) are a very typical Lebanese breakfast, though I love them as a snack at any time of day. Za’atar (see video below), the ubiquitous Middle Eastern seasoning of dried thyme, is the most […]
