Читать книгу Feasts From the Middle East - Tony Kitous - Страница 18

I now realise how lucky I was as a little boy, being able to pick fruit straight from the tree. Quinces were one of the many fruits – along with pomegranates and figs – that I loved to gather then eat as soon as I got home. Although quinces are often cooked, they can be eaten raw in the Mediterranean and Middle East. We also cook them in a tagine, or roast halves until golden and tender, or poach them, as in this recipe. Make sure you buy dried figs, apricots and prunes, as opposed to the ready-to-eat fruit, as they’ll be too soft once they’ve been cooked in the syrup. This keeps well in the fridge for up to a week if you don’t eat it all at once.

LABNEH WITH CARAMELISED POACHED QUINCES AND SPICED DRIED FRUIT

LABNEH BIL SAFARJAL MESHWY

SERVES 6

3 medium quinces

½ lemon

6 dried figs

6 dried apricots

6 dried prunes

40g sultanas

6 fresh or dried dates

2 cinnamon sticks

2 star anise

pared rind of 1 orange

juice of 2 oranges

150ml runny honey

200g caster sugar

500ml water

15g butter

TO SERVE

600g labneh or Greek yoghurt

zest of 1 orange

1 tbsp orange blossom water

1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Peel the quinces and cut them in half. Rub them with the half lemon, squeezing a little juice over them so the flesh doesn’t turn brown. Put them in a large saucepan and add the figs, apricots, prunes and sultanas, followed by the dates, cinnamon sticks, star anise and orange rind. Next pour in the orange juice, honey, caster sugar and water.

Cover the pan with a lid and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down and simmer, covered, for 40–50 minutes or until the quinces have softened and turned pink.

Lift the quinces out, allowing any syrup to drip back into the pan. Put them on a plate. Melt the butter in a large frying pan over a low-to-medium heat and, as soon as it has stopped foaming, lay each quince half in the pan cut-side down and cook for a couple of minutes until caramelised. The quince syrup will become quite dark; make sure it doesn’t burn or it will taste bitter.

Spoon the labneh into a large bowl and add the orange zest and orange blossom water, then swirl everything together and divide among six shallow bowls. Arrange the poached fruit around the sides and spoon a quince half into the middle of each dish, drizzling a little extra juice over the fruit so it oozes into the yoghurt. Finally, scatter over the sesame seeds and serve.