Читать книгу Feasts From the Middle East - Tony Kitous - Страница 7
ОглавлениеMiddle Eastern ingredients are very versatile and can be used in lots of different ways. They’re easier to find now, but when I first came to London in the late 1980s they used to be much harder to source – I found it difficult even to buy couscous! Since opening Comptoir Libanais, I’ve stocked all sorts of products, such as jams, oils and orange blossom water, just as you would find in a souk, so our guests can buy them easily. Here are the ingredients I always have in, with which you can easily rustle up a delicious meal.
ALLSPICE
If I want a little bit more warmth in my food, I’ll add a pinch or two of allspice. You can also buy these little brown peppercorns ground, which I find easier to use. The seeds are picked, unripe, from the pimento tree and have a unique flavour – a mixture of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and pepper. Try it in Spiced Lamb Koftas with Potatoes & Tomatoes (see here).
BLACK PEPPERCORNS
Sometimes I wonder what I’d do without salt and pepper. Food that is not seasoned at all (or not seasoned enough) tastes bland, as the seasoning helps to enhance the flavour of all the ingredients and bring them together. In the restaurants we always throw a good pinch or two of black pepper into a pan of bones bubbling in liquid when making stocks. And, of course, peppercorns can be crushed into pieces, as big or as small as you like, for seasoning.
BULGAR WHEAT
We also call this burghul or cracked wheat, and you can buy it finely ground, medium or coarse. The fine version is brilliant in salads (see my very easy Bulgar Wheat & Tomato Salad, see here), but you can also use the other varieties to give texture to a dish such as Potato & Spiced Minced Lamb Pie (see here).
CARAWAY
I use ground caraway in the flavoursome chicken recipe, Giant Couscous with Chicken (see here). This powerful, musky-tasting spice is as divisive as Marmite – some people love it, some hate it. You can also buy the seeds (they’re a similar shape to cumin seeds), which are often used to garnish bread.
CARDAMOM
I love the delicate scent that cardamom brings to a dish. The spice is encased in a shell and it’s the black seeds hiding within that you need. Crush the pods by carefully placing a large chopping knife on top of them and pushing down on the knife with your fist until you hear a little crack. Take the seeds out and use them as described in the recipe. Cardamom adds a delicate flavour to Café Blanc (see here).
CHICKPEAS
These are a must, must, must in my cupboard! Dried chickpeas are best for making Hommos (see here), as they produce a much better flavour and texture than tinned ones, as well as in falafel (check out my Feta & Nigella Seed Falafel recipe, see here). Like dried lentils, chickpeas are much cheaper dried than tinned. You just need to remember to soak them first – about 4–6 hours is enough, or overnight. I buy tinned ful (fava beans) though (see opposite).
CHILLI FLAKES & CHILLI POWDER
I love chillies – they’re up there with sumac and za’atar as one of my favourite spices. Both the flakes and the powder pack a punch, so I use them sparingly. Middle Eastern food is not about high levels of spice, more a subtle balance of flavours that all work together. I use both chilli flakes and fresh chillies in Aleppo Roast Peppers & Mixed Nut Dip (see here) to add two slightly different flavours to the recipe. Chilli powder works better when blended with other ingredients, such as when seasoning the flour for the Spiced Fried Squid recipe (see here).
CIDER VINEGAR
If you have good olive oil and cider vinegar in your store cupboard, you’ll always be able to make a great dressing. I sometimes mix it with lemon juice, so there’s a little sweetness to the taste, too.
CINNAMON
This spice is often used in both sweet and savoury recipes. I pop cinnamon sticks into Giant Couscous with Chicken (see here) and sweet recipes (see Labneh with Caramelised Poached Quinces & Spiced Dried Fruit, see here), in which the stick can withstand long periods of simmering. Use ground cinnamon when blending this spice with other ingredients, for example in the Sweet Potato & Tahina Pudding (see here).
CORIANDER
We don’t use the spice coriander in our cooking nearly as much as we do the fresh herb or even cumin, but it still serves a purpose. The slightly lemony flavour of the spice will soften and complement other ingredients, such as the cumin in the Feta & Nigella Seed Falafel (see here).
COUSCOUS
When I was young, I remember my mum buying couscous in very large bags – they’d be either 25kg or 50kg – as we used to eat so much of it. Gone are the days when it was always steamed in a couscoussier (the traditional steamer used in the Middle East to cook couscous). This method does make the texture really light, but it’s quicker to pour hot water or stock over the grains and leave them to soak for 10–15 minutes to rehydrate them. Couscous needs lots of flavouring – oil and lemon juice, and you can also melt a knob of butter in the hot liquid – and then it’s ready to serve with rich stews. A lighter recipe, and very delicious, is my favourite Roasted Chicken & Couscous Salad (see here).
CUMIN
This spice infuses any recipe with a distinctive musky flavour. It’s often used with coriander, which complements it perfectly, with its lemony character. It’s a must in My Mum Zohra’s Fried Sardines (see here). Buy cumin seeds if you have a good spice grinder, or use ground cumin if you need to save time.
FREEKEH
We don’t use this as often as couscous or bulgar wheat, but I do enjoy it and it’s delicious in my easy and very filling Freekeh with Chicken (see here). Like bulgar and couscous, it is wheat, but it is harvested when young and green, then toasted and cracked to make the freekeh. It has a slightly nutty flavour and the cooking time varies depending on the packet you buy. Check this before you start so you don’t end up with bullet-like grains when you’re preparing it.
DRIED FRUIT
I always keep dried dates, figs, prunes and apricots in my cupboard – they’re instant snacks, plus I also love to serve them with mint tea and perhaps some whole almonds if anyone drops by. Much smaller dried fruit, such as sultanas, are also useful. Have a look at one of my favourite recipes, Slow-cooked Shoulder of Lamb (see here), where I go to town with the whole range.
FUL OR FAVA BEANS
I’ve explained why it’s better to buy dried chickpeas and lentils, but I tend to buy ful or fava beans in tins. These are broad beans that have been dried then rehydrated. You can, of course, cook the dried beans, but it takes more time, and the recipes I use them in – Ful Salad with Radish & Mint (see here) and Broad Beans in a Tomato Sauce (see here) – are quick to make, so it’s easier to use tinned.
HARISSA
I love this fiery hot paste and I’ve even been known to enjoy it on eggs for breakfast. It’s also great swirled into yoghurt to make a dip, which softens its heat. You can buy it ready-made in jars or tubes (which makes it look a little like tomato purée), but I urge you to make my homemade harissa sauce, which is served with the Spiced Fried Squid (see here) and keeps well in the fridge.
HONEY
For me, sugar brings a simple sweetness to a recipe, but to give depth, too, you need a good-flavoured honey. We often use honey to make a syrup; I love using it this way, especially combined with orange blossom water or rose water. Choose a runny honey so it dissolves easily into other ingredients. it’s wonderful in the Walnut & Cinnamon Honey Cigars (see here).
LEBANESE SEVEN-SPICE MIX
I use this to season a piece of meat when I want to add a little extra something, at the same time as salt and pepper. Seven-spice is a blend of allspice, black pepper, cinnamon, coriander, ginger, cloves and nutmeg. I use it in the Chicken & Chickpea Stew (see here), and also to give a more powerful flavour to a finished dish, such as the Slow-cooked Shoulder of Lamb (see here).
DRIED LENTILS
These are really handy as they don’t need soaking overnight, and a little goes a long way. I keep both green and red lentils in the cupboard. Lentils need extra herbs and spices to give them flavour and garlic is always a good addition. Try my budget-friendly Lentil Soup with Lemon (see here), which uses a handful of ingredients and is bulked up with Swiss chard.
DRIED MINT
We use dried herbs in dishes that need long, slow cooking as they have a more intense flavour than fresh herbs. The powerful flavour of dried mint can also be used to finish off a recipe, as in Stuffed Cabbage Leaves with Spiced Minced Lamb & Rice (see here). The little parcels of cabbage stuffed with rice are drizzled with an aromatic herb and garlic butter.
NIGELLA SEEDS
I like these little black seeds in the Feta & Nigella Seed Falafel (see here) as they have a slightly bitter flavour, which enhances the herbs, spices and other ingredients. I also love the fact that they look good decorating the outside of the balls. If you’re looking for them in supermarkets, you might see them labelled as black onion seeds or kalonji seeds.
NUTS
Nuts play a big role in Middle Eastern food; they are part of our culture. If someone drops by, we put a bowl of nuts on the table. When we bake, we use them in sweet recipes. At the end of a meal, we’ll finish with mint tea and a bowl of nuts and dried fruit. You can buy them everywhere – from stalls in the street to shops specialising in roasted seeds and nuts, so of course I like to use them generously in whatever dish I’m making. If you can, buy them in big bags – it’s cheaper that way – and store them in a cool, dark cupboard so they don’t go off. I like to keep a good range in stock, but pistachios and pine nuts are my favourites so I always have these in. Try pistachios in my Fig, Halloumi & Pistachio Tart (see here) and sprinkle pine nuts over Feta & Spinach Flatbread (see here).
EXTRA-VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
I like my olive oil to have a rich colour and a deep flavour. Lots of people reserve extra-virgin olive oil for dressings, but if you can buy a reasonably priced one, it’s worth cooking with it, too. The only time I use another oil is when I’m deep-frying, and then I use sunflower or vegetable oil, as they have high smoking points.
PAPRIKA
This lovely, red, smooth-tasting spice is made by drying sweet red peppers then grinding them into a powder. It doesn’t have any heat and is lovely in the mezze recipe, Aleppo Roast Peppers & Mixed Nut Dip (see here).
POMEGRANATE MOLASSES
I love this pink-hued syrup, which is a mixture of sweet and sour. It’s quite powerful – a little goes a long way – so I tend to dot it carefully over salads. It’s particularly good in the Spiced Lamb Pastries (see here), in which the sweetness enhances the savoury filling of these little pies.
RICE
Basmati is my go-to rice on the side if I’m serving a stew with lots of sauce, and it’s essential in dishes in which light, fluffy rice is needed, for example, my Palestinian Spiced Rice with Chicken (see here). Pudding rice isn’t just used for desserts; we use this stubby variety in recipes where the rice part of a stuffing, as in the Stuffed Cabbage Leaves with Spiced Minced Lamb and Rice (see here). The sticky nature of the grains helps to meld all the ingredients together and maintain the shape of the cabbage parcels.
ROSE WATER AND ORANGE BLOSSOM WATER
I buy these scented waters in big bottles, as they are better value. I quite often advise the chefs not to be cautious about adding these waters to dishes. The orange blossom water adds a really interesting twist to the Date, Almond, Orange Blossom & Labneh Smoothie (see here), while the rosewater is a must in the Roasted Aubergine, Rose, Honey & Labneh Tart (see here).
SALT
You’ll notice that most of the recipes in this book specify a measured quantity of salt in the ingredients list. It’s so important to season food properly as this helps to bring the flavours of all the ingredients together and enhance them. I like sea salt, but you may need to grind it to make it finer if you’re making bread, so that it disperses through the flour properly.
SESAME SEEDS
These tiny little seeds pack a punch once they’re toasted – see my gorgeous breakfast feta recipes (see here). They also give a great texture to falafel or to finish off our renowned Sesame Seed Bread (see here).
SUMAC
This is one of my absolute favourite spices. I love the deep red colour and the lemony, slightly sour flavour. The bush that these berries come from originated in the Middle East. The berries are dried and ground into powder. A sprinkling is perfect with sweet-flavoured ingredients such as tomatoes, so try it in my Village Tomato Salad (see here).
TAHINA
Along with extra-virgin olive oil and pomegranate molasses, tahina is one of those store-cupboard ingredients that I have to keep in. I buy it in a big plastic tub – it’s cheaper that way – and keep it in the cupboard next to the salt and pepper, so it’s always to hand. You may spot it labelled as ‘tahini’ in supermarkets. Anyone close to me knows how much I love aubergines, so even simple dishes such as grilled or roasted aubergines are served with a drizzle of tahina over the top, to make them taste even better. I also love it in the amazing New Potatoes & Green Tahina Salad (see here).
ZA’ATAR
I couldn’t live without za’atar, the spice blend of wild thyme, sesame seeds, sumac and salt, and I will add it to anything. It’s a must on man’ousha (see pages) and I particularly love it pressed into halloumi – see Za’atar-crusted Halloumi (see here). Just so you know, we call wild dried thyme za’atar, too.
