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I wouldn't doubt that - no idea when socca appeared in Nice.

We have two chicken kabob recipes we rotate and never seem to tire of: shish tawook (I use Anissa Helou's recipe from Mediterranean Street Food) servedwith fries, garlic sauce and Arabic flat bread, and chicken tikka - from a bit further east! Here is a great recipe I have used for years: Chicken tikka

I had to pull out the cookbook my mother-in-law made for each of her children (a great idea by the way) to reiew her recipe for this soup. Hers is very humble - a "poor man's dish" for sure. She does use spinach versus kale, but I imagine this was because she altered the recipe to suit her taste or her husband's. Her ingredients: Brown lentils, water (or broth if you prefer) onions, lemon, spinach. She claims in her notes it is what she craves when she is sick. To that end, I would always add some garlic!

Thank you, Ms. Wolfert, for supplying both recipes. I have never baked fish in charmoula - just served it as a condiment for grilled fish, but I will have to give this a try. My problem is that my favorite fish are the oilier fish - salmon, mackeral, etc. What would be a tradtional fish for this recipe? Halibut? My favorite, though, is with eggplant. I love eggplant fried in olive oil (no breading PLEASE). Truly decadent.

Tuscan Chick Pea Soup Chefzadi, you named many of my favorites. May I add: the Indian dish, channa masala - I could live on this and rice with some green salad. Another favorite is the Moroccan lamb/lentil/chickpea soup harrira. I make this whenever I have leftover lamb. I also had a fantastic Tuscan chick pea soup at a restaurant in Sienna called OSTERIA CASTELVECCHIO . This was a fabulous soup that I have craved since. The closest recipe I could find is this vegetarian version Tuscan chick pea soup. Though the ingredients are humble, the flavor is very good with a bit of doctoring. If my Italian was better, I would write the chef and ask for the recipe. Lastly, my family had an incredible dish of chick peas with chorizo at Le Zouave, a tapas restaurant in Collioure, France. It was rich with garlic and so fabulous we had to order another serving. I have yet to succeed in replicating that dish. One chick pea dish I have longed to try - and never get around to trying - is the Provencal snack food called socca. This is, for lack of a better definition, a chick pea crepe. I have seen versions drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with rosemary - it looks delicious. Click here to see one Admin: edited for copyright/fair use compliance.

uh oh - you're right - maybe I am confusing memories???

I certainly hope you have it - I am pretty sure the date is right. This is only b/c I remember the aforementioned brother-in-law visiting just after Princess Diana died - wasn't that in 1994? As for the chicken, I cannot attest to your suggesting it with the eggplant - that could well have been my own "invention" -

The SO missed you, Ms. Loeb - he didn't get to SSOH until 7:30-ish. He wanted me to relay that he received excellent service - he sat at the bar. I wish I could remember the name given, but the server did a great job and the SO said the oysters were excellent! Someday, maybe he will take me to Philly so I can visit your place

I tried chili cheese dogs from the Varsity in Atlanta. When the contractions started, we happily rushed to the hospital. Unfortunately, after monitoring me for an hour, I was told I had indigestion, and they sent me home

Was that back in 1994? I published a recipe for eggplant with charmoula in Saveur along with an article on returing to my old home in Tangier. If so, let me know and I'll search for the original issue. ← Yes! As I remember, I fried the eggplant in olive oil (maybe basted it with oil and then baked) The chicken was butterflied and grilled. I cannot remember the basting sauce for the chicken. (or was it for game hens?) The charmoula recipe was excellent. I made that dish for my difficult-to-please brother-in-law and he loved it. If you have the original issue, I would be forever grateful. I have kept many back issues of Saveur, but somehow I managed to lose that one. Edited to add - if it has been 11 years since that article appeared and I still remember how good the dish is, that must tell you something!

I loved the prepared escargot in the freezer section at a grocery store in Cahors - talk about great "heat and eat" food!

Thank you , Ms. Wolfert. When I googled, the most frequent result I received was a fish charmoula. Many years ago, there was a fabulous recipe in Saveur for a charmoula for eggplant that I loved (and lost!) that was to be served by a grilled chicken. I keep meaning to email the magazine to see if I can get that issue. I was wondering if charmoula for lamb was traditional - you answered my question. I guess the popularity of charmoula on lamb is born out of the popularity of chimichurri - it's a nice, tangy and fresh condiment for grilled meat.

Ok - the So has been in Philly for 2 nights - first night, he had his co-worker hit Geno's (the tourist trap!) for cheese steaks. I tried to tell him what you guys said but he just had to have one! Last night was dinner at Morimoto's. Starters were Rock Shrimp Tempura and I believe a crab roll with caviar - the latter was sublime according to the SO. Entrees were eight spice lobster and Seafood Toban Yaki. The SO said, while these dishes were good, they weren't especially impressive. I think, for us, we expect to be really wowed when the price of dinner for two tops $200. He did say the atmospere was incredible - vibrant. Morimoto was sitting at the sushi bar. So, he has today's lunch and dinner and tomorrow's lunch before he flies back to Charlotte. He plans to go to SSOH tonight to at least get a dozen oysters and some drinks before going to dinner. He said hewalked by Django the other night, and that it was full - but also very small, so probably too hard to get a table. Where should he go for a lunch experience that beats Geno's - does not have to be a cheese steak. He is staying and working downtown. How about after-oysters dinner options?

My daughter is craving lamb chops and couscous - thought I would make a grilled chop with charmoula and couscous with chickpeas. Anyone have a good recipe?

We have always used canned chickpeas for hummous. My husband's Palestinian grandfather insisted on popping the skins off of each and every pea when he made his hummous by hand. It definitely made for a much smoother dip. I am too lazy, and justify this by telling myself I am getting more fiber this way!

I have never tried cojones either, but I actually think I could eat those before pigs snout - don't ask me why However, here is a reporter's account of eating bull testicles Have a Ball at the Testicle Festival

I will not profess to being an expert, but since Chefzadi did not give amounts, I will assume that is because zaatar recipes vary widely. However, here is a starting point - recipe is from Anissa Hanou's Mediterranean Street Food 2 parts powdered dried thyme 1 part sumac 1/2 part toasted sesame seeds salt to taste Note to Chefzadi - Hanou says in her book that the Algerian flat bread called m'arek or m'hajjib, is a large flat bread with a spicey filling. Do you have a recipe?

In our family, we often make Shish Kofta (the ground beef kabobs), Shish Tawook (the chicken kabobs served with my absolute favorite garlic sauce - strong enough to take your head off!) and Indian Chicken Tikka.

I have come to love khoubz bil zaatar, aka manaish, manakeesh, manaesh, etc In Toledo, OH, there is a fabulous bakery (Tiger bakery) that makes this daily. The last time I had fresh manaish was in Paris at the Lenoir market, where there is a Lebanese man who cooks it over a special grill. My mother-in-law, bless her soul, tried to make it for me, but her dough is too thick. We have resorted to using pita bread, which we drizzle with oil and sprinklewith zaatar. Alas, there is no Arabic bakery here in Charlotte, so we can only get decent pita when we travel to Charleston or Atlanta. Can I used Elie's recipe for khoubz araby?

I have had Lahm bi Ajeen served as an open-faced pie - we called it Lebanese pizza.

Licorice - Americans are notorious for our disdain for this flavor eel - I think of it as water snake tongue - it looks nasty, tough - pigs ears, snout, feet - no explanation necessary I hate pears - probably b/c my mom served me the canned version as a kid - I hate the texture I will never eat cabecou cheese again - tried it in France this past summer and it tasted (and smelled) like goat urine sweet wine - unless it's vin santo with cantucci or Banyuls with dark chocolate Cincinnatti chili - its vile

Indeed. If you go to cityvox.com and do a search for brunch in Paris, you will get more than 300 results! Perhaps this is the place in the Marais to which you were referring? Le Loir dans la Théière 3, Rue des Rosiers Try reading Tony Bourdain's description of your typical brunch in American restaurants and you may never eat one again! In fact, the last time I went to brunch, there was the ubiquitous hollandaise, the soggy bacon, etc. What I love about Europe are the long, lazy Sunday lunches!

Okay - now I need to go to barrista school! What is this? I do not have a sufficiently sophisticated coffee palate to comment on the quality or lack thereof of cafe au lait in Paris. I liked them, but perhaps it was the atmosphere that contributed to the satisfaction I had great cafe lattes in Italy and a truly wonderful cafe con leche in Barcelona. I make cappuccino's at home that are probably a bastardization - more like a latte with too much foam ala Starbucks. All I can say for sure is that Starbucks disappoints every time. I tried their French roast for making drinks at home and the burnt taste made me gag.

Thanks Owen - I was hoping you would respond! To be honest, thre are times when I want to pretend I am in Venice and times I want to pretend I am in Paris Do you think I could use the Italian roast from Terrior and adjust the shot depending on whether I want a cappuccino or a cafe au lait? I miss reading about your adventures in Charlotte - have you not been in a while?

I have the machine (Rancio Silvia) and the grinder (rocky), and I have learned to pull a decent shot, but I still haven't been able to recreate the flavor of thesss cappuccinos or cafe au lait I loved in Europe. What beans should I buy that will give me what I want?