helou

it is a root (shirsh al halaweh) and not from the mallow plant but from soapwort. we (helen Saberi, pombo villar and myself, under the aegis of alan davidson) did a whole investigation on that soon after i finished writing my lebanese cookbok. it was published in PPC and then in the wilder shores of gastronomy, the best of ppc. i am not sure how shirsh al halaweh is used in the sesame halva but it is used to make natef, a sweet dip used with karabij halab (a semolina cake filled with pistacchio nuts). the root is boiled in water for quite a while. when the water has reduced, it is whisked until it becomes white foam which is then mixed with sugar syrup to produce natef. the whole process is quite miraculous as you can't believe that very dark brown water can become like shaving foam. charles perry wrote an article about it for the LA times and he used the bark of the quillaja tree to make natef. as for other types of halva, there are lots. the persian one described in one of the posts, many turkish variations and greek ones as well. i love one of the turkish variations where the flour is cooked in butter with pine nuts until it is golden before sugar syrup is added. you eat the halvah warm -- 1000 calories a bite but absolutely delicious. nevin halici has a great recipe for it in her turkish cookbook.

Useful step-by-step instructions on this thread and accompanying links here from the "The Technical Support" forum. ← thanks ludja. i posted them but i'm not sure where they went. as for sweet pepper (b'har helo), it is allspice nicolai and not a mixture a la allspice. ← i kind of stalled at the more options stage. anyway, if you want to see the pics, they are in my new album called cicoria. by the way, is anyone interested in attending the oxford symposium of food and cookery. the theme this year is eggs. let me know and i'll pass on the details of the organiser.

Useful step-by-step instructions on this thread and accompanying links here from the "The Technical Support" forum. ← thanks ludja. i posted them but i'm not sure where they went. as for sweet pepper (b'har helo), it is allspice nicolai and not a mixture a la allspice.

i transferred the pictures of the italian cicoria or hindbeh on my computer but i'm not sure how to post them here.

swiss chard is called silq in arabic. i'm just back from rome where there was a lot of cicoria in the market and it is defintiely hindbeh. it looks like the hindbeh we have in lebanon and tastes like it. had some in a trattoria one evening. i took a picture but am not sure how to psot pictures here. i'll try to send the pics by bluetooth from my mobile to my computer and then will try to post them before i go off again.

"radikia," (sing. radiki), wild chichory, according to Sazji. One of Greece's most popular greens. This is from the Hydra. ← interesting but it is not hindbeh. would like to try it though. have you tried cooking it? if i am not mistaken, the hindbeh one buys outside the lebanon is not the same. i will check with my mother who happens to be over here and will report back. ← OK, do they look like the green in the bottom left? ← this is more like it but i'm not sure. i remember the leaf greener and coarser. i think my mother is coming to lunch tomorrow. i'll show her the picture and ask her. where did you take the picture and what are the other greens?

"radikia," (sing. radiki), wild chichory, according to Sazji. One of Greece's most popular greens. This is from the Hydra. ← interesting but it is not hindbeh. would like to try it though. have you tried cooking it? if i am not mistaken, the hindbeh one buys outside the lebanon is not the same. i will check with my mother who happens to be over here and will report back.

if i am not mistaken it is maramiyeh and it is indeed sage. when i did my lebanese cookbook, alan davidson very kindly let me use his library and he had a FAO manual/dictionary or whatever (for some reason i don't list it in the bibliography but it was my first book) that gave the arabic names to all kinds of vegetables, herbs, etc. and i list maramiyeh in the par on herbal teas as sage. also i was just in morocco recently and my great friend hajj mustapha who makes the best mechoui in marrakesh gave me a winter variation on mint tea wtih sage in it. i don't remember exactly it it was only sage or mint and sage, i think the latter. adam, what is the herb you posted a photograph of?

i guess these are koulouria which are the greek, slightly sweet and softer version of simit and actually quite different. bagels are definitely boiled before being baked. in fact, according to charles, they are left to rise in the hot water. i don't remember what egyptian simits are like and how they differ from the turkish or greek version. anyone knows? ← here is an interesting snippet from the olive and the caper by susanna hoffman "the tradition of baking bread in rings, then stacking them up high upon a stick, goes back at least to sparta. there the poor and orphaned who had no foodto contribute to communal tables were required to bring long reeds to the dining halls as the token for their share. tehy would cut reed batons from teh marshes and with them carry bread rings to the diners."

i guess these are koulouria which are the greek, slightly sweet and softer version of simit and actually quite different. bagels are definitely boiled before being baked. in fact, according to charles, they are left to rise in the hot water. i don't remember what egyptian simits are like and how they differ from the turkish or greek version. anyone knows?

you're very funny swisskaese. i tend to think like you but i'm going to ask charles perry. if anyone knows, it would be him.

they are dipped in a mixture of pekmez and water before they are dipped in the sesame seeds and baked but that is not the same thing. the pekmez is to give them a hint of sweetness and the water to help keep the sesame seeds stuckk to the dough. taralli (those with fennel seeds) are dipped in very hot water befoere being baked. am not sure why exactly but they are baked until they become as hard as bisuits. i doubt they are related to bagels. my hunch is that there are similarities between baked goods in different countries but not always direct influences. i may be wrong. it would be interesting to look more into it.

They use the word "ser u pepik" (lit. "head and hooves" / Turkish, "kelle paça") to characterize the entire dish. As you say, the tripe is sewn around the filling. Here the food is a bit plainer; the stuffing was plain rice. I think tomatoes, meat and chickpeas would have made it better. Still, it is one of the favorite dishes here; many people eat it a couple times a week. But I have a feeling it wasn't cleaned as well as it might/could have been, because the innard/lamb smell was *really* strong, to the point where if I smelled my fingers (it's mostly eaten with the hands) I almost lost it. I've eaten lamb intestine soup, and of course kokorec, which I like when it's well made. Tripe is a bit difficult but this was really over the top! Much of the rural cooking is much plainer than that of the cities. Silopi has been a city for about 3 years, 10 years ago it was hardly even a large village, and most of the people here have come from other places. Our hosts are from villages the Sirnak area and only moved into the city during the fighting with the PKK when their village was burned. There is a new installment on the blog. Last night's dinner was amazing; grilled lamb, stuffed bulgur köfte, a dish with meat and green beans, a different take on red lentil soup, salad, "ser be dew" (a sort of fine bulgur mush topped with "kishk" and melted butter, which was wonderful), and bread made by slapping flat rounds of dough on the walls of a "tandir" oven. And Pepsi of course. Unfortunately I was right in the middle of a rather unpleasant intestinal bug (it would come on for the two best meals of the week). Tomorrow Leigh Ann and I are making a late Thanksgiving dinner, complete with fresh cranberries brought from Oregon. (The idea of sweet/sour with meat is pretty odd here, we'll see how it goes over.) They do make a pumpkin sweet here so I think they will like pumpkin pie. ← interesting. you're right about them not having washed it properly and this may have accounted for your stomach bug. it shouldn't smell at all, well at least not an off smell. when my mother makes ghammeh, she washes the different meats many times in soap and water and there is no off smell or bad taste whatsoever. i recently made lamb's heads here for a radio programme and funnily enough, i didn't have to wash them so much. i suspect they were already cleaned. they were wonderful. i bought the best ones from a turkish butcher who didn't speak a word of english. i also bought some from an algerian butcher but they were less clean and quite bloody. i will read the next installment on the blog and i'll try to go there next year when i come to turkey.

hey sazji, this is really interesting. the meal you show in the picture is exactly like our ghammeh in lebanon. we cut up the sheep's stomach, sew it in pouches and fill it with rice, tomatoes, meat and chickpeas. we use the same stuffing for the intestines and then we boil the whole lot with the head and feet. some people may recoil at the idea of all this offal but it is absolutely delicious and we consider it festive eating, given the time it takes to clean and prepare the different bits. we season the stock with garlic and lemon juice and serve it as a soup alongside the tripe, etc. do you know what the kurds called the dish? and for anyone who's interested, there is a recipe for ghammeh in my book on offal, the fifth quarter. sadly i don't have a picture. yours is great sazji.

try this http://www.galaxylink.com.hk/~john/food/co...akligozleme.htm I just Google 'gozleme recipe' quite a lot came out, there are a few mentions in my cookbooks but no recipe. ← there is a recipe for it in nevin halici's latest book: sufi cuisine, p 135. according to nevin, gozleme is eaten as borek when it is filled and folded over in a half moon. there is a recipe for that version in my med street food book(see saj borek). i adapted the recipe from one of nevin's in her turkish cookbook. she is a great writer and her books are definitely worth getting, if you don't have them that is.

thanks smithy. you are so kind. i'm so happy you like mediterranean street food. it was great fun doing the research and writing it and of course testing the recipes.

Your Anissa Helou! I had no idea. I love Cafe Morocco. Welcome to eGullet. ← thanks so much swisskaese. i'm so pleased you love cafe morocco. i have just now finished a week's teaching in marrakesh. i love being there and the food is really quite exceptional.

What do you know about Saudi in general? ← I should have qualified my statement. I do quite a lot of work for Saudi's and properties with Saudi and general feedback from my clients is that would prefer Lebanese staff rather than Egyptians. Personally, I like all of you guys. I'm just relaying what my clients ask of me. Behemoth: Ideally looking for someone who can cook Middle Eastern cuisine. I have access to many many Middle Eastern guys who can cook Western food, just not many that can cook Middle Eastern Cuisine at the highest levels. Can you think of any restaurant names in beirut that will be in the target range? Good call on the wine company idea! I'll get searching now. That is awesome help, thanks! ← hi there, i may be able to help you. i know a very good chef in london who has a lebanese restaurant (al waha) and who could recommend someone. i could also help in the training to make the chef even more high end. you may know my books (lebanese cuisine, cafe morocco, mediterranean street food and the fifth quarter). i am just finishing one on the breads and savory pastries of the mediterranean. i do a lot of teaching. am presently in marrakesh, teaching moroccan cooking and some time ago, i did a couple of training sessions for the flight attendants of hariri, showing them how elegant lebanese food is prepared and presented, what its characteristics are, the social context and history and so on. so that they can explain what they were serving to hariri's high-powered guests, etc. do let me know if i can help. i shall be returning to london in a week's time.

I really love Mediterranean Street Food, it's one of my favorites, so I'm delighted that you're here and participating. We go on binges where it's all we cook out of for a week or so. How lucky for us to have so many experts around! I haven't made the warqa, but now I'll try it. I'll do as Paula suggests, and use our sa po (sandpot) since that's what we have. regards, trillium ← thank you trillium. this is very kind of you. here is the recipe that i have for tangia in med str food. hope you enjoy making it foodman. Lamb Stewed with Cumin Tangia Tangia, a speciality of Marrakesh is the name of the tall earthenware jars as well as the meat stewed in it The same as with tagine which describes both the earthenware dishes with conical lids in which tagines (Moroccan stews) are cooked. The tangia jars are set in the hot ashes of the hammam fire houses and left overnight in the care of the men who tend the fires. They know when to transfer the cooked tangia from the hot ashes to the cooler ones so that it stays warm until it is picked up. Long ago, tangia was exclusively prepared by men who made it on Thursday night, away from their wives, to take the next day on their illicit, amorous picnics. The recipe below was given to me by Boujemaa Mars, head-chef at one of Marrakesh’s most stylish hotel, the Mamounia. You might think, as I did, that stewing meat without any liquid cannot work but lamb releases a lot of liquid during slow cooking. You may wonder if the preserved lemon is essential. A quarter preserved lemon for 2 1/2 pounds meat might not seem much but it does make quite a difference to the sauce. If you cannot find any in the stores, make your own. Cut unwaxed lemons in quarter leaving them attached at the stem end and spread a teaspoon sea salt inside each half. Pack the lemons tightly in a hermetically sealed jar and leave for 3-4 weeks. The preserved lemons used in tangia are at least 6 months old. Serves 4 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil 1 large garlic clove, finely choppped pinch saffron threads 1 teaspoon finely ground white pepper 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger 1 teaspoon grated nutmeg salt 2 1/2 pounds lamb meat from the rump, skinned and defatted then cut into chunks 1/4 preserved lemon, preferably an old one, rind only 1 - Put the oil, chopped garlic, spices and a little salt in a heavy casserole. Stir well then add the meat. Turn it in the seasoned oil and add the preserved lemon rind. Cover and place over a low heat. Simmer for one and a quarter hours, stirring from time to time, or until the meat is very tender and the sauce thickened. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. If the sauce is still runny , increase the heat to high and boil for a few minutes for the excess liquid to evaporate. Serve very hot with good bread.

it is. i was teaching in marrakesh a few months ago and one evening, i went to my friends in the casbah for tangia. their cook had sent it to the local hammam where it cooked in the hot ashes all afternoon. there is a picture of 3 tangias cooking this way, in the same hammam, in my mediterranean street food book with a wonderful recipe that was given to me by boujemaa mars, the head chef at the mammounia hotel, a lovely man who taught me how to make warqa. he was the one who said i should be wary of the food in jame' el fna. i never ate there since his warning, and since seeing a woman being sick immediately after her meal at one of the stalls. Using the fire of the public bathhouse for cooking brings to mind the communal village ovens that were once common all over the Mediterranean. The practice certainly saves fuel. So I wonder, is this method of cooking a tangia still common today? ←

one word of advice: do not eat at jame' el fna if you can help it. it has become a serious tourist trap and the food is recycled day after day. try instead to go to the stylia restaurant, one of the best in marrakesh. the owner is called mr chami. tell him you belong to egullet and that i recommended you go there. he'll look after you. also the restaurant is quite magical, in an old property in the medina. try also to go to one or more of the weekly souks around marrakesh. i wrote about them for the FT a year or two years ago although i am not sure how you can access the piece. there they have cook stalls where you can take your ingredients for the cook to make you a tagine. enjoy. you'll have a great time.

it is probably akkawi, a white cheese similar to halloumi but less salty and less hard. it is used (soaked first to get rid of the salt) in a breakfast sweet called kunafeh and it stretches for ever when it's really hot. akkawi is also used in a number of savory pastries and is eaten for breakfast with cucumbers and olives.

ok, here is the stuff about shanklish. sorry it has taken me so long but my computer's death really messed up my working life for a while. shanklish is made from a type of curd cheese called qarish and here is what i wrote about both qarish and shanklish in my lebanese cookbook (published by st martin's press): another fresh cheese is a type of curd cheese (qarish) which is made with yoghurt and and lemon juice. the yoghurt is boiled with a little lemon juice until it separates, after which it is taken off the heat and strained. the curdled yoghurt is then left to cool before being gathered in a cheese cloth and hung over a sink or bowl to drain overnight. it is then transferred into a covered container and put in the refrigerator where it will keep for a couple of days unsalted or longer when it is salted. some people prepare it without lemon juice. from this curd cheese we make a round fermented cheesed called shanklish. the curd cheese is seasoned with salt and a little cayenne pepper and rolled into balls, each the size of a small orange. the balls are spread on a cotton cloth laid over a straw mat and left to dry for five or six days after which they are put in airtight glass jars and left to ferment for up to a week. once the cheese is mouldy all over, the mould is rinsed away under cold water and the balls of cheese are rolled in plain dried thyme. they are then packed in clean glass jars and are ready to eat within a week; the longer they are kept, the softer and stronger in taste they become. sorry again about the delay but hope this helps. also i saw the thread about samkeh harrah and i thought i'd tell you about my mother's recipe for it in the same book, using both pine nuts and walnuts, cilantro, both fresh and dried, masses of garlic, onion, tomato, lemon juice, olive oil, cumin, and black and cayenne pepper. most of the stuffing is used inside the fish but some of it is baked separately and used to stuff small tomatoes for garnish. hope this helps too. i'm only just now starting to be back to normal again and will start participating in the discussions as of next week.

i don't think you should worry too much about the bits of mold. in syria, they roll the cleaned balls of shanklish in za'atar. try using lemon juice when boiling the yoghurt. will post the method tomorrow. helou

hi, i just wanted to tell you that you'd be better off ordering my book from amazon.co.uk as i don't think the information on amazon.com is quite correct. or you can order it direct from my english publishers, absolute press. i think you can do it through their website. hope you enjoy it.