Fattoush

[Suvir Saran]

On Wednesday of this last week, I had the best Fattoush ever. It was at the Fountain Cafe on Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn.

The chef had chopped everything really very very small. Almost like juliennes that had been chopped further. Even the cruncy pita bread was chopped that fine.

It was the most amazing salad I have ever eaten.

Our server who has been working there for a long time, promised me that they would make it for anyone t hat ever came asking for it. It is not on the menu, but for those that ask for it, they prepare it willingly.

[Suvir Saran]

Where do you find your favorite fattoush recipe served?

Do you have a recipe you want to share?

Any Fattoush recipes?

My friends Jihan and Mary Ann who are both from Lebanon laugh when I speak in higg praise of Fattoush. To them it is nothing more than a clever way of using stale Pita bread.

[Suvir Saran]

Link to some Fattoush history and recipes

[Fat Guy]

Jeez, I'm stupid. I never bothered to look into this and I just assumed fatoosh (that's how I've always spelled it because that's the name of the joint on Henry Street in Brooklyn) was the bread itself. You learn something new every day.

[LaNiña]

My favorite fatoush salad is at Waterfalls Cafe, on Atlantic Avenue between Clinton- Henry. And it' s a wonderful little (Syrian) family owned and run place - BYO, inexpensive, and good food.

[spaghetttti]

Thanks to Forum Host, Foodman, and the kind and generous responses/contributions from members of eG, my interest in Middle Eastern food has been truly heightened. Knowing this, my gorgeous baby sister took me to the Lebanese Taverna, Pentagon Row, Arlington, VA for a wonderful lunch today. Wow, I'm loving Lebanese food, and can see myself searching out more places that feature this cuisine.

My sister got a shwarma which was deemed quite tasty and "lamby". I chose the Mediterranean Mezza which had a luxurious lebneh, m'saka, baba ghannouge, a meat pie (fatayer?) and a fabulous fattoush.

I think I have a new addiction. More, more, more!

Edited December 13, 2004 by spaghetttti (log)

[Dim Sim]

I live in Melbourne, Australia, in the last few years there has been a strong interest in the middle eastern cooking, it lifted the general public awareness of the wonder cuisines of this region, there are now a lot of very good restaurants here specialised in this style of food, so are lots of cafes, but I must admit , it was a little confusing at the begining, a lot of foods from this region are very simular from country to country, some with minor difference, I remember when I went to a Palastinian cooking class, there was a guy from Lebanon, and they were debating whether the humble fattouche or fattoush or fatoosh (hello Fat Guy)should contain torn basil leaves, I have come across so many variations for this salad , I come to a conclution that the salad should contain cos lettuce, fried pitta bread so it is crunchy like croutons, ripe flavoursome tomatoes, cucumber(I also add radish), parley, mint, onion and sumac nothing more than lemon juice and good olive oil for dressing. I never have the ingredients cut very small, wouldn't it be like eating a couscous salad or tabouli? Would be interesting to try, I learned a good tip from the cooking class, it is just a little touch, but it makes a difference, here we go, cut the red onion into thin slices, then in a bowl sprinkle some suamc on it and give the mixture a gentle massage, the result is a nice pleasant oniony and lemony sumacy tang, toss this into the rest of the salad.

[FoodMan]

no basil leaves.

Elie

[HKDave]

I love fattoush. Never really followed a recipe, just chopped cuke, tomato, mint, parsley, green pepper and green onion. Fresh mint and parsley are key. No red onion or radish, that's just my personal taste, I've seen them in this salad many places. Lemon/evoo/vinegar/sumac/garlic/salt dressing. Must have sumac. I don't usually chop lettuce with the above but sometimes serve it on a bed of lettuce.

Rather than deep fry the pita, just split the pockets and brown in the oven (watch closely - they go from brown to burnt very quickly). Nice and crispy but not greasy.

Agree, no basil leaves. Weird. Never seen that.

[Dim Sim]

I agree with you both about basil leaves, it was the only time I heard about the basil leaves used in fattoush, I usually associate basil with italian , does anyone know if Lebanese uses basil in their cooking at all ? I even came across one that has balsamic vinegar (from Modena ?) I like to know when a fattoush is a fattoush, and when it is not.

[zeitoun]

I was always told that dressing for the fattoosh should contain, in addition to sumac, some pomagranate molasses. That is what i normally do at home and it makes a huge difference. Has anyone else tried it this way?

On Wednesday of this last week, I had the best Fattoush ever.  It was at the Fountain Cafe on Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn.

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I do not like food at Fountain Cafe, HOWEVER, I have to concede that their fattoush is the only dish that i find somewhat more than acceptable.

[FoodMan]

My grandmother has about 4 different wonderful Basil plants in her country house. as does almost every home in my town. What do we use them for? Ornamental and for the lovely fragrance. My grandfather almost always pick a sprig or two and rubs them on his hands after a meal. I've never had them in Lebanese food.

HKDave's description of Fattoush is pretty much the norm at my house. Also Purslane is usually added when available. Sumac is a MUST, without it it is just a salad. The other MUST is the bread. We always fry it. this gives it a much better taste and helps it stay crisp longer. but many families do toast it in the oven instead.

Elie

[Wolfert]

I agree about the purslane and sumac. I never had fattoush with pomegranates. Does it take away from the lovely asringent flavor of the sumac?

I'm wondering if Suvir's salad tasted so special because the ingredients cut so small were quick to mingle and develop a dense and intense flavor.

[zeitoun]

I agree about the purslane and sumac. I never had fattoush with pomegranates. Does it take away from the lovely asringent flavor of the sumac?

I'm wondering if Suvir's salad tasted so special because the ingredients cut so small were quick to mingle and develop a dense and intense flavor.

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Well, the pomagranate molasses, which is called rub rumman in arabic is a delicate ingredient to work with. It is acid and sweet at the same time so the dressing should have a balanced molasses/lemon/oil ratio. It is hard to define a proper ratio so I usually rely on the taste test since the acidity of lemon varies from one lemon to the other. The only guideline I would impose is to go easy on the molasses since it is so pungent.

I tend to think that if used properly, it actually enhances the flavors of sumac. Quick note about sumac: I would recommend anyone to sprinkle it on top of eggs cooked sunny side up. It is heavenly!!

[Dim Sim]

thanks for the information on the uses of basil, much the same way my grandmother used rose water as purfume, purslane is one of the ingredients that kept popping up while I was looking for recipes for fattoush, it sounds like how the ingredients are cut is very crucial, I cut my cos and pita into 1 inch square, using a pair scissors. I must admit here is Australia, pomegranates both the fruits and the molasses form have gained popularity in recent years among the non arabic speakings, I have seen some innovative uses, from very good to very sad. There is a very good cookbook written by an Australian with Lebanese background Greg Malouf is his name and the book is called Arabesque, and he has a restaurant in Melbourne call MoMo, serving beautiful modern take on the Middle Eastern foods.

[HKDave]

The reason fattoush benefits from chopping the veg into fine dice is so you can get the full combination of flavours in every mouthful. If you chop the veg coarsely, one veg dominates on the fork and that's not what you want - it ends up tasting more like a Greek salad (sans feta).

But I don't like to chop the lettuce and pita as small, otherwise there's no contast and it doesn't plate up as nice. I usually tear the lettuce just a little smaller than usual salad size, and roughly break the pita. Both the lettuce and pita are more about texture than flavour in this dish, and that texture comes through better if they're a little bigger than the chopped veg. If you're deep frying, the pita works well (and looks good as a garnish) in strips.

[Behemoth]

My grandmother has about 4 different wonderful Basil plants in her country house. as does almost every home in my town. What do we use them for? Ornamental and for the lovely fragrance. My grandfather almost always pick a sprig or two and rubs them on his hands after a meal. I've never had them in Lebanese food.

HKDave's description of Fattoush is pretty much the norm at my house. Also Purslane is usually added when available. Sumac is a MUST, without it it is just a salad. The other MUST is the bread. We always fry it. this gives it a much better taste and helps it stay crisp longer. but many families do toast it in the oven instead.

Elie

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You didn't eat basil with kibbee nayyeh? Weird, we always did. It tastes amazing, BTW.

As for fattoush, for me it has to have purslane and sumac, otherwise it's just a plain old salad. I am always on the lookout for clean areas to forage purslane, though last summer I attempted to plant some (in a pot, in a pot. I have friends in the EPA )

[Behemoth]

Well, the pomagranate molasses, which is called rub rumman in arabic is a delicate ingredient to work with. 

Hmm, "rub" = pulp, no? I thought the molasses was "dibs".

(sorry, need to practice my mad arabic skillz every once in a while )

[FoodMan]

Pomegranate molasses translates into "rub rumman" or "dibs rumman", depending where you're from I guess. Where I came from (up north) it was always refered to as "dibs". I also think it is too pungent to add to fatoush and will overpower the sumac. A chunky chop is how I cut up my ingredients. The pita bread is fried then broken into pieces.

Basil with Kibbe? I am pretty sure it tastes great. But nope, never ate it, we serve fresh mint with Kibbe Nayyeh. Come to think of it so did all restaurants where we ate it in Lebanon. Never basil, but I will give a try next time.

Elie

[Dejah]

Link to some Fattoush history and recipes

Now that I have sumac, I want to try all kinds of recipes using this spice. But the link posted by Suvir didn't work.

Any other links to try?

Purslane or portulaca runs rampant in my flower beds every summer!

The first time I saw them for sale was in England. I couldn't believe my eyes!

People actually BUY that weed?

Now that everyone says it's so "necessary", I will have to cultivate it carefully for a trial run tho' my neighbors may report me to the weed control board and send me for psychiatric assessment.

Edited December 15, 2004 by Dejah (log)

[M. Lucia]

Just had to chime in here as I used to have fattoush almost every day.

I agree, the important thing is sumac. Fine dice veggies, purslane, lemon juice, oil, etc.

I have such a weakness for those fried pita when they are just starting to soak up some of the salad juices. Though toasted pita is good too.

And definately mint (nana) ma kibbee nayyeh.

[HKDave]

Link to some Fattoush history and recipes

Now that I have sumac, I want to try all kinds of recipes using this spice. But the link posted by Suvir didn't work.

Any other links to try?

←

"What to do with sumac" page: http://www.cuisine.co.nz/index.cfm?pageID=17077&r=0

Another one: http://www.stratsplace.com/rogov/israel/sumac_on_table.html

Basic fattoush recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/re...936_192,00.html

Googling "fattoush" (or "fatoush") and "recipe" will find you a zillion more.

[Behemoth]

Pomegranate molasses translates into "rub rumman" or "dibs rumman", depending where you're from I guess. Where I came from (up north) it was always refered to as "dibs".

It is always amazing to me how a country the size of conneticut could have such disparate regional dialects. I was pretty old before I realized that when I asked for a "bashkir" outside of tripoli nobody would have any idea what I was talking about. I thought it might be a turkish word, but turkish friends assure me its not. I still haven't figured out where it comes from.

Basil with Kibbe? I am pretty sure it tastes great. But nope, never ate it, we serve fresh mint with Kibbe Nayyeh. Come to think of it so did all restaurants where we ate it in Lebanon. Never basil, but I will give a try next time.

We had both, I think. Sometimes I wonder how much my culinary experience was modified by having an american mother, but she learned most Lebanese stuff from my aunts, who, come to think of it were fairly open to experimentation. (My mom, btw, claims to have started the fashion of tomato peel roses on tabbouli, in the late 60's, inspired by a chinese cookbook. I can't substantiate this claim but I find it rather amusing.)

Edited December 17, 2004 by Behemoth (log)

[FoodMan]

It is always amazing to me how a country the size of conneticut could have such disparate regional dialects. I was pretty old before I realized that when I asked for a "bashkir" outside of tripoli nobody would have any idea what I was talking about. I thought it might be a turkish word, but turkish friends assure me its not. I still haven't figured out where it comes from.

And here's your proof. What is bashkir??? I think I heard the term before but I certainly do not know what it means.

Elie

[Behemoth]

It is always amazing to me how a country the size of conneticut could have such disparate regional dialects. I was pretty old before I realized that when I asked for a "bashkir" outside of tripoli nobody would have any idea what I was talking about. I thought it might be a turkish word, but turkish friends assure me its not. I still haven't figured out where it comes from.

And here's your proof. What is bashkir??? I think I heard the term before but I certainly do not know what it means.

Elie

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Towel! ("Manshafeh" to you non-natives )

Did anyone outside of tripoli use "Ouda" for room? I have been informed by Turkish friends that this is indeed a turkish word. It could just be my family -- my poor grandfather had to fight on the side of the Ottoman empire in WW1.

Edited December 17, 2004 by Behemoth (log)