The Lebanese Kitchen
Lebanese baked egg with spinach and sumac
One of my favourite spices is sumac; it has a sharp sourness and a bright colour that I cannot resist. Sumac is an old spice, its name derived from the Semitic root "smq," meaning "red". The name has undergone various transliterations, "Sumach in Latin and Old French, and "Summāq" in Arabic, illustrating the old heritage of this spice. The botanical plant is called Rhus coriaria, a plant that grows abundantly in the Mediterranean and the Middle East. One interesting fact about this red berry...
Tomato and thyme salad
Summer is all about tomatoes. They come in many varieties, each with a different flavour, from super sweet to tart and acidic. This is...
Spinach and walnut tarts
I love the crisp, delicate nature of filo pastry. We mostly see it in desserts from the Middle East, but I particularly love it in...
Lebanese roasted potatoes with green and red chilli sauce
This is a fabulous and simple side dish. The concept is elegant: roasted potatoes in two varieties, loaded with spicy chilli oil. It adds...
Lebanese lamb shank (or mutton) and olive casserole
Lebanese cuisine is characterised by slow-cooked stews rich in large chunks of meat, often including lamb and goat. The stews are rich in...
Persian crêpes with pistachio filling and syrup
A crêpe is a French pancake that is characterised by how thin and melt-in-your-mouth it is. Pancakes are found in every culture on the...
Lebanese pumpkin stew
A stew is so much more than a pot full of vegetables and meat cooked together for a long time. Most folks think of Western stews as...