I adore Lebanese food.
I’m a regular shopper at our local Mediterranean food stores and am a great fan of local Lebanese restaurants, like Sidra and Ruba.
This fabulous book – published this week, is arguably the only Lebanese cookbook you’ll need. Lebanon by Anissa Helou is published by Bloomsbury at £30 and is packed with fascinating insights, cultural history, and over 160 sumptuous recipes by legendary Guild of Food Writers’ Lifetime Achievement winner Anissa.
From colourful small plates and ivory dips to luscious stuffed vegetables as well as more elaborate preparations for impressing, this is a comprehensive collection of recipes which make up Lebanon’s rich tradition of cooking, suitable for any occasion.
Including:
MEZZE: Savoury Hand Pies, Sumac Aubergine Spread and Falafel
SOUPS & STEWS: Lemony Swiss Chard Soup and Spinach, Fresh Coriander and Lamb Stew
GRAINS & LEGUMES: Winter Tabbüleh and Cannellini Beans, Bulgur Wheat and Greens
VEGETABLE DISHES & SALADS: Fava beans and Swiss Chard with Coriander and Stuffed Aubergine Fatteh
FISH & POULTRY: Fish in Tahini Sauce and Roast Chicken with Rice and Nuts
MEAT DISHES: Shawarma and Lamb in Yoghurt Sauce
SWEETS: K’nafeh, Baklawa and Date Pastries
About Anissa Helou
Born in Lebanon to a Syrian father and Lebanese mother, Anissa is the author of numerous award-winning cookbooks, including Feast which was chosen by the New Yorker as one of the 10 best cookbooks of the century so far.
For the price of a takeaway, I’d urge you to invest in a copy of Lebanon, but here to whet your appetite are a few recipes:
Beet Dip MÜTABBAL SHMANDAR – SERVES 6
“I first learned how to make this dip in Aleppo, where I used to lead culinary tours before the uprising. One of the highlights of my tours was a cooking lesson with Maria Gaspard, a charming woman chef who taught my groups all kinds of fabulous dishes, including this one, which is also widely made in Lebanon. Not only is it very beautiful with its vibrant purple color, but it is also delectable. Maria boiled the beets, but I like to roast them so they don’t get watery and their flavour is more intense.”
1 pound 5 ounces (600 g) beets
⅓ cup (80 ml) tahini, or to taste
1 clove garlic, peeled, minced to a fine paste
Juice of 1½ lemons, or to taste
Sea salt
Extra virgin olive oil to drizzle over the dip
1 tablespoon finely chopped flat-leaf parsley or slivered pistachios for garnish
- Preheat the oven to 450ºF (220ºC).
- Wash the beets and cut any excess stalks but without cutting into the beets. You do not want them to bleed during baking. Wrap each beet with aluminum foil and place on a baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for 1 to 1½ hours depending on their size, until soft but not mushy.
- Remove from the oven onto a large cutting board. Unwrap each, then peel and cut into chunks. Place in the bowl of a food processor. Add the tahini, garlic, and lemon juice and process until you have a smooth purée.
- Transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add salt to taste and more lemon juice and/or tahini if you feel the dip needs it. Spread in a shallow round or oval serving bowl, making grooves here and there. Drizzle a little olive oil in the grooves and sprinkle with the chopped parsley or slivered pistachios. Serve with good bread.
Green Bulgur Wheat “Risotto” MAFRÜKEH – SERVES 4-6
“Another interesting dish from Deir Intar down south, where the bulgur wheat is cooked with greens and a tomato sauce. Again, I had never come across it before, having only had bulgur wheat cooked in a fresh tomato sauce. However, the addition of scallions and herbs here makes for a fresher and more intriguing combination.
Also, it is served like tabbüleh and is scooped with fresh vine leaves when in season or raw cabbage leaves, a kind of cooked tabbüleh, as it were.”
⅓ cup (80 ml) extra virgin olive oil
1½ cups (250 g) coarse bulgur wheat, soaked in cold water for 30 minutes
1 bunch scallions
(about 100 g), trimmed, sliced fairly thin
1 bunch flat-leaf parsley (about 200 g on the stalk), washed, dried, most of the stalks discarded, finely chopped
¾ bunch mint (about 150 g on the stalk), leaves only, washed, dried, finely chopped
½ cup tomato paste, diluted in 3 cups (750 ml) water
Sea salt
Fresh vine leaves or cabbage leaves to scoop the mafrükeh
Put the olive oil in a medium wide pot and place over medium heat. Drain the bulgur wheat and add to the pot. Stir for a couple of minutes, then add the scallions, parsley, and mint. Mix well, then add the diluted tomato paste. Season with salt to taste.
Cover the pan and let bubble for 10 to 15 minutes, until the bulgur wheat has absorbed all the liquid and is done.
Wrap the lid with a clean kitchen towel and put it back over the pot. Let cool.
Serve at room temperature with either vine leaves if they are in season or cabbage leaves.
Tahini Rice Pudding MÜFFATA’A – SERVES 8-10
“Here is a unique take on rice pudding that is a Sunni specialty from Beirut. It used to be made on the last Wednesday of April, which is the Wednesday of the Prophet Job, together with müdardarah, boiled potatoes, and eggs to eat with or distribute to friends. Apparently, the Prophet Job healed from his painful wounds on Beirut’s seashore after dipping himself seven times in the water and rubbing himself with a local plant or flower. On that day, many Sunni Beirutis will go out to picnic along the corniche or by the sea a little higher up, and they will make sure to have müffata’a. I never knew about it when I lived there and only discovered it a few years back when I was researching my book Feast, when my friend Ziad Ghorly took me to al-Makari, the most famous müffata’a maker in the city. Mr. Makari very kindly gave me his recipe and advised me not to serve the pudding in either silver or melamine. I am not sure why, but he used to sell it in porcelain plates, and I am guessing people brought back the plates, like you would with milk bottles. Sadly, he is now older and no longer able to stir for hours. Another factor is the economic crisis, so now his sons make it in a central kitchen and sell it in aluminum containers. When I tasted it again recently, I felt that it was not as good as when the old man used to make it, but you can make your own following his recipe below”
1 tablespoon ground turmeric
1¼ cups (250 g) short-grain white rice, rinsed under cold water, soaked for 30 minutes
1 cup (250 g) tahini
2½ cups (500 g) baker’s or superfine sugar
½ cup (75 g) Mediterranean pine nuts
Pinch ground fennel and ground anise
- Put 3½ cups (875 ml) water in a large pot together with the turmeric and place over high heat. Bring to a boil. Drain the rice and add to the water. Bring the heat down to low and let bubble gently, partly covered, for 30 to 45 minutes, stirring regularly.
- Put the tahini, sugar, and pine nuts in another pot large enough to eventually take the cooked rice. When the rice is done, add it together with its liquid, if any, to the tahini and place over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring, for 1 hour or so, until the oil from the tahini rises (in Arabic, it is called srijeh) and the pudding is very thick—you’ll know it is ready when you dip a spatula into the rice then pull it out and no rice drops back into the pot.
- Spread on one large serving platter or 8 to 10 individual plates, making a groove all around the inside. Serve at room temperature.
