May 28

Cookbook 187: Sumac – Recipes and stories from Syria

I really wanted to love Sumac: Recipes and stories from Syria by Anas Atassi. It’s a beautiful book, the photos throughout are lovely, the stories of Atassi’s childhood in Syria are engaging, the recipes sounded great. However it was not to be. The recipes I selected were all sweet and tart, in ways that I don’t like savoury food to be. The only dish that was really enjoyed instead of looked at weirdly after tasting, was the cauliflower dish, and I don’t like cauliflower (Nigel enjoyed it though).

If you like sweet, tangy or tart savoury food, then this cookbook is for you. It definitely isn’t for me, and I’m giving it one out of five stars and will be retiring it from my collection.

Zahra (Spicy Roasted Cauliflower) (serves 6)

Ingredients:

  • 1 cauliflower cut into florets
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • salt
  • 3 garlic cloves, pressed (crushed)

To serve:

  • Pita or Middle Eastern flat bread
  • Fresh herbs of your choice
  • Tarator (or any other dip)

Method:

  1. Heat the oven to 220C
  2. On a large baking tray, toss the cauliflower florets in olive oil, ground cumin, ground paprika and salt. Bake for approximately 25 – 30 minutes, or until golden brown and just beginning to char at the tips.
  3. Take the cauliflower out of the oven, toss with garlic and bake for another 5 minutes.
  4. Serve in a pita or flat bread sandwich, stuffed with herbs and tarator/dip, or as a snack to dip in tarator/dip.

Notes on this recipe:

  • The most successful dish of the night. It tasted like not-awful cauliflower.
  • We tossed the cauliflower in a big metal bowl instead of on the baking tray as it was just easier to handle that way.

Horak osbao (Lentil and Pasta Stew with Tamarind and Pomegranate) (serves 4 – 6)

Ingredients:

  • 150ml olive oil
  • 4 red onions, sliced into thin rings
  • 250g dried green lentils (rinsed)
  • 750ml chicken stock
  • 150g fettuccine (broken into pieces)
  • 3 tbsp pomegranate molasses
  • 2 tbsp tamarind paste
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 7 garlic cloves (pressed/crushed)
  • 1 large bunch of coriander (coarsely chopped)
  • salt and pepper

To serve:

  • Pomegranate seeds
  • 1 lemon cut into wedges

Method:

  1. Heat 100ml of olive oil in a non-stick pan on medium head. Cook the onion rings, stirring frequently, for about 14 minutes until dark brown and caramelised. Take care to not have the heat set too high because onions burn easily.
  2. Line a plate with paper towel. Remove half the onion from the pan and place them on the paper towel to drain off excess oil.
  3. Add the lentils and chicken stock to the onions left in the pan. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and boil gently for 20 minutes, or until the lentils are cooked.
  4. Add the fettuccine, pomegranate molasses, tamarind paste and lemon juice to the lentils. Cook for another 10 minutes, adding more water if needed. It should be thick and saucy but not too watery.
  5. Turn the heat off when the pasta is cooked. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes, or until the remaining moisture is absorbed.
  6. Meanwhile, heat the other 50ml of oil in a non-stick pan on medium heat. Fry the garlic until golden. Stir in the chopped coriander, reserve some for a garnish, and fry for another minute.
  7. Stir the garlic and coriander into the stew. Salt and pepper to taste, and sprinkle with the reserved fried onions and chopped coriander. Make it even tastier by topping it with some pomegranate seeds and serving with lemon wedges.

Notes on this recipe:

  • So sweet and tart… I tried really hard to like it, but couldn’t and no one else at the table liked it either
  • The pasta took longer than 10 minutes suggested in step 4. I think we ended up needing 20 in total.

Lahme bi sayniyi (lamb koftas in tahini sauce) Serves 4

Ingredients:

For the koftas

  • 350g minced lamb
  • 350g minced beef
  • 2 large onions (grated)
  • 1 bunch of flat-leaf parsley (minced)
  • 1 tbsp ground coriander
  • 1 tbsp ground allspice
  • 1 tbsp paprika
  • 1 tomato (grated, reserve the juice)
  • salt and pepper to taste

For cooking

  • 4 tomatoes (thinly sliced)
  • 2 mild, green chilli peppers (sliced into rings)

For the sauce:

  • 4 tbsp tahini
  • juice of one lemon
  • 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 200C
  2. In a large bowl, knead all the kofta ingredients together for 3 minutes (this may also be done in a food processor).
  3. Spread the seasoned meat evenly over the bottom of a round baking dish or pan. Press it into a compact layer.
  4. Arrange the tomato slices and rings of green chilli pepper over the meat.
  5. Bake for 20 minutes in the middle of the oven until the juices are released and the meat is almost completely cooked. Remove from the oven and carefully pour the meat juices into a separate saucepan.
  6. Mix the tahini, lemon juice and pomegranate molasses with the meat juice. Whisk this mixture for 4 minutes on high heat until the mixture is boiling.
  7. Pour the sauce over the koftas. Turn on the grill and cook for 10 – 15 minutes, until the tomatoes and peppers start to char.
  8. Serve the dish warm, accompanied by spicy potatoes or bread.

Notes on this recipe:

  • Gross, don’t go there. The meat was dry and surprisingly flavourless, but covered with a sweet, tangy sauce that did not compliment it at all.
  • Getting the meat juices out of the pan into a saucepan wasn’t easy either.
  • The recipe also doesn’t make any sense. You cook the koftas with tomato and chilli on top, then you put the sauce over the top, and then somehow grill it until the tomato and chilli start to char…. even though they’re covered in sauce?