Sahlab (or Salep – or Sahlep) is a warm winter drink or pudding found throughout the Mediterranean (Turkey, Greece, and the Levant). It is flavoured with a powder made from dried orchid tubers, and has an earthy, floral taste to it. Genuine sahlab powder is not easy to find in the west, and many packaged…
Okra is one of those vegetables that people tend to have strong feelings about, and I am among the okra lovers of the world. Bamieh is simply the Arabic word for okra – and this stew can be made bil lahme – or with meat (as I’ve done here), or without – which makes it…
A common refrain my husband hears from me, whatever the season and wherever in the world we are, is: ‘I need vegetables.’ Growing up, our table was never without at least one salad – and always multiple vegetable dishes. British and American cuisine share the same notion that a vegetable side dish is more of…
Cauliflower has replaced kale as the new ‘it’ vegetable, apparently. With the popularity of the keto diet this vegetable that was usually either steamed and unseasoned or covered in cheese sauce. My mother, on the other hand, has been roasting cauliflower since probably the 80s, and it has long been my favourite way to eat…
I am a chili head – I am known to put hot sauce on everything. Our dinner table is never without hot sauce, or some homemade chili sauce of some sort – regardless of the cuisine we’re eating. I see spiciness warnings on restaurant menus as a dare, and order my Thai food ‘Thai hot’…
I returned home from Japan inspired and ready to cook again – and then, well, I got really sick. My husband’s grandfather passed away and no sooner had we returned to Denver than he was on a flight for Honolulu to his memorial, and then the first big snowstorm of the year hit. I had…
Today (September 23rd) is actually Za’atar Day! Za’atar is a spice used throughout the Levant – made from a type of wild thyme, or hyssop. Its official name is ‘origanum syriacum’ and it’s classified as part of the oregano / marjoram family of plants. It grows wild in many places and in late summer and…
This dish came about because I have been craving mujadarrah, but it is still 100°F (38°C) outside, despite the fact that it’s technically autumn. This salad is a bit of a summery approximation, adding some fresh herbs and onion instead of caramelised ones, and adding plenty of fresh parsley and toasted pine nuts. It’s a…
Before I lived in Denver I lived in Chicago, Illinois. I’d moved there from London, and I lived in a mostly Mexican neighbourhood on the South Side – Pilsen. This time almost feels like it was another life for me – it was before I was married, or a parent, and I was a relatively…
Kamounet is one of those seasonings that every family has a different recipe for – some include cloves, some eschew them for allspice, it just depends on your tastes (or maybe what you have in the cupboard at the time). The only must in kamounet is why it’s called kamounet in the first place: kamoun…
