Rice & Grains

You need young fava beans, not tough old ones. Some supermarkets sell them shelled in the season. Good-quality frozen ones are also fine to use. An Iranian grocer near where I live sells frozen skinned ones from Iran which are exceptional. The dish can be served hot or cold. The yogurt can be poured over the rice or served in a separate bowl.

This Lenten specialty of the Orthodox Christian communities of Syria and Lebanon can be served hot or cold. Accompany with yogurt.

Megadarra is immensely popular in Egypt, as it is all over the Arab world (elsewhere it is pronounced mujadra and sometimes called mudardara). It is a modern version of a medieval dish called mujadarra, described by al-Baghdadi (see appendix) as a dish of the poor, and still referred to as Esau’s favorite. In fact, it is such a favorite that, although it is said to be for misers, it is a compliment to serve it. An aunt of mine used to present it regularly to guests with the comment “Excuse the food of the poor!”—to which the unanimous reply always was: “Keep your food of kings and give us megadarra every day!” The proportions of lentils and rice vary with every family. Large quantities of dark, caramelized onions are the best part. It is served either warm or cold, as a mezze or as part of a light meal, usually accompanied by yogurt.

A rustic Lebanese salad.

Kisir is a filling and luscious Turkish country salad. Chili flakes or a chili pepper give it a thrilling zing.

In this nutty Turkish salad with an intense flavor, the bulgur is softened in the juice of fresh tomatoes.

This is a homely version of the very green parsley-and-mint salad with buff-colored speckles of bulgur wheat you find in all Lebanese restaurants all over the world. Like many items on the standard Lebanese restaurant menu, it was born in the mountain region of Zahlé, in the Bekáa Valley of Lebanon, where the local anise flavored grape liquor arak is produced. Renowned for its fresh air and its natural springs and the river Bardaouni, which cascades down the mountain, the region acquired a mythical reputation for gastronomy. In 1920 two cafés opened by the river. They gave away assorted nuts, seeds, olives, bits of cheese, and raw vegetables with the local arak. Gradually the entire valley became filled with open-air cafés, each larger and more luxurious than the next, each vying to attract customers who flocked from all over the Middle East with ever more varied mezze. The reputation of the local mountain-village foods they offered, of which tabbouleh was one of the jewels, spread far and wide and became a national institution. What started as a relatively substantial salad, rich with bulgur, was transformed over the years into an all-green herby affair. When the first edition of my book came out, I received letters telling me I had too much bulgur in that recipe. One letter from Syria explained that mine was the way people made the salad many years ago, when they needed to fill their stomachs. You see, many of my relatives left Syria for Egypt a hundred years ago, and that was how they continued to make it. The following is a contemporary version.

Stuffed grape leaves were served at the court of King Khosrow II in Persia in the early seventh century. There are numerous versions today of this delicacy, which is popular in every country throughout the Middle East. Meat is used in the making of hot dolma, and cold dolma are without meat. In Egypt the meatless variety is called “false” or “lying” because there is no meat, but it is the most popular. This is my mother’s recipe. It is particularly aromatic. The leaves can be bought preserved in brine, but fresh ones have a better flavor. Only very young, fresh, tender ones picked in the spring will do. They freeze very well raw and wrapped in foil.

Rice pudding is a homely pudding. Topped by a fruit compote such as stewed apricots, it becomes elegant, dinner-party fare. It is also good served with rose petal jam, which you can buy in Middle Eastern stores. Gum mastic (see recipe on page 321) gives the pudding an intriguing, and to me, very delicious flavor, but it is optional. Serve the pudding cold.

A central part of every grand Arab feast is lamb—shoulder or leg—cooked à la cuillère (to such tenderness that you can eat it “with a spoon”), accompanied by rice with ground meat and nuts. This recipe comes from the caterer Nazira Bitar, who is the queen of wedding cakes all over the Arab world. She prepared a banquet in Stockholm that was hosted by the King of Jordan for King Carl Gustav and Queen Silvia.

This makes a satisfying homely meal and is especially good when served with Vermicelli Rice (see page 304).

Roz bil shaghrieh is the everyday rice that accompanies stews, stuffed vegetables, and grills in Lebanon. People also eat it by itself with yogurt poured over. The short-grain rice from Egypt is the traditional rice used, but today basmati is preferred. Middle Eastern stores sell Italian “cut” vermicelli called filini and similar Turkish Şehriye, but otherwise you can buy vermicelli nests and break them in your hands into small 3/4-inch pieces.

The distinctive feature of this famous Arab fish and rice dish is the flavor of caramelized onions in the brown broth that suffuses the rice and colors it a pale brown. Use skinned fillets of white fish such as bream, turbot, haddock, or cod.

Ask the fishmonger to clean and scale the fish, and remove the fins and gills, but ask him to leave the heads on. The rice, which is cooked with olive oil instead of the usual butter, is the traditional rice to accompany fish in Lebanon. Turmeric is sometimes used instead of saffron. Start cooking the rice first.

Serve this creamy soup with thin Lebanese flat bread cut into triangles, opened out, brushed with olive oil, and toasted in the oven until crisp.

For this fresh-tasting soup, I blend the tomatoes to a cream in the food processor without peeling them and cook them only a little. The egg and lemon finish gives it a creamy texture. The rice should be cooked separately and added just before serving as it goes mushy if it stays too long in the soup. Spearmint is commonly used but you can use other types of mint.

This is a very green and appealing herby salad, also born as the leftover filling of vegetables cooked in oil. It is meant to be very sharp, but start with the juice of one lemon and add more, if you wish, after tasting.

There is a mystique around the preparation of this famous salad. I watched my friend Kamal make it in Beirut, and his main tip was that you must slice, not chop, the parsley, so that it does not get crushed and mushy. Use the fine-ground bulgur, which is available in Middle Eastern stores. These stores and Asian ones also sell parsley in tied bunches that weigh between 7 ounces and 10 ounces with stems. Mix and dress the salad only when you are ready to serve.