Lebanese Kafta KAFTA
When I lived in Beirut, I often went with my mother to the butcher’s. As a child, I had a morbid fascination with severed sheep’s heads, carcasses, and knives. I was fascinated by how our butcher would wield his knife, slicing meat off carcasses, then chopping it by hand before chopping herbs and onions and […]
Lebanese Kebabs LAHM MESHWI
Sunday is grilling day in Lebanon. Whether in the city or in the countryside, people will take out their manqal (a low grill made of a rectangular metal box set on short legs) to put on their balcony, in the garden, in the courtyard, or simply outside their front door and make a charcoal fire […]
Turkish Kebabs – SHISH KEBABI
Grilled meats or kebabs are a mainstay of the Muslim world, from Turkey to Iran to India and Pakistan to Muslim China to Indonesia (where kebabs are known as satay), and each country has its own way of preparing the meat or fish and marinating it for grilling. One of the earliest references to kebabs […]
Moroccan Meat Kebabs QOTBANE L’HAM
Kebabs are a constant throughout the Muslim world. From satay to kefta to koobideh to galawat kebabs to firin kebabs, there isn’t a Muslim country that doesn’t offer an amazing array of kebabs, either grilled over charcoal or seared in huge metal pans over wood fires or roasted in large copper baking dishes in wood-fired […]
Moroccan Mechoui – MECHOUI
Mechoui in Arabic means “grilled,” but in Morocco it means a whole lamb, roasted in a pit oven with twenty or more other lambs, each trussed to a pole and the poles arranged all around the oven leaning against its walls, until the meat is so tender you can pull it off the bone with […]
Saudi Camel Meatballs KABAB EL MIRO
The first time I tasted camel was some twenty-five years ago in Damascus, Syria. A friendly taxi driver had driven me to Midan (a working-class neighborhood that sadly has been decimated by the regime as they tried to clear it of rebels) because I had told him I was researching street food. As I walked […]
Saudi Roast Lamb Shoulder on a Bed of Fragrant Rice MESHWI LAHM ‘ALA ROZZ
Lamb and goat—and baby camel for special occasions!—are the meats of choice in the Arabian Gulf. Here, in this Saudi version of roast lamb, the shoulder (you can also use the leg) is marinated in a luxurious saffron yogurt marinade and served on a bed of fragrant rice. Simple to prepare and absolutely exquisite to […]
Iranian Stuffed Whole Lamb BARREH TU POR
This recipe may look daunting, but it is fairly simple to prepare. The only drawback is that most domestic ovens are too small to take in a whole lamb, even when it is a small one—you need to use a lamb that is between 20 to 30 days old. One way to get around this […]
Baby Goat Roast AL MASHWI OR AL MADFUN
Here is the home version of the Emirati madfun. Traditionally, the lamb was wrapped in a wet straw mat and cooked in a pit oven, with the mat placed directly on the embers. Obviously, the taste of mashwi roasted in a home oven is going to be different, but short of building a pit oven […]
Egyptian Bread “Pudding” UMM ALI
Umm ali is the classic Egyptian dessert, an Arab version of bread pudding made with layers of very thin crisp flatbread and toasted nuts soaked with sweetened milk. I use a larger quantity of nuts than most people to give the pudding more crunch and I omit the melted butter. I also add a little […]