The Syrian name for this comforting dish is Muffaraket Batata and I found the recipe in ” Syria Recipes from Home” by Hab Azzam and Dina Mousawi. In the introduction to this dish they descibed how they met a group of young Syrians cooking this in a public park in Lesbos while waiting to register as refugees. Lets hope that many of these displaced individuals can now return to their homeland if they wish to do so. The dish is also popular with pregnant women as it is belived to be a good detoxifier.
More kebabs from the Syrian cookbook ” Sumac” by Anas Atassi. These are usually served in a middle eastern flatbread but also very good served with aioli to dip the kebabs into before devouring greedily. If you are using a barbecue to cook them they will take 6-8 minutes, turning often.Drizzle with the honey just before the end of the cooking.
A Syrian recipe from ” Sumac” by Anas Atassi. If you can, start the preparation the day before and leave to marinade overnight. If you like you can barbecue the skewers- they will need about five minutes on each side. They are good served in a flatbread with some fresh herbs and lemon juice.
This dish from Damascus may not sound that enticing but I assure you it is most delicious. It’s from ” Sumac” by Anas Atassi. If you are vegetarian replace the chicken stock with vegetable stock.
A Syrian version of the simple and popular middle eastern dish of eggs with spicy tomatoes known as Shakshuka. Its’s from ” Sumac” by Anas Atassi. It can be served at any time of day and is good accompanied by flatbread, baguette or oven chips.
A version of this Syrian cracked wheat and nut salad which I found in ” Tamasin’s Weekend Food” by Tamasin Day-Lewis. For a more elaborate dish see the Severnshed Bazargan recipe on this site. It’s best to make this a few hours before serving if you have time, so that the wheat fully absorbs the dressing.
The Severnshed was a longstanding restaurant in a boathouse on Bristol harbourside. It survived at least 20 years but sadly i never got round to eating there before it closed. They specialised in middle eastern food including this traditional Syrian dish which was later adopted by the Jewish community in Damascus. This updated version is from one of their head chefs, Raviv Hadad. I found it in Sophie Grigson’s ” Sunshine Food”, one of my go to books in 2000 when it was first published. It can be served as a starter or a vegetarian main course.
