Sami Tamimi and Tara Wigley, co-authors of the award-winning Ottolenghi: The Cookbook, Jerusalem and Ottolenghi Simple are back with Falastin, a celebration of Palestinian cuisine.
We have three of the recipes from the book for you to try, from a simple fish dish to a delicious cheesecake made with familiar Palestinian ingredients including filo pastry and nuts. Give them a try:
Roasted cod with a coriander crust
"The combination of fish and tahini is one we find hard to resist, but this works just as well without the tahini sauce if you’re looking for a shortcut or want to keep the focus on the lemon. Either way, this is as close to fast food as you can get. It’s a 15-minute meal to make, beginning to end. Possibly even less time to eat." Try it here.
Baby gem lettuce with burnt aubergine yoghurt, smacked cucumber and shatta
"This works well either as a stand-alone starter or as part of a spread or side. It’s lovely with some hot smoked salmon or trout. ‘Smacked’ cucumbers sounds a bit dramatic but, really, it’s just a way of bruising them so as to allow all the flavour to seep through to the flesh." Find the recipe here.
Labneh cheesecake with roasted apricots, honey and cardamom
"Cheesecake is not, traditionally, a dessert eaten in Palestine, but all the ingredients are: the labneh and filo, for example, the nuts and floral orange blossom. The result, we think, is distinct and special. The base and cheesecake are best baked the day before serving so that it can chill in the fridge overnight. The apricots are best roasted and put on top of the cake on the day of serving. Once assembled, the cake is best eaten the same day." Go here for the recipe.
Falastin: A Cookbook by Sami Tamimi and Tara Wigley is published by Ebury Press.
Photography by Jenny Zarins
