Hospitality is central to Middle Eastern culture and many home cooks spend hours, sometimes days, preparing an impressive spread of dishes for family feasts. Grains play an essential and versatile role in the diet, with dishes varying from , to and . Dairy staples include and , while lentils, vegetables and meats are also commonly eaten. When it comes to dessert, it's a case of the sweeter the better. Nuts, fruit and fragrant floral notes are also enjoyed, as can be seen in this and the French-Middle Eastern fusion dessert .
Middle Eastern-style breakfasts put cereal and avo toast to shame. Whether you prefer a saucy - poached eggs in an earthy paprika tomato sauce; or ballin' alongside some pickles and toasted bread, it's these Middle Eastern mornings that can carve up some serious comfort food and have you winning friends left, right and centre. And if you prefer a sweeter start then it's got to be the or this bowl of .
Speaking of dukkah, Chef and cookbook author dubs this heavy hitter “the Vegemite of Egypt” and scatters onto just about everything. “Traditionally, it’s made with peanuts and is eaten with olive oil and bread for breakfast,” he says but its nutty tone allows you to get as creative and inventive as you like - , anyone?
Vanilla labne with sweet dukkah Source: Chris Middleton
Pantry essentials
Get your hands on a good quality (seven spice mix) or make your own. Stock up on and (hummus essentials); Freshly baked bread (check out this ), vibrant pickles, as well as nuts, olive oil, , and (cracked wheat), are headliners. Sweet-wise, grab , dried fruits, and and in the fridge, it's clotted cream and natural that will come in handy.
The classic pav gets a Turkish Delight twist in .
Layered Turkish Delight pavlova Source: Alan Benson
Fast five
1. Couscous rules: Fluff with a fork, not a spoon, to ensure the grains remain intact.
2. Kitchen hack: Use the semi-circle shaped utensil manakra to hollow out veggies pre-stuffing. (.)
3. Dukkah dreams: Make your own dukkah () and get crusting (lamb, fish, kangaroo - thanks to ).
4. Drizzle on tap: Like fish sauce, pomegranate molasses is one of those ingredients that you use sparingly in cooking, but can only seem to buy in huge bottles. ()
5. Easy entertaining: Char a , then drizzle with a tahini-spiked toum and leave to marinate overnight. Like babaghanoush on steroids. Bring to room temp on the day of.
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