The Middle Eastern cuisine is a plethora of aromatic cuisines, built on a rich history of conquest and settlement.
Middle Eastern, has simply become an umbrella term for many cuisines originating from this region, so we asked cookery school teacher and Lebanon native, Wafaa Powell, to give us a little more culinary clarity to this extensive area of exciting cookery…
“Middle Eastern cuisine is all the hype now and especially Lebanese cuisine much to my delight.
The position of the Middle Eastern countries, and especially Lebanon’s, on the map is one that can be reached by sea or land. Hence, the area was a target for the big powers to conquer and settle, including the Romans, Ottomans and, in the later centuries, the French and English. All those cultures brought with them their own food traditions and ingredients; the Ottomans being the most influential in this field.
Food is served in abundance and you can easily say you get force fed when you visit a Lebanese or Arabic family.
In the Middle East, vegetables, such as aubergine, courgette, spinach and cabbage, are prepared in so many different ways: stuffed, roasted, grilled, deep fried, or chopped in stews and soups. Stuffed courgettes and aubergines are popular, but vine leaves is the ultimate dish for special occasions.
Pulses are widely used too, including lentils, chickpeas, varieties of fresh green beans, as well as dry varieties, such as fava beans (dry broad beans). Pulses are easy to keep for a long time and insured there was always food in the cupboard. Such ingredients help prepare dishes rich in protein, fibre and other nutritional sources, but also keep you full all day. Some of the most traditional, and popular, breakfasts are made with chickpeas and fava beans. In Lebanon, these breakfast dishes are known as fool, fatteh and hummus.
Nuts, including walnuts, pine kernels, pistachios and almonds, grow easily in this area, and are used abundantly in stuffing and on the top of so many dishes using rice or bulgur wheat. Salted and roasted, nuts are offered to guests in most homes.
Here we see an abundant use of spices, such as cardamom, cinnamon, cumin, ginger and nutmeg, to name but a few. You can buy spices individually or mixed for different uses. The Lebanese seven-spice mix is the most commonly used, but the shawarma, falafel and shishtaoc (used for chicken) spice mixes are also popular.
Lebanese food is not spicy–hot in general, with the emphasis on the flavours. Only a few dishes are meant to be prepared with chilli, such as Samke Harra, (Harra meaning hot).
The proximity of the Mediterranean has left its influence too in the use of herbs, such as mint, parsley, basil and coriander. Sumac, a red tangy herb, adds colour and replaces lemons in some dishes. Za’atar is used in cooking, especially with chicken and beef, but is also used as a sandwich filler or topping on the Middle Eastern alternative to pizza known as manouche.
Meat is used widely; lamb, beef and goat meat enhance flavours in different dishes. Kebbe is a traditional dish made with mashed goat meat (in some areas with lamb) mixed with crushed wheat, onion, basil, mint, mixed spices and nuts. It is said that Kebbe is the dish that distinguishes good cooks from bad cooks. Chicken and fish are widely used too.”
To learn more about Lebanese cuisine with Wafaa, visit; www.dancingflavours.co.uk