#Anissa Helou

[feyburner]

yo I feel like YOU are the one to ask: the pita bread recipe the NYTimes uses is pretty simple (active dry yeast, flour, sugar, salt, oil, mix, cook). Is there a special trick to making BOMB ass pita bread?

I’ve actually been on a pita journey myself recently. So far the best recipe/resource I’ve found is Anissa Helou.

I think the recipe is less important than the technique. Most recipes are basically the same with slightly varying hydrations. I’ll post the recipe I’ve been using (basically Anissa’s) below.

What I’ve learned through trial and error:

- Pita needs a longer rise time than many flatbreads—the first rise should be 2 hours for the dough to truly double in volume, and rest/proof times are an additional 45 minutes. This is because in order to get the puff, your dough really does need to be as airy as possible going into the oven.

- The trick to getting the puff is VERY high temperatures—they’re traditionally baked in those clay ovens that get up to like 700-800° and cook the pitas in literally 30 seconds. A home oven can’t do that, but you’ll need to turn your oven as high as possible, like 500°+ and bake for as short a time as possible to avoid drying them out and turning them into crackers. Think 4-5 minutes per batch with you watching the whole time. The moment they puff, regardless of color, they’re done.

- I tried cooking them on the stovetop in a cast iron and got a nice flatbread but they never puffed. The stovetop just doesn’t deliver enough instant top-and-bottom heat.

- Don’t roll out too thin. I saw one tip that was like “roll them out very thin so heat penetrates the center instantly” and was skeptical but tried it, and sure enough: if you roll them out super thin, there’s not enough airy dough to puff and they’ll just instantly harden in the center!

With all that in mind, here’s my recipe. This recipe has gotten me a batch where almost every single one puffed!

PITA BREAD

**Pita requires longer rising & proofing times than most flatbreads in order to get the airiness and puff. Rise is 2 hours and proofing is 45 minutes (divided).

INGREDIENTS

500g flour

300g lukewarm water

20g sugar or honey

1/4 cup (50g) olive oil

10g yeast

10g salt

DIRECTIONS

1. Mix all ingredients together until combined. Cover and rest 10 min. Mix/knead 6-8 minutes until a smooth, elastic dough forms.

2. Grease bowl with cooking spray and return dough ball to bowl, turning to coat with oil on all sides. Cover and let rise 2 hours in a warm place until truly doubled in size. Give it a fold after 1 hour. (I usually preheat the oven to 100°, then turn it off and put the bowl in there with the door cracked.)

3. Gently deflate and divide into 8-10 equal balls. Cover with a damp (not dripping) dishtowel and let rest 15 min.

4. Roll out each ball into a disc about 6” across and 1/2” thick (index fingernail width, thicker than tortillas).

5. Cover with dishtowel and let rest another 30 min. (Oil the work surface or rest on parchment paper so they don’t stick—once they’re proofed you want to handle as little as possible to not deflate).

6. Preheat oven, with a baking sheet inside, to 500° or its highest setting (Broil).

7. Place 3-4 pitas at a time on the hot baking sheet, flipping as you transfer them so they’re top side down. (After proofing the air will be concentrated at the top so this way the air will rise up through the center as they bake.)

8. Bake 4-7 minutes, keeping an eye on them. As soon as they puff, they’re done. Do not overbake.

9. Cover with a dish towel as soon as they’re out of the oven to keep them moist. Serve immediately.

Those ^ are arayes, or meat-stuffed pan-fried pitas. The recipe is in my recipes tag, it’s from Moribyan.

[mariacallous]

Pini Amir, a Yemenite Jew from Beit Yitzhak in Israel, bakes some of the best flatbread I’ve ever tried: fluffy, thick Yemenite saluf dotted with nigella seeds. When fresh out of his backyard taboon (clay oven), charred here and there for extra flavor, the saluf is dipped in freshly whipped tahini sauce or the lemony juices of a chopped Israeli salad. And it’s simply sublime.

But for Pini, the best part of making his own saluf comes the next day, when the bread starts getting stale. That’s when he puts a large pot of chicken wings, marrow bones and root vegetables on the burner, covers it all with water and cooks a rich chicken soup. Once it’s ready, Pini takes just the broth and mixes in hilbeh (a Yemenite fenugreek condiment, recipe below) and spicy zhug, and crumbles in a large pile of dried saluf to soak it all up. This dish is called ftout, or fatout, and it’s been Pini’s favorite dish since childhood.

“In a way, ftout is really a verb, not a dish,” David Moshe told me from his home in Israel. Moshe is an Israeli with Yemenite roots, an eighth-generation jeweler and a cookbook author who specializes in Yemenite food. 

Fatta (فتّ) in Arabic means “to crumble,” and in this context it means to crumble or break flatbread into small segments and soak in liquid. (The Hebrew word “ptit” means a crumb or morsel and comes from the same root. Ptitim, which is plural for ptit, is the Israeli name for Israeli couscous.)

The Yemenite Jewish ftout is really a part of a bigger family of dishes from the Arab world called fatteh or fatta. They all contain crumbled crispy, sometimes toasted, day-old flatbread that soaks up some of the liquid in a dish. The most popular is fattet hummus from the Levant, a dish of broken toasted pita that’s topped with freshly cooked chickpeas and yogurt and is served for breakfast. Other examples include fatta with eggplant or chickpeas and yogurt on top; with beef, lamb or chicken stews; and even with rice. The famous and delicious fattoush salad comes from the same family. Tharid is another type of fattah dish, popular in the Gulf. In this version, the bread plays a larger role and is topped with a rich vegetable and meat stew. According to the cookbook “Feat – Food of the Islamic World” by Anissa Helou, tharid was Prophet Muhammad’s favorite dish.

Fatteh are usually very homey and messy dishes, and are served within the family, not for guests. Using leftover stale bread instead of tossing it away makes these dishes, which are served all over the Middle East, from Saudi Arabia to Yemen, Egypt, Lebanon and Syria, smart both economically and environmentally.

In the Yemenite Jewish community, the beloved fatout/ftout has several variations. One popular version is made with samneh (fenugreek-spiced clarified butter), eggs and honey. The saluf is broken into pieces and fried in samneh, then mixed with eggs, and sometimes milk, and cooked. It is served with honey and a sprinkle of nigella seeds. Some people serve the dish for lunch before the pre-Yom Kippur meal (Seuda Mafseket). It is sometimes prepared with other Yemenite flatbreads like malawach or lachuh. During Passover, the dish is prepared with broken matzah instead, similar to the Ashkenazi matzah brei. 

Fatta samneh, as the dish is called in Arabic, is still made in Yemen, with variations including chopped dates or bananas, making it a porridge-like breakfast. And since dishes morph and develop with time and change of location, you can find Israeli versions that omit the honey altogether, and mix in Edam-style grated cheese, or sprinkle with za’atar, turning it into a delicious savory omlet.

Another dairy version of ftout is a warm yogurt soup called zom: Yogurt is cooked with a little garlic and samneh, stale saluf is broken inside, and it is served with zhug and lemon. This dish is sometimes eaten after Yom Kippur for break the fast.

But the most famous version, and Pini’s favorite, is the one made with chicken or meat broth. The Yemenite cuisine is known for its soups and it’s only fitting that the Yemenite fatteh would be made with it as well. Just like the famous Yemenite bone marrow soup, available at Yemenite eateries throughout Israel, the soup for the ftout needs to be fatty and rich. That’s why Pini makes his soup with chicken wings, rich with fat from the skin, to which he adds marrow bones or  beef chuck for extra flavor and fat. 

Hilbeh, a popular condiment that is served with every Yemenite meal, is an important component in the ftout. To make it, ground fenugreek seeds are soaked in water overnight, when they become jello-like as they expand. The seeds are then whipped with spices, salt and lemon juice or vinegar. More elaborate versions include chili peppers or zhug, fresh cilantro and even tomato. It is addictive in its own right.

Pini mixes the rich clear broth with a lot of hilbeh, some grated tomatoes and cilantro. He adds a lot of zhug, because as a proud Yemenite he believes that spicy food is always better, and breaks all the stale saluf he has from the day before into the mixture. A few minutes of cooking together is all it takes, and the results, while some may say are not the best-looking, are so delicious, especially with a little lemon on top. For most of us, it’s a flavor combination we’re not familiar with, and I cannot recommend this enough.

Notes:

Fenugreek seeds, preferably ground (not the dry leaves!) are available at most Middle Eastern supermarkets and online. 

A real shortcut would be to use a store-bought chicken broth. Just make sure to mix in some oil (olive oil is fine) or add some bone broth into the chicken broth so it is rich and fatty, as needed.

Another major shortcut is to use store-bought flatbread instead of making your own saluf. Just be sure to use a thick flatbread, not the skinny pita bread available at most American supermarkets; look for Israeli-style pita bread (available at many Kosher supermarkets and some Whole Foods branches) or get Persian flatbreads from a Persian supermarket. (If you’re in Israel, any pita bread is fine.)

You can use the hilbeh as a dip with pita bread. It keeps in the fridge in a sealed container for two days.

Ftout keeps in the fridge for up to four days. Reheat in the microwave.

[doodlenomics]

Sweet Middle East: Anissa Helou

The enchanting world of Middle-Eastern Sweets unraveled in Anissa Helou's book- Check it out!

I have a strong sweet tooth and often say it’s because my family name, Helou, means “sweet” in Arabic. In truth, that has nothing to do with it. Most people in the Middle East and North Africa have a serious penchant for all things sugary. Sweets occupy an important place in our lives, and every important occasion, rite of passage, or religious event has a specific sweet associated with its…

[paultranbakerman]

LEVANT STICKY SPONGE CAKE (NAMMURAH) - Paul Tran Baker Man

This cake smells beautiful and I want to adapt the syrup for other bakes! This recipe was modified from Anissa Helou's book, "Levant", which you can find on her website at http://www.anissas.com/

[in-sightjournal]

Interview with Anissa Helou (Part Three)

Anissa Helou is a Chef, Cooking Instructor, Culinary Researcher, Food Consultant, Food Writer, Middle Eastern Cuisine, and a Writer. She speaks with Scott Douglas Jacobsen on his life and views.

Interviewer: Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Numbering: Issue 17.A, Idea: Outliers & Outsiders (Part Thirteen)

Place of Publication: Langley, British Columbia, Canada

Title: In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal

Web Domain: http://www.in-sightjournal.com

Individual Publication Date: August 8, 2018

Issue Publication Date: September 1, 2018

Name of Publisher: In-Sight Publishing

Frequency: Three…

[artbookdap]

For Passover, may we recommend 'A House with a Date Palm Will Never Starve (Cooking with Date Syrup: Forty-One Chefs and an Artist Create New and Classic Dishes with a Traditional Middle Eastern Ingredient),' edited by Michael Rakowitz and published by @art_books_⁠ ⁠ Art and food meet social activism in Rakowitz’s inspiring cookbook, in which forty-one noted international chefs, restauranteurs and food writers contribute recipes featuring the traditional Middle Eastern ingredient that also plays a key role in Rakowitz’s artwork. “Food becomes very important in exile,” Claudia Roden writes. “Families hold on to their dishes for generations, long after they have cast off their traditional clothes, dropped their native language and stopped listening to their own forms of music. Michael’s family fled Iraq for the United States in 1947 as a result of riots and reprisals against Jews. He has used cooking as a way of celebrating the family’s origin and the harmony that once reigned between Jews and Muslims.”⁠ ⁠ Chefs include: Sara Ahmad, Sam and Sam Clark (Moro, Morito), Linda Dangoor, Caroline Eden, Cameron Emirali (10 Greek Street), Eleanor Ford, Jason Hammel (Lula Café, Marisol), Stephen Harris (The Sportsman), Anissa Helou, Margot Henderson (Rochelle Canteen), Olia Hercules, Charlie Hibbert (Thyme), Anna Jones, Philip Juma (JUMA Kitchen), Reem Kassis, Asma Khan (Darjeeling Express), Florence Knight, Jeremy Lee (Quo Vadis), Prue Leith, Giorgio Locatelli, Nuno Mendes (Chiltern Firehouse), Thomasina Miers (Wahaca), Nawal Nasrallah, Russell Norman (Polpo), Yotam Ottolenghi (Ottolenghi, NOPI), Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich (Honey & Co), Michael Rakowitz, Yvonne Rakowitz, Brett Redman (Neptune, Jidori, Elliot's Café), Claudia Roden, Nasrin Rooghani, Marcus Samuelsson (Red Rooster, Aquavit), Niki Segnit, Rosie Sykes, Summer Thomas, Kitty Travers, Alice Waters (Chez Panisse) and Soli Zardosht (Zardosht).⁠ ⁠ Read more via linkinbio.⁠ ⁠ #michaelrakowitz #housewithadatepalmwillneverstarve #middleeasternrecipes #datepalm #datesyrup #cookbook #passoverrecipes https://www.instagram.com/p/CcYjcMaJys6/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[hawthorn-and-cedarwood]

Anissa Helou's last supper

[foodtrails25-blog]

Nasi Goreng is Indonesian Fried Rice has spicy and sweet flavours. A rice dish bursting with flavours, crispy vegetables, some protein added and fluffy rice. 

This week for the Blogging Marathon group, I choose the Nusantara Cuisine or Indo- Chinese Cuisine. Indo Chinese Cuisine is a favourite in my house and my kids love Chilli Paneer, Chinese Fried Rice, Vegetarian Manchurian and almost the all the popular dishes from this cuisine. For the challenge this week(3rd), I decided to do some different dishes that I had not prepared earlier.

Nusantara refers to the Indonesian and Malaysian archipelago,  click here to know more about it..

I an currently reading a book that I got from the local library here, “FEAST– Food of Islamic World” by author “Anissa Helou” that has vegetarian and non-vegetarian recipes of the food prepared and consumed especially by Muslims all over the world.. In the book I saw this recipe for Nasi Goreng which sounded very much like chinese fried rice.Though it used shrimp paste, I looked for the substitutes on net and decided to make it. If you want to know more and in detail about the Islamic food culture, do read the book once.

What is Nasi Goreng

Nasi Goreng Rice which is a very popular street food in Indonesia. The rice dish is basically non-vegetarian which is made traditionally with Shrimp Paste, spicy Sambal Oelek paste and Kecap Manis(Sweet Soy Sauce). Since we are vegetarians and do not consume shrimp, I decided to skip it.

There are many recipes for the Nasi Goreng  available online. I had my  spicy garlic and chilli chutney(recipe later) in my refrigerator that I used instead of Sambal Oelek and also added just 1/2 tsp of Thai Red Curry paste, it added on the authentic flavour of rice. I always keep garlic and chilli paste/ chutney in ready and use it for dips, chutneys and in dishes. If you like fiery hot chutneys check out these … Rajasthani Lehsun Ki Chutney, Spicy Garlic and Red Bell Pepper Chutney

Kecap Manis is sticky sweet sauce , very much like sweetened sauce. Since I didn’t have it, I mixed soy sauce with  raw agave. You can use Tamari Sauce for gluten-free version.

This rice is very much like the Chinese Veg. Fried Rice, but is more spicy and sweet in taste. Those who have had the rice, know that the rice has a very spicy kick with sweet tone to it. Add any vegetable or meat of your choice. Traditionally this rice is served with fried egg as  street food, with chicken or pork pieces. I used Paneer(Indian Cottage Cheese here). I avoid Tofu due to health reasons  you can use Tofu for the vegan version.

Let’s see in detail, how I make this Spicy and Sweet Indonesian Fried Rice… Nasi Goreng

Nasi Goreng(Vegetarian)

A popular Indonesian sweet and spicy fried rice with lots of vegetables and paneer for vegetarian version.

1½ Steamed Rice (refrigerated)

1 Cup Mixed Chopped vegetables (Bell Peppers, Carrots, Mushrooms)

½ Cup Fresh Paneer/Tofu

1/2 Cup Spring Onion Greens

1 tbsp Finely chopped Garlic

2 tbsp Sesame Oil or Peanut Oil

Salt to taste

Sauces used

1/4 Cup Soy Sauce (Tamari for Gluten-free)

1½ tbsp Any sweetener(Honey/Agave /Palm Sugar)

2-3 tbsp Sambal Oelek or any spicy garlic and red chilli chutney (as per spice level)

Mix the sauces and sweetner for the sauce mix and keep aside.

In a pan add, heat oil, add finely chopped garlic to it. Saute till raw smell goes away.

Add finely chopped onions, add saute for few seconds.

Add the chopped vegetables, paneer /tofu pieces and then add the sauce mix.

Stir fry on high for few seconds. Keep the vegetables crunchy.

Add rice and salt to taste. Be careful in adding salt as the sauces already have salt .

Mix rice lightly and stir fry for few seconds.

Serve hot with more spicy chutney or sauce with a sunny side up(fried eggs on side).

Traditionally Jasmine is rice is used in Indonesia for this. You can use Basmati rice also as I have used.

Add 1-2 tbsp of Kecap Manis if you have it and add 1 tbsp of Soy sauce separately

Add the spicy Sambal Oelek or any spicy garlic Chilli Chutney as per your spice level..

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Do try the vegetarian version of Nasi Goreng.. and let me know your feedback.

  Linking to Blogging Marathon#101 for the month of June  for Week 3 Day 1 where the theme for first week is Nusantara  or Indo Chinese Cuisine.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#101

Do visit my social media accounts.. FB, Pinterest and Instagram. Whenever you make this, do post on my FB page or tag me on Instagram(#foodtrails25). Pin the recipes for later reference.

If you like my work, then do hit the follow button and subscribe to the blog to get notifications on new posts and share the blog with your loved ones. I promise won’t spam your mailbox 🙂.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Nasi Goreng(Vegetarian) Nasi Goreng is Indonesian Fried Rice has spicy and sweet flavours. A rice dish bursting with flavours, crispy vegetables, some protein added and fluffy rice. 

[thecaftanclique]

Dramatic flair in Anissa Helou’s London bathroom

[syrupeel6-blog]

Republic of Booza

I’m always interested in ice cream, no matter where it’s from. But probably the most intriguing one I’ve ever come across was booza, an ice cream thickened, not with eggs or cornstarch, but with sahleb and mastic.

Republic of Booza was opened by Jilbert El-Zmetr and Michael Sadler, along with two business partners, in Brooklyn, New York, bringing this ice cream stateside. Jilbert owned a booza company in Sydney, Australia with his sister, and through one of his business partners, met Michael, an Oxford scholar, who studied Arabic and was traveling through the Middle East when he discovered this style of ice cream.

Like many things in Brooklyn, the great melting pot of America, a confluence of cultures and cuisines met up, and their booza shop opened there.

To make booza, milk and cream are mixed together and any infusions are added, like spices, vanilla, or saffon, for flavoring. There are no eggs added to booza. Instead, the salep and mastic thicken the mixture, then flavors such as pistachio paste, orange flower water, or chocolate are added.

Salep is made from ground orchid roots and mastic is a resin extracted from trees. It’s a prominent ingredient in chewing gum, and gives the ice cream its distinctly elastic, stretchy texture. The salep they use comes from Lebanon and the mastic is from Chios, Greece. Interestingly, the little nuggets of mastic are often referred to as “tears,” and have an opaque color, and irregular texture, that resembles actual tears. They gave me a few to chew on, reminding me that if I have fillings to watch out, which I did. But after rolling them around in my mouth for a while, it was easy to see how the tears could become gum (or a way to lose a filling), or stretchy ice cream.

Unlike traditional ice cream, which is churned to incorporate air (called “overrun”), booza is traditionally “churned” by pounding and stirring. Since there’s no air added, and no eggs, the flavors in the booza are more focused. And what flavors they are!

The flavors at Republic of Booza change, but you’ll find classics, like Vanilla, Pistachio (using Bronte pistachios from Sicily), blackberry, and salted caramel, which uses panela (unrefined cane sugar, sold in blocks) from Colombia, rather than cooked sugar.

Some of the other flavors, listed under “Global” when I went, were horchata de chufa, made with groundnuts from Valencia, Spain, Red Miso, which Michael told me he thought was an underrated ingredient (me too, I’ve enjoyed it in strawberry ice cream and in cocktails) ,and Labneh with honey. They were all very compelling to taste, requiring a little more concentration than standard ice cream because they were so inventive and original.

Qashta was probably my favorite of them all, which they also call “candied cream.” Nope, there’s no candy in it, but the quality of the cream is so good that it’s considered candy due to the natural sugars in the dairy products used. It’s similar to Fior di latte ice cream in Italy, or Fleur de lait in France, which is made with only top-quality cream and milk, so to keep the focus on the flavors of the dairy products, no additional flavorings are necessary. (There’s a recipe for Fleur de lait ice cream in my book, The Perfect Scoop, if you want to give it a go.)

Another favorite flavor of mine at their shop was Mango-Tajín, a sorbet made from fresh mangoes and tajín, a spicy tangy, Mexican seasoning with chiles, salt, and lime. And if you go, also try the Peanut Butter Crunch, which gets its crunch from a surprising combination of house-made white chocolate and potato chip bark.

Not only are the flavors of booza bolder than other ice creams, but so are the colors. Republic of Booza probably had the prettiest array of ice creams I’ve ever seen together in one shop.

One of the most fascinating aspects of booza is that it can be stretched, but it needs to be done quickly, and with skilled hands, since it warms up fast.

While I was there, Jilbert had a go at it, pounding some of the booza in one of the chilled canisters, right next to the customer counter, using one of the big wooden pounders that had made for the shop.

Once the mixture was thick and cold, he pulled it out of the tub and started pulling.

I hadn’t planned to spend two hours talking to them, and watching what they do, but it was hard to stop. While I was asking them too many questions, the steady stream of customers coming through the door showed the diversity of people interested in what they were doing, from a couple of French tourists who just happened to wander in, to people from other parts of Brooklyn (and other boroughs), who were already familiar with booza, and wanted a taste.

Republic of Booza 76 North 4th Street Brooklyn, NY Tel: 718-302-5000

Follow Republic of Booza on Facebook and Instagram

Related Links

Salep and Boza: History and recipe of special Turkish drinks (Istanbul Insider)

Salep, or sahlab, a rare ingredient, and recipe (Anissa Helou)

Booza al-haleeb, Milk ice cream with pistachios (Taste of Beirut)

Lebanese Ice Cream: Booza/Buzza (Amira’s Pantry)

Source: https://www.davidlebovitz.com/republic-of-booza-new-york-ice-cream/

[northmagneticpole]

Anissa Helou’s Kitchen-Kasia Bobula for Apartamento Magazine

[easyfoodnetwork]

A World Beyond Sourdough

Can’t find flour? Try Italy’s chickpea-based farinata | Getty Images

From tortillas to roti to farinata, what to make instead of sourdough for the 1,000th time

So yes, everyone’s making sourdough now. But those tangy loaves are just the tip of the baguette (sorry) when it comes to the millennia old tradition of breadmaking around the world. It seems the alchemy of transforming flour and water and some kind of leavening (or not, as in the case of flatbreads) is universally comforting, as evidenced by the gazillions of bread varieties that anchor meals virtually everywhere on the planet. These simple starches are also in many ways our most accessible gateway to other cuisines, familiar and often achievable without much in the way of special ingredients.

For me, baking up some farinata or steaming mantou has helped me remember a time not long ago when we could all travel freely — when I would spend days wandering foreign streets, following my nose into some local bakery to discover something warm and soothing in an unfamiliar place. Plus, while you can still buy classic sourdough almost anywhere in the country, finding Portuguese sweet bread and Moroccan msemen can be a lot harder. Here, then are a few recipes from around the world to help us break the monotony of breaking bread.

Tortillas

What you’ll need: masa harina or flour, fat, salt

The next time you make a pot of beans — which you are definitely doing — make some fresh tortillas to go with them. Beans and tortillas have been getting cozy since long before an avocado met a slice of toast, and they’re just as simple to make yourself. For corn tortillas, use fresh masa if you can find it, but masa harina, which is available in many supermarkets and online, also produces great results. Don’t have a tortilla press? Smoosh balls of dough under a cast iron or other heavy pan. For flour tortillas, you’ll need some kind of fat, be it lard, bacon fat, shortening, or oil. An ex and I used to roll these out with a metal pipe from the hardware store, as was the tradition in his Mexican household, but any rolling pin will do — the world is heavy enough as it is. Eating these hot off the pan reminds me less of Mexico City and more of the “El Machino” conveyor belt at Chevy’s that used to mesmerize me as a kid with its fresh, puffy circles long before Krispy Kreme.

Getty Images/EyeEm

Roti puffs up bubbly in a cast iron pan

Roti

What you’ll need: whole-wheat flour (pastry or AP), oil, salt

Though naan usually gets the spotlight, roti is the king of all Indian breads, says food writer and cookbook author Priya Krishna, for its versatility and sturdiness, something all of us could use a bit of now. It’s also extremely simple to make — it doesn’t require any leavening, and if you just knead it well and let it rest, it will puff up nicely in the hot pan. This recipe calls for atta, a finely ground whole wheat flour, but whole wheat pastry flour, regular whole wheat flour, or half whole wheat and half all purpose are all suitable substitutions.

Farinata

What you’ll need: chickpea flour, oil, salt

Ceci, or chickpeas, are a staple in Italy, and variations of the chickpea flour-based flatbread known as farinata exist throughout the country. The Genoese version, which goes by socca in Nice, not far from the Italian border, is a particularly popular local street food. It emerges from wood-fired ovens in big, round pans and is sliced into wedges — thin and crisp and fragrant with olive oil that seeps into the paper it’s wrapped in. All you need is chickpea flour and olive oil — I’ve been finding chickpea or garbanzo flour on supermarket shelves more often than flour these days, but if you have a ton of dried chickpeas, you can also try grinding them in a blender and sifting out the fine flour. I like eating farinata straight out of the oven and unadorned, but it also pairs well with caramelized onions or any kind of hard cheese grated over the top top while it’s still hot.

Getty Images/iStockphoto

Moroccan Msemen works with both sweet and savory preparations and cooks up on the stove-top

Msemen

What you’ll need: AP flour, semolina flour, sugar, yeast

“Follow the bread, wherever it takes you,” chef M’hammed Benali once told me. He was explaining why he first left Morocco and cooked in restaurants from Seattle to San Francisco before opening his own place, Casablanca, in Honolulu. Here, instead of providing utensils, he serves a round Moroccan flatbread to eat with — the feeling of the soft warm bread in the mouth is much preferable to cold metal forks, he insists. This same feeling is all over Morocco, where community ovens and griddles set up in the medinas to make all kinds of daily breads and flatbreads. Msemen, a yeasted bread layered with butter, is one of the most ubiquitous and my personal favorite. It lends itself to sweet breakfasts drizzled with honey or savory meals when stuffed with roasted vegetables and meats. Msemen requires both semolina flour and regular AP flour, and a good amount of oil and butter which are folded in like an abbreviated version of laminated croissant dough.

Pita

What you’ll need: AP flour, oil, yeast, salt

Pita is the most common bread throughout the Levant and as far as Egypt, says Anissa Helou in her book Feast, Food of the Islamic World. So central is it to the local culture, that “in Egyptian pita is called aysh — which means ‘life,’” she writes. Her recipe for pita bread comes out a little softer and thicker than what’s found in stores — it involves flour, yeast, and olive oil, as well some time (the dough rises twice). Once in the oven, the rounds inflate like balloons almost instantly — turn the oven light on to watch the spectacle. Tip: Place your baking sheet in the oven as it’s preheating for maximum puff.

Shutterstock

Portuguese sweet bread can be baked in all sorts of fun pull-apart shapes

Portuguese sweet bread by way of Kona, Hawai‘i

What you’ll need: AP flour, yeast, butter, sugar, eggs

This is a rich bread, like a decadent challah, brought to Hawai‘i by Portuguese laborers — the ones who came to Kona were known to be dairy farmers, which might explain the abundance of butter. On Hawai‘i Island, the Kona Historical Society still maintains an open-air, wood-fired stone oven that they light at 6 a.m. so that loaves emerge around 1 p.m., and where people are encouraged to gather throughout the process and talk story. It’s a reminder of the communal ovens that exist around the world, from Morocco to Hawai‘i — less of a commercial enterprise and more of a neighborhood resource that creates bonds like the gluten in well-kneaded bread. The Kona Historical Society’s recipe makes four loaves, but you can easily halve or quarter it — you’ll need yeast, flour (either bread flour or all purpose works), sugar, butter, and eggs, and about two hours of rising time.

Mantou

What you’ll need: AP flour, sugar, yeast, milk, oil

In northern China, wheat (not rice) is the most popular traditional starch, and mantou — steamed, unfilled and light and fluffy — is the region’s equivalent of sliced white bread. It’s an ideal accompaniment for any meal or even dessert, when it’s deep fried and dunked in sweetened condensed milk. This subtitled Mandarin-language YouTube recipe from Mun’s Flavor has a soothing ASMR-like quality and I found it way better than any English-language recipes — and then fell down the rabbit hole of Chinese YouTube videos on all the different varieties of Chinese steamed breads, some mesmerizingly intricate. I suggest you do the same.

Martha Cheng is a writer and editor based in Honolulu, Hawaii

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Can’t find flour? Try Italy’s chickpea-based farinata | Getty Images

From tortillas to roti to farinata, what to make instead of sourdough for the 1,000th time

So yes, everyone’s making sourdough now. But those tangy loaves are just the tip of the baguette (sorry) when it comes to the millennia old tradition of breadmaking around the world. It seems the alchemy of transforming flour and water and some kind of leavening (or not, as in the case of flatbreads) is universally comforting, as evidenced by the gazillions of bread varieties that anchor meals virtually everywhere on the planet. These simple starches are also in many ways our most accessible gateway to other cuisines, familiar and often achievable without much in the way of special ingredients.

For me, baking up some farinata or steaming mantou has helped me remember a time not long ago when we could all travel freely — when I would spend days wandering foreign streets, following my nose into some local bakery to discover something warm and soothing in an unfamiliar place. Plus, while you can still buy classic sourdough almost anywhere in the country, finding Portuguese sweet bread and Moroccan msemen can be a lot harder. Here, then are a few recipes from around the world to help us break the monotony of breaking bread.

Tortillas

What you’ll need: masa harina or flour, fat, salt

The next time you make a pot of beans — which you are definitely doing — make some fresh tortillas to go with them. Beans and tortillas have been getting cozy since long before an avocado met a slice of toast, and they’re just as simple to make yourself. For corn tortillas, use fresh masa if you can find it, but masa harina, which is available in many supermarkets and online, also produces great results. Don’t have a tortilla press? Smoosh balls of dough under a cast iron or other heavy pan. For flour tortillas, you’ll need some kind of fat, be it lard, bacon fat, shortening, or oil. An ex and I used to roll these out with a metal pipe from the hardware store, as was the tradition in his Mexican household, but any rolling pin will do — the world is heavy enough as it is. Eating these hot off the pan reminds me less of Mexico City and more of the “El Machino” conveyor belt at Chevy’s that used to mesmerize me as a kid with its fresh, puffy circles long before Krispy Kreme.

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Roti puffs up bubbly in a cast iron pan

Roti

What you’ll need: whole-wheat flour (pastry or AP), oil, salt

Though naan usually gets the spotlight, roti is the king of all Indian breads, says food writer and cookbook author Priya Krishna, for its versatility and sturdiness, something all of us could use a bit of now. It’s also extremely simple to make — it doesn’t require any leavening, and if you just knead it well and let it rest, it will puff up nicely in the hot pan. This recipe calls for atta, a finely ground whole wheat flour, but whole wheat pastry flour, regular whole wheat flour, or half whole wheat and half all purpose are all suitable substitutions.

Farinata

What you’ll need: chickpea flour, oil, salt

Ceci, or chickpeas, are a staple in Italy, and variations of the chickpea flour-based flatbread known as farinata exist throughout the country. The Genoese version, which goes by socca in Nice, not far from the Italian border, is a particularly popular local street food. It emerges from wood-fired ovens in big, round pans and is sliced into wedges — thin and crisp and fragrant with olive oil that seeps into the paper it’s wrapped in. All you need is chickpea flour and olive oil — I’ve been finding chickpea or garbanzo flour on supermarket shelves more often than flour these days, but if you have a ton of dried chickpeas, you can also try grinding them in a blender and sifting out the fine flour. I like eating farinata straight out of the oven and unadorned, but it also pairs well with caramelized onions or any kind of hard cheese grated over the top top while it’s still hot.

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Moroccan Msemen works with both sweet and savory preparations and cooks up on the stove-top

Msemen

What you’ll need: AP flour, semolina flour, sugar, yeast

“Follow the bread, wherever it takes you,” chef M’hammed Benali once told me. He was explaining why he first left Morocco and cooked in restaurants from Seattle to San Francisco before opening his own place, Casablanca, in Honolulu. Here, instead of providing utensils, he serves a round Moroccan flatbread to eat with — the feeling of the soft warm bread in the mouth is much preferable to cold metal forks, he insists. This same feeling is all over Morocco, where community ovens and griddles set up in the medinas to make all kinds of daily breads and flatbreads. Msemen, a yeasted bread layered with butter, is one of the most ubiquitous and my personal favorite. It lends itself to sweet breakfasts drizzled with honey or savory meals when stuffed with roasted vegetables and meats. Msemen requires both semolina flour and regular AP flour, and a good amount of oil and butter which are folded in like an abbreviated version of laminated croissant dough.

Pita

What you’ll need: AP flour, oil, yeast, salt

Pita is the most common bread throughout the Levant and as far as Egypt, says Anissa Helou in her book Feast, Food of the Islamic World. So central is it to the local culture, that “in Egyptian pita is called aysh — which means ‘life,’” she writes. Her recipe for pita bread comes out a little softer and thicker than what’s found in stores — it involves flour, yeast, and olive oil, as well some time (the dough rises twice). Once in the oven, the rounds inflate like balloons almost instantly — turn the oven light on to watch the spectacle. Tip: Place your baking sheet in the oven as it’s preheating for maximum puff.

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Portuguese sweet bread can be baked in all sorts of fun pull-apart shapes

Portuguese sweet bread by way of Kona, Hawai‘i

What you’ll need: AP flour, yeast, butter, sugar, eggs

This is a rich bread, like a decadent challah, brought to Hawai‘i by Portuguese laborers — the ones who came to Kona were known to be dairy farmers, which might explain the abundance of butter. On Hawai‘i Island, the Kona Historical Society still maintains an open-air, wood-fired stone oven that they light at 6 a.m. so that loaves emerge around 1 p.m., and where people are encouraged to gather throughout the process and talk story. It’s a reminder of the communal ovens that exist around the world, from Morocco to Hawai‘i — less of a commercial enterprise and more of a neighborhood resource that creates bonds like the gluten in well-kneaded bread. The Kona Historical Society’s recipe makes four loaves, but you can easily halve or quarter it — you’ll need yeast, flour (either bread flour or all purpose works), sugar, butter, and eggs, and about two hours of rising time.

Mantou

What you’ll need: AP flour, sugar, yeast, milk, oil

In northern China, wheat (not rice) is the most popular traditional starch, and mantou — steamed, unfilled and light and fluffy — is the region’s equivalent of sliced white bread. It’s an ideal accompaniment for any meal or even dessert, when it’s deep fried and dunked in sweetened condensed milk. This subtitled Mandarin-language YouTube recipe from Mun’s Flavor has a soothing ASMR-like quality and I found it way better than any English-language recipes — and then fell down the rabbit hole of Chinese YouTube videos on all the different varieties of Chinese steamed breads, some mesmerizingly intricate. I suggest you do the same.

Martha Cheng is a writer and editor based in Honolulu, Hawaii

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/3c4F9FK via Blogger https://ift.tt/3foQJO0

[topbooksinethniccooking]

Feast - Anissa Helou http://dlvr.it/RLwYx7 http://dlvr.it/RLwYx7

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Republic of Booza

I’m always interested in ice cream, no matter where it’s from. But probably the most intriguing one I’ve ever come across was booza, an ice cream thickened, not with eggs or cornstarch, but with sahleb and mastic.

Republic of Booza was opened by Jilbert El-Zmetr and Michael Sadler, along with two business partners, in Brooklyn, New York, bringing this ice cream stateside. Jilbert owned a booza company in Sydney, Australia with his sister, and through one of his business partners, met Michael, an Oxford scholar, who studied Arabic and was traveling through the Middle East when he discovered this style of ice cream.

Like many things in Brooklyn, the great melting pot of America, a confluence of cultures and cuisines met up, and their booza shop opened there.

To make booza, milk and cream are mixed together and any infusions are added, like spices, vanilla, or saffon, for flavoring. There are no eggs added to booza. Instead, the salep and mastic thicken the mixture, then flavors such as pistachio paste, orange flower water, or chocolate are added.

Salep is made from ground orchid roots and mastic is a resin extracted from trees. It’s a prominent ingredient in chewing gum, and gives the ice cream its distinctly elastic, stretchy texture. The salep they use comes from Lebanon and the mastic is from Chios, Greece. Interestingly, the little nuggets of mastic are often referred to as “tears,” and have an opaque color, and irregular texture, that resembles actual tears. They gave me a few to chew on, reminding me that if I have fillings to watch out, which I did. But after rolling them around in my mouth for a while, it was easy to see how the tears could become gum (or a way to lose a filling), or stretchy ice cream.

Unlike traditional ice cream, which is churned to incorporate air (called “overrun”), booza is traditionally “churned” by pounding and stirring. Since there’s no air added, and no eggs, the flavors in the booza are more focused. And what flavors they are!

The flavors at Republic of Booza change, but you’ll find classics, like Vanilla, Pistachio (using Bronte pistachios from Sicily), blackberry, and salted caramel, which uses panela (unrefined cane sugar, sold in blocks) from Colombia, rather than cooked sugar.

Some of the other flavors, listed under “Global” when I went, were horchata de chufa, made with groundnuts from Valencia, Spain, Red Miso, which Michael told me he thought was an underrated ingredient (me too, I’ve enjoyed it in strawberry ice cream and in cocktails) ,and Labneh with honey. They were all very compelling to taste, requiring a little more concentration than standard ice cream because they were so inventive and original.

Qashta was probably my favorite of them all, which they also call “candied cream.” Nope, there’s no candy in it, but the quality of the cream is so good that it’s considered candy due to the natural sugars in the dairy products used. It’s similar to Fior di latte ice cream in Italy, or Fleur de lait in France, which is made with only top-quality cream and milk, so to keep the focus on the flavors of the dairy products, no additional flavorings are necessary. (There’s a recipe for Fleur de lait ice cream in my book, The Perfect Scoop, if you want to give it a go.)

Another favorite flavor of mine at their shop was Mango-Tajín, a sorbet made from fresh mangoes and tajín, a spicy tangy, Mexican seasoning with chiles, salt, and lime. And if you go, also try the Peanut Butter Crunch, which gets its crunch from a surprising combination of house-made white chocolate and potato chip bark.

Not only are the flavors of booza bolder than other ice creams, but so are the colors. Republic of Booza probably had the prettiest array of ice creams I’ve ever seen together in one shop.

One of the most fascinating aspects of booza is that it can be stretched, but it needs to be done quickly, and with skilled hands, since it warms up fast.

While I was there, Jilbert had a go at it, pounding some of the booza in one of the chilled canisters, right next to the customer counter, using one of the big wooden pounders that had made for the shop.

Once the mixture was thick and cold, he pulled it out of the tub and started pulling.

I hadn’t planned to spend two hours talking to them, and watching what they do, but it was hard to stop. While I was asking them too many questions, the steady stream of customers coming through the door showed the diversity of people interested in what they were doing, from a couple of French tourists who just happened to wander in, to people from other parts of Brooklyn (and other boroughs), who were already familiar with booza, and wanted a taste.

Republic of Booza 76 North 4th Street Brooklyn, NY Tel: 718-302-5000

Follow Republic of Booza on Facebook and Instagram

Related Links

Salep and Boza: History and recipe of special Turkish drinks (Istanbul Insider)

Salep, or sahlab, a rare ingredient, and recipe (Anissa Helou)

Booza al-haleeb, Milk ice cream with pistachios (Taste of Beirut)

Lebanese Ice Cream: Booza/Buzza (Amira’s Pantry)

Source: https://www.davidlebovitz.com/republic-of-booza-new-york-ice-cream/

[eyesonworldcultures]

Ramadan

What It’s Like to Break the Fast for Ramadan in Countries Around the World

For cookbook author Anissa Helou, traveling during the month of Ramadan offers a surprising entrée into Muslim culture–and hour upon hour of joyful feasting.

It was just before sunset, and the square of Al Hussein mosque in Cairo was packed.

People were sitting at outdoor tables at the many restaurants and cafés lining the square, but despite the crowds, no one was talking. And although the tables were laid with small plates of bread, dates, ivory tahina (a lemony dip made with tahini), and vibrant fattoush (an herb and toasted bread salad), no one was eating. Everyone was motionless, seemingly indifferent to the food in front of them. Except, that is, for one young boy, reaching for the bread, who was tenderly held back by his veiled mother.

I was in Cairo during Ramadan, the Muslim month of sawm, or fast, when the faithful are not allowed any food or drink from sunrise to sunset. Everyone was waiting for the muezzin to announce the setting of the sun in order to begin the iftar, the meal that breaks the sawm. Though the boy was too young to fast, he was expected to respect those patiently waiting. Even I, a Christian, was expected to wait.

As the sun turned the square rosy, the haunting sound of the muezzin’s call echoed across the sand-colored stone. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion, as people eased back into eating and drinking again. I dipped my bread into the silky tahina, the square came to life, and the sounds of joyful chatter mingled with the smells of grilled meat and the other substantial dishes to come. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Muslim calendar, and almost all Muslims, even those who are not very religious, observe it as a time of reflection, piety, and charity. In the Arab world especially, life takes on a different rhythm. The days are slow and sleepy as people rest more and work less. The nights, however, are alive with festivity. Those who are well off gather with their families to feast and enjoy each other’s company, and those who are less privileged gather in mosques or in tents set up for them in public places to partake in iftars provided by wealthier patrons. In most countries, special restaurant tents are set up to serve a lavish iftar and, before dawn, suhur (the last meal before the fast starts again) for those wishing to dine out.

I grew up in Beirut where we lived in the Muslim part of the city, with neighbors who, during Ramadan, would either invite us over for iftar or send us food—usually sweets such as date cookies, but also savory dishes such as stuffed grape leaves. But it wasn’t until I started researching my latest book, Feast: Food of the Islamic World, that I sought to visit Muslim countries specifically to explore Ramadan. For three years running, I traveled to such places as Oman and Zanzibar and Indonesia during that month, participating in iftars whenever I could.

Sultan Qaboos MosqueThe Sultan Qaboos Mosque towers over the city center, welcoming thousands of worshippers for prayers each day since its completion in 2009. Inside, a crystal chandelier hangs from an intricately carved 36-meter (118-foot) dome, and a 20-ton handwoven carpet with 115 million individual knots covers the floor. Outside, the landscaped grounds provide a peaceful spot for rest. Non-Muslims can tour the interior Saturdays to Thursdays from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.; visitors must dress modestly and women should cover their hair. All iftars—or futari, as the meal is known in Zanzibar, or buka puasa in Indonesia—share the same basic principles, but each country has its own traditional foods associated with the breaking of the fast. In Egypt, it’s typically tahina or fattoush. In Kuwait, people follow the example of the Prophet Muhammad, who is said to have broken his fast with exactly three dates. They dip theirs in tahini, an unlikely but winning combination, while in Qatar the dates are eaten with yigit, a kind of fresh curd. The iftar in both Lebanon and Syria starts with a smoothie-like apricot drink, as well as fattoush and baba ghanoush (an eggplant and tahini dip). Throughout Indonesia, people first consume sweet drinks such as cendol (made with coconut milk and jelly noodles), then rice, fish, and gado gado (a vegetable and egg salad served with shrimp crackers and peanut sauce). I ate one of my most memorable meals in Zanzibar, where the whole of Stone Town 

, a former trading hub that’s now a UNESCO World Heritage site, empties for the hour of futari as everyone goes home to break the fast. My guide, Ismail, took me to his mother’s house, where I stood in the courtyard and watched her make the sesame bread that anchors the meal. She beat and lifted a very loose dough, which she then spread into an aluminum pan and placed over the wood fire. When the edges of the dough started to crisp up, she turned the pan upside down to char the top. I gasped as she did, expecting the bread to fall into the fire. But it was firmly stuck to the pan, thanks to the water she had sprinkled before spreading the dough. We ate the hot bread minutes later, sitting on colorful straw mats spread on the floor in the courtyard, a joyful conclusion to a solemn day.

Mosque of Ibn Tulun

Mosque of Ibn Tulun is one of the largest and oldest mosques in Cairo, Egypt. Vistors are required to wear protective covers over their feet and women are required to wear head scarfs.