Levantine cooking with deep Aleppo and Damascus regional traditions, distinct from but overlapping its Lebanese, Palestinian and Jordanian neighbours. Cumin, allspice, Aleppo pepper, sumac and dried mint drive the seasoning; pomegranate molasses, tahini, yogurt and olive oil finish dishes. Defining plates: kibbeh bil laban (kibbeh in yogurt), shish barak (lamb dumplings in yogurt), yakhneh stews, muhammara (Aleppo red pepper and walnut dip), sfeeha (Aleppo open-faced meat pies) and the patient meze of fattoush, tabbouleh and labneh.
Fine bulgur soaks; lamb mince blends with bulgur, grated onion, allspice and salt to a smooth paste; small torpedoes are shaped around a separately-cooked lamb-onion-pine-nut filling. Torpedoes deep-fry briefly until golden, then slip into the warm stabilised yogurt sauce (whisked with egg white, cornflour and garlic), simmer for 4 minutes to warm through. Garlic-mint butter on top.
The lamb filling fries with onion, allspice and a touch of cinnamon; the dough rolls thin, stamps into 4 cm rounds; each gets a small ball of filling, folds in half, then the two corners are pinched together into a tortellini shape. The dumplings bake at 200°C for 15 minutes to brown the tops. Whisked yogurt stabilises with cornflour and egg white, simmers gently with crushed garlic. The dumplings drop in for the last 5 minutes. Final flourish: sizzled garlic-mint butter.
Lamb chunks are browned hard; onion is softened in the same pot; tomato and pomegranate molasses build a tangy base; the lamb returns with stock and braises for 1 hour. Small frozen or fresh okra is added in the last 30 minutes (long enough to soften, short enough not to disintegrate). Crushed garlic and chopped coriander, sizzled briefly in butter at the end (taqliya), go on top.
