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A luxurious, golden emulsion featuring aromatic saffron and abundant crushed garlic. This traditional Mediterranean sauce combines egg yolks, olive oil, and saffron infusion for richness and subtly bitter complexity perfect with salt cod and vegetables.
Aubergines char directly on a gas flame or under a hot grill until the skin is uniformly black and the flesh is collapsed inside. Steamed briefly under foil; peeled. Flesh chops, then mashes (don't blend, the texture is the point) with tahini, lemon, garlic, salt. Plate; pool olive oil; scatter pomegranate seeds and parsley.
Potato cubes par-boil for 6 minutes to set the inside, drain, dry. Fried in olive oil at medium-high until deeply golden all sides (15 minutes). Off heat, garlic, coriander, chilli flakes, salt, lemon juice toss through. A handful of fresh coriander leaves on top.
Caesar dressing transcends simple vinaigrette through raw egg yolk (creating richness and thicker emulsion), anchovy essence (providing deep umami), and Parmesan cheese (adding complexity). The result is a creamy dressing far more substantial than basic vinaigrette, with an assertive flavor profile that demands equally robust greens. Cos lettuce, with its sturdy texture and slight bitterness, is the perfect partner.
Coriander and parsley leaves blitz briefly in a food processor with garlic, cumin, paprika, saffron, salt and lemon juice. Olive oil drizzles in slowly to emulsify. Tasted; adjusted with more lemon, salt or cayenne. Used straight, or rested for 30 minutes for the flavours to settle. Keeps a week in a jar in the fridge.
The dough is baked plain with just tomatoes and oil, then crowned off the heat with torn burrata, a herb pesto of basil, mint and parsley, and a tangle of rocket and parmesan shavings. The pesto is what carries the flavour; the burrata adds creamy contrast to the bright, lightly cooked tomatoes. A pizza that depends entirely on good produce.
Soaked beans simmer slow with chopped vegetables, tomato and herbs in a generous pour of olive oil. Lemon juice goes in at the end to brighten. Served with a final drizzle of oil, maybe a sprinkle of feta and a heel of bread.
A vibrant, unexpected salsa showcasing bright citrus balanced with fresh chilli heat and aromatic mint. The combination of orange and apple with raw chilli creates a complex, refreshing sauce that serves equally well as marinade for shellfish or finishing sauce for barbecue.
Trimmed green beans blanch in heavily salted boiling water for 3-4 minutes until just tender (still bright green and slightly crisp). Drained but not refreshed if serving immediately, the residual heat is wanted; if making ahead, refresh in ice water to stop cooking. Butter melts in a wide pan; flaked almonds toast in the butter until both go gold-amber together (the butter browns to beurre noisette / hazelnut butter). The blanched beans toss in the butter-almond pan over high heat for 1 minute; finished with a squeeze of lemon, a grind of pepper, optional Dijon mustard or garlic, and chopped parsley.
The classic German kartoffelpuffer - grated potato fritter - meets the Middle Eastern tahini drawer. Tahini does the work that egg and flour usually do: it binds the grated potato, and brings richness without dairy. The mixture is spiced confidently with cumin, turmeric, garlic, parsley and coriander, formed into patties, and baked on a tray rather than fried in oil. The result is crisp at the edges, tender in the middle, deeply savoury - a halfway dish between latke and falafel, owing both.
Aubergines roast or pan-fry until soft and silky. The flesh mashes with caramelised onion and garlic into a soft paste. Kashk thins with a splash of water and folds through. The dish plates in a wide bowl, scored with the back of a spoon. Topped with crispy fried shallots, dried mint sizzled in oil, swirls of kashk, and chopped toasted walnut.*
Whole chickpeas are soaked overnight and simmered until tender (or pressure-cooked). The chickpea cooking liquor is measured and reserved as part of the rice cooking liquid. A fried-onion base is built in ghee with whole spices, ginger-garlic paste and ground spices, and the cooked chickpeas are folded in. Soaked basmati is toasted in the base, then the measured cooking liquor goes in for the steam. A scatter of fried onion and coriander finishes.
A bunch of mint and a bunch of coriander are blended with green chilli, garlic, ginger, lemon juice, cumin and a small handful of roasted gram (for body). Thick natural yogurt is folded in at the end. The chutney finishes bright green, sharp and cool; designed to cut through the richness of chargha, boti and chapli kebabs.
Split yellow moong dal (or chana dal, or a mix) is rinsed and pressure-cooked or simmered with turmeric until completely soft. The dal is mashed lightly to a porridge consistency. A second pan fries ghee with whole cumin, garlic, sliced green chilli, dried red chilli and curry leaves until the garlic just turns golden. The hot tarka is poured over the dal with a dramatic sizzle; coriander and lemon finish.
This is the quickest rice dish in the Indian repertoire. Cold cooked basmati rice, already separated grain-by-grain, meets hot oil infused with garlic and ginger. The heat separates the grains further and coats them with flavorful aromatics, while fresh lemon juice adds brightness and acidity. Chives provide a fresh finishing touch. This is best served immediately while still warm.
A no-cook stir-together yogurt sauce, in the Tzatziki / Mediterranean labneh / Greek tarama family but pared down to the essentials. The garlic needs the rest to lose its raw bite - twenty minutes is the minimum, an hour is ideal. The oil floats on top initially; it folds back in with stirring.
Ethiopia's red lentil stew, the vegan everyday main that turns up on every fasting-day table and most non-fasting ones too. You cook onions slowly in oil or niter kibbeh until they melt and turn jammy - this is the same long, patient onion cook that doro wat relies on. Berbere blooms in, tomato paste deepens, lentils go in with water and simmer until they're soft and the stew has thickened to a coating consistency. A squeeze of lemon at the end brightens the deep berbere-rich base. Bright orange from the spice, eaten by mopping with injera, made vegan with oil or richer with niter kibbeh. Either way, the dish that anchors an Ethiopian meal.
Cucumber slices very thin, salts for 20 minutes to draw out water, then squeezes dry. The squeeze is the technique, without it, the dressing ends up a watery puddle. The drained cucumber tosses with sour cream, lemon juice or white vinegar, plenty of fresh dill, a little sugar and pepper. Eats cold, on the day.
Carrots are sliced into rounds (or batons), boiled in salted water 8-10 minutes until just tender (still with a slight bite). Drained and tipped warm into a bowl with a dressing of cumin, paprika, crushed garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and a tiny pinch of cinnamon. Tossed and left to cool. Coriander, parsley and a final drizzle of olive oil at serving.
The richer Levantine cousin of baba ganoush: aubergines charred until the skins blacken and the flesh inside has gone completely soft and smoky, then folded into tahini, yogurt, lemon and garlic for a creamier, slightly tart finish. The yogurt is the dish's defining move; where baba ganoush stays olive-oil rich, mutabbal carries a quiet dairy tang across the back. The aubergines have to char over a real flame (gas hob, grill or charcoal); the smoky depth that comes from open fire is exactly what an oven roast cannot give you. After charring you cool them, peel off the skins, drain the bitter water, and chop or mash the flesh by hand. Never blend, because pureeing turns the dip into babyfood and loses the texture that makes it. A pool of olive oil on top, a scatter of pomegranate seeds for colour and a sweet-sharp bite, warm flatbread torn alongside to scoop.