sign in sign up
<<
Home , Halva, Laffa, Tubi 60

( TRAVEL SPECIAL ( A plate ın the sun Get inspired by the hot new foodie destinations from around the world

Boost your Basics Our cheat’s guide to quick The Sunday Times food magazine midweek meals March 2017 ( THE TRAVEL ISSUE

As our love a air with continues, Rachel Walker checks out the new food trends at ’s street-food stalls and buzzy restaurants . Plus, fi ve top chefs share recipes inspired by the region THE BIG

our days into my trip to Israel, it with two other chefs in 2009 . It 2 cloves of , crushed my notebook is full of scribbles: quickly caught the attention of the Za’atar A squeeze of lemon juice knafeh , jibneh , m ujadara . I’ve London-based brother and sister Layo eaten rolls stu ed with and Zoë Paskin , who realised it would lamb cutlets  Heat the to pulled duck, and lamb wraps travel well and persuaded the chefs to With slow-roasted 180C (200C non-fan) . Flaced with green, spicy zhoug . Each open a branch with them in Britain. The aubergine and Put the aubergines into evening, my suitcase becomes a little result is the Palomar , in Soho, which dressing a roasting tin that they heavier, weighed down by dried launched in 2014 to knock-out reviews fi t into snugly, brush all barberries and black limes, candied and was followed by a cookbook and a Israel is a Mediterranean over with 1 tbsp of hibiscus and . sister site, the Barbary . country, and there’s a the oil and roast for Britain has been in the throes of a For three years, Elad swapped the lot of overlap with the 45-50 minutes, turning love a air with Middle Eastern cuisine at Ma c hane Yehuda cuisine of Spain . These every so often until they for 15 years now, ever since Yotam market for the hustle of Soho. Now, are all ingredients I grew are very tender and look Ottolenghi set up shop in England and he’s heading back home. But his fi nal up with and use on a like they have defl ated. fi rst introduced us to . And our move was to organise a trip for daily basis.  Meanwhile, mix love for all things za’atar is only getting London chefs to travel to Israel. Jose Pizarro together all the stronger. Yet as I toured Israel and its Fergus Henderson sits at one end of Pizarro, London SE1 ingredients for the fast-paced food scene, it became clear the table, next to Hawksmoorʼs zaʼatar. Add the rest of the familiar falafel and are just executive chef , Richard Turner , with SERVES the oil, then use it to the start . other top chefs shoulder to shoulder 4 people coat the cutlets and set It’s in unexpected outposts that down the length of the table. They’ve TIME aside to marinate. Israel’s chefs are pushing the come to fi nd out how much more there 55 minutes  For the dressing, boundaries . Down ’s dusty is to discover, how many more forms INGREDIENTS b lend all the ingredients market lanes is a pioneering restaurant: can take. 2 large aubergines and season well. Machneyuda . There are bowls of Throughout Israel, street shacks sell 2 tbsp oil  When the aubergines velvet-thick tahini and pu ed warm wedges of hot , deep-fried aubergine 12 lamb cutlets are almost done, heat a and chamshuka (chopped meat with a fondant-like silky centre. Sweet molasses heavy pan or griddle with ) . Once the main course challah and fl u y breads make Britain’s Sumac over a high heat and is cleared away, the table is covered in supermarket “pita” look like shoe soles. 25g pine nuts, toasted sear the cutlets for 2 tinfoil and the mad ceremony of We feast on hay-smoked dates and wild A handful of , minutes on each side, begins as the fi rst slice of pears poached in hibiscus, and wines roughly chopped until they are golden cake is fl ung across the table. made in the Golan Heights. We eat but still pink in the It captures the chaos of an ancient sweet and sip treacle-thick For the za’atar middle. Set aside . bazaar. Laughter fi lls the room, co ee infused with . 1 tsp sesame seeds, toasted  Halve the aubergines punctuated by shouts of “l’chaim” as Part of the excitement is how new 1 tbsp fresh , and place one half of glasses of are knocked back. It’s this is to Israel, too. It’s taken the young fi nely chopped each on 4 warmed fun, free, fl uid. Waiters whip tea towels country decades to establish its 1 tbsp leaves plates. Score their fl esh round their heads in time to Israeli folk culinary identity. When the state was 1 tsp sumac with a knife, then spoon music. The whole time, Yossi “Papi” founded in 1948 , refugees from Russia, 1 tsp ground over the tahini dressing. Elad — my self-appointed “spiritual , Hungary and elsewhere in Drizzle each with a little guide” for the trip — gently bobs in Europe brought with them , For the tahini dressing molasses. Sprinkle with JERUSALEM BOUND From top: Rachel with chef Pascal Aussignac; the Dome of time to the beat. His grandfatherly face and . Delis stocked 150g Greek yoghurt a pinch of sumac, the the Rock; a stall at Machane Yehuda is lit up by smiling eyes. Machneyuda pickled gherkins and preserved meats, 70g tahini pine nuts and coriander.

PHOTOGRAPHS: LISA LINDER. FOOD STYLING: JENNIFER JOYCE. PROP STYLING: SARAH BIRKS. BIRKS. SARAH STYLING: PROP JENNIFER JOYCE. STYLING: LINDER. FOOD LISA PHOTOGRAPHS: ILAN SPIRA GETTY, INSET: MELLOR. BOWL: DAVID ICE CREAM MAP: STANFORDS. ENLIST. SUNGLASSES: market; shots of aged Israeli spirit is, after all, his restaurant. Elad founded and restaurants with starched A pinch of ground cumin Serve with the lamb .

 • The Dish March  •  ( THE TRAVEL ISSUE tablecloths tried to replicate the ground . roughly chopped, seeds brasseries and bistros they left behind. Line a baking tray Lemon and left in “Music, food, art — the influences all with parchment and za’atar 2 cloves of garlic, crushed came from Europe,” says a scatter the ½ tsp ground cumin resident standing beside me in a queue over it. Pour over the chicken ½ tsp ground coriander for lamb in pita. “Not any more. molasses mix, cover 3 tbsp The chefs in the city are getting their with another sheet skewers Juice of ½ lemon inspiration from closer to home.” of parchment and With fiery zhoug The following night, at the home of secure with foil. Cook 01 Cut the chicken Ruti Broudo, whose empire of coffee for 30 minutes. Raise thighs into bite-sized shops, bakeries and restaurants has the oven temperature This recipe makes a pieces. For the been at the forefront of the Tel Aviv to 200C (220C non-fan), delicious lunch when marinade, use a peeler food movement since the 1990s, we remove the foil and piled into warm pita to get large strips of pile in for a feast that shows just how top sheet of parchment, breads with salad lemon zest, then juice Israel’s cuisine has changed. then cook for another leaves, and the lemons. Place in a The evening starts with European- 10 minutes, until and is also a large bowl with the rest inspired canapés: on the onions are great one to use when of the ingredients and challah bread, and glasses of chicken caramelised. barbecue season mix well. Add the broth with mini dumplings threaded 03 For the dressing, use arrives. The amounts chicken to the bowl, on cocktail skewers. Then, spiced a balloon or electric mean that you might mixing well again. Cover dishes from the Middle East and whisk to mix the tahini have some leftover and leave to marinate, Northern Africa. There’s chermoula and lemon juice with zhoug — it can be ideally overnight. fish and slow-cooked lamb served 200ml iced water, until stored in a jar with a 02 To make the zhoug, with hot zhoug. We the meat in it has the pouring little olive oil and will place all the ingredients, lachuch, a Yemeni pocked consistency of thick keep in the fridge for a apart from a handful of like a crumpet so the meat juices flood cream. Taste and season week, but I’ve never coriander, in a food into the holes. It’s a smorgasbord of with salt if necessary known it to stick processor. Add a Sephardi and Maghrebi influences, the — some tahini brands around for that long. generous pinch of salt melting pot of modern are saltier than others. You will need 8-10 and blitz well until you that now confidently celebrates its 04 To finish the salmon, skewers for this — if have a bright green Middle Eastern roots. heat a large frying pan you're using wooden paste, similar in “A chef in France or Italy is Blackened 30g , chopped as hot as you can get it. ones, soak them in cold consistency to pesto. expected to respect a set of rules. 3 plum tomatoes When it’s dry and water first to prevent You may need to add a There’s a particular way to make a salmon smoking, add the butter, them from burning. splash of water. The sauce or a dressing, but in Israel For the molasses then add the salmon in By Ben MacAndrews zhoug should have a that’s not the case,” says Broudo. salad 2 tbsp pomegranate chunks. Don’t shake , London SE1 good kick — if your This lawless fusing of cuisines makes With tahini molasses the pan or move the chillies aren’t hot Israel an anything-goes playground dressing 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar salmon — let it blacken serves enough, add more! for chefs. In the ancient port city of 4 tbsp olive oil and create a crust for 8-10 skewers 03 Turn up the grill as Acre, for example, chef Alaa Moussa 5 sprigs of thyme 20 seconds, then use a TIMe high as it will go. Divide is reimagining food, We often have this 4 red onions, peeled and fish slice to flip it once 20 minutes, plus the chicken pieces demonstrating that it’s “more than just salad on the menu. We cut into 8 wedges (with and let it char on the overnight marinating between the skewers canned salads and fried fish”. He serves bake a whole salmon root still attached) other side. INGREDIENTs and thread them, pale fish tartare with , in a salt crust, but if 05 Pour the tahini 8 free-range, boned, leaving a small gap and studs plates of ceviche with you’re making this as a For the tahini dressing dressing into your skinless chicken thighs between the pieces so , and labneh. Further midweek meal, then 300g tahini most beautiful serving that they cook evenly. south, in the Judean Hills, Shai Seltzer you might want to just Juice of 1 lemon dish. Use a serving For the marinade Spread them on a large, is also mixing things up. He lives on use a side. Let everyone spoon to scoop the fish 1½ lemons flat roasting tray and the slopes of Mount Eitan with his dig in and fill their 01 Heat the oven to from the pan and put it 4 tbsp za’atar grill for 10-12 minutes, herd of Anglo-Nubian goats, and own pita — like an 180C (200C non-fan). on top of the dressing, 2 tbsp sumac turning every few produces thick labneh and tangy Israeli taco. Wrap the salmon in along with 1 tbsp of the 2 cloves of garlic, crushed minutes. The chicken cheeses, some of which are coated in Eran Tibi tinfoil and bake for burnt butter. Scatter 3 tbsp olive oil should be cooked coal dust and matured in limestone Bala Baya, London SE1 15 minutes until it’s just the onions round the A few sprigs of thyme through and have caves. Then there are the vineyards, cooked (if you’re using salmon, then scatter the taken on a golden crust. serves a temperature probe, it parsley on top. Cut the For the zhoug 04 Pile the skewers onto 6-8 people should read 30C). tops off the tomatoes 100g bunch of coriander, a serving plate, drizzle “The chefs find TIMe Remove, open the and squeeze the pulp washed and with the zhoug and 45 minutes parcel and leave to rest. and juice over the salad roughly chopped sprinkle over the inspiration in INGREDIENTs 02 Meanwhile, mix as you’d squeeze a 100g bunch of flat-leaf reserved coriander. 1kg side of salmon, boned, together the molasses, lemon. Place in the parsley, roughly You will need some the future, not with skin on vinegar, olive oil, thyme, middle of the table and chopped bread to mop up the past” 40g butter, cut into cubes 4 tbsp water and 1 tsp serve with pita bread. 2 spicy green chillies, the juices.

20 • The Dish March 2017 • 21 ( THE TRAVEL I SSUE

such as Clos de Gat , where new vines churn a few hours ahead SERVES 100g halva, in 0.5cm dice have been planted by a 3,000-year-old Halva ice of time, even the day 4-6 people 60g roasted and salted wine press . cream before. If you don’t have TIME peanuts, roughly It’s a country of dichotomies. On a machine, freeze the 1 hour 10 minutes with chopped, to serve Friday night, as Tel Aviv starts to shut With chocolate custard, beating an ice cream machine, down, we’re hosted by a family for a sauce and salted occasionally, for 4-5 or 35 minutes without a For the chocolate sauce quiet Shabbat supper. But then the city peanuts hours, adding the halva machine, plus freezing 120ml double cream comes to life again and soon the streets halfway through. This INGREDIENTS 80g dark chocolate , are buzzing with whispers about the Nutty and comforting, works well if you’re 250ml double cream fi nely chopped best street food and tip-o s for the top this is like a luxurious serving it immediately; 350ml whole milk ½ tsp tahini. Balmy evenings, Goldstar Snickers ice cream . The the next day, it tends 1 pod, cut in and homegrown spirits such as Tubi 60 chocolate can mask the to go too hard. half lengthways  Slice open the fuel the parties. halva fl avour, so drizzle 2 egg yolks vanilla pod and scrape When I arrive home, London is dark sparingly. If you’re using Ottolenghi and Nopi 40g caster sugar out the seeds. Heat the and cold. But then there’s the prospect an ice-cream machine, restaurants, London 30g tahini cream, milk, pod and of lunch from La a , a blue street van in seeds in a saucepan Flat Iron Square , Southwark, serving until just coming to grilled za’atar chicken in a warm pita a boil, then remove with yoghurt zhoug. Or even Bala Baya , from the heat. a new modern-Israeli restaurant  In a bowl, whisk the nearby, where a pita-making machine egg yolks and sugar. imported from Israel dominates the Ladle a little of the hot kitchen. The bread is warm and fl u y, cream into the egg mix, the tahini thick. In the middle of the whisking all the time, British winter it tastes of Tel Aviv, a and repeat until all the taste of exciting things to come. cream is incorporated. Tip it back into the pan, put on a medium heat and, stirring all the time THE NEW TRENDS with a wooden spoon, cook for 10 minutes,

CHALLAH until it thickens to a Basque 2 onions, sliced chop them. Heat the oil From challah french toast to challah light custard 2 tbsp paste in a frying pan and sweat burger buns, this sweet bread is set consistency. Remove shakshuka 4 cloves of garlic, crushed the onions. Once to become the next brioche. and whisk in the tahini. 3 sprigs of thyme, chopped they’re soft, add the Leave to cool for 20 With harissa 2 tbsp sugar tomatoes, tomato paste,

ARAK minutes, then remove ½ tsp harissa paste garlic, thyme, sugar and A -flavoured spirit the vanilla pod. I love shakshuka’s punch 2 tbsp white wine vinegar ½ tsp salt. Blitz the that comes into its own as a  Put the custard in an of fl avour and . In 4 eggs tomato seeds with a cocktail ingredient. ice-cream machine, if the French Pays Basque, splash of water . Pass using, and churn for we have something  Heat the oven to the liquid through a about 35 minutes, until similar — piperade — 180C (200C non-fan) . sieve and add to the Pita stuffed with fried aubergine, semi-frozen but creamy. which is usually served Wrap each pepper and tomato mix. hummus and hard-boiled eggs, then Remove , stir through with eggs, so I started aubergine in tinfoil and  Cover and simmer laced with fresh and pickles. the halva , spoon into a experimenting when I bake for 25-30 minutes, until you have a thick pre-frozen container came home from our until soft in the middle. moist sauce. Add the ZHOUG and freeze. Remove 10 our trip to Israel and Once cooked, peel and harissa paste, vinegar A hot, Yemeni sauce made from minutes before serving . developed this cross slice the peppers and and peppers and coriander, parsley and green chillies.  Make the sauce just between the two. set aside. Burn the season to taste. New to Belazu’s range (see page 17). before serving. Put the Pascal Aussignac aubergine in foil on a gas  Divide the shakshuka cream in a small pan and Club Gascon , London EC1 fl ame until black, burnt beween 4 ovenproof

BABKA bring to a gentle boil. and smoky. When cool , bowls. Lay some smok y A bready-caky showstopper, often Pour this over the SERVES extract the fl esh, season aubergine in the middle rippled with chocolate and twisted chocolate in a bowl and 4 people with a little salt and the of each. Bake in the oven into layers or studded with . stir until soft and TIME parsley, then set aside in and, only when piping uniform, then stir in the 45 minutes a warm place. hot, form a well in the HALVA brandy. Spoon the ice INGREDIENTS  Meanwhile, start middle and crack an LOOK EAST From top: Rachel, centre, cream into bowls and 2 red peppers making the body of the egg into each well. with Gisela Fernandez Moles of Barrafina Now has its own halva bar — and Jose Pizarro; deep-fried aubergine check out Seed + Mill in New York. pour over some of the 1 aubergine shakshuka by blanching Return to the oven for in Tel Aviv; Shai Seltzer at his goat farm; Coming your way soon. warm sauce. Sprinkle 2 tbsp fresh parsley leaves the tomatoes in boiling about 30 seconds — the sweet cheese knafeh in Acre; en route to with the peanuts and 6-8 fresh tomatoes water. Peel, deseed (keep heat of the shakshuka the Judean Hills; baked vanilla peaches serve immediately. 4 tbsp olive oil the seeds) and roughly should cook the eggs. n

• The Dish March  •