Fermented Food Adventures & Recipes
Green schug (not so easy to pronounce – more like “s’choog” – often spelled as shug or zhug) is a vibrant, spicy Yemeni condiment that became a beloved staple in Israeli cuisine thanks to Yemenite Jewish immigrants who brought it with them in the mid-20th century. Traditionally made with green […]
Yellow saffron rice is a delicious, easy-on-the-tummy kind of dish, so I have enjoyed incorporating it into the gastritis diet I’ve developed and followed over the last year. I had been a sufferer of chronic gastritis for a number of years, but it took me a while even to understand […]
You wouldn’t know it judging from most Middle eastern eateries in the US, but bright pink pickled turnips (in many places called “torshi left,” or just “left,” which simply means turnip) is a necessary component for many meals all over the Middle East. No, there’s not some crazy pink variety […]
What do goji berries, which originated and are heavily cultivated in China, have to do with tabouleh, the Middle Eastern salad of couscous, generous amounts of chopped parsley, and lemon juice? I recently started eating dried goji berries after learning about their incredible anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, and the fact […]
Torshi – Persian for “sour” and referring to pickled vegetables – are so popular in Iran that a meal literally isn’t complete without them. This love of soured goods is ubiquitous all over the Middle East; variations can be found not just from country to country and city to city […]
Muhammara is like a fancy, lesser known cousin to hummus and baba ganoush. It likely originated in Aleppo, Syria, but is used all over the Levant. It has a lot of ingredients but they’re perfectly balanced to create a distinct and absolutely delicious flavor. Once you go muhammara, you may […]
The first time I experienced kafta was walking in an open food market and just having that smell of grilled spiced meat fill the air, it was just too much! The cumin and mulling spices like cinnamon and clove in there, not to mention the onion, garlic and parsley… wow! […]
It’s hard to decide which part of this sauce is more alluring… the color or the taste. Unlike tahini, hummus has risen in popularity in the US so much that it’s now a multi-billion dollar industry. Tahini is available as it ever was, but it has never quite enjoyed the […]
You wouldn’t know it judging from most Middle eastern eateries in the US, but bright pink pickled turnips (in many places called “torshi left,” or just “left,” which simply means turnip) is a necessary component for many meals all over the Middle East. No, there’s not some crazy pink variety […]
Let’s talk beans. They’re super nutritious, filling (largely due to their balance of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats), grow robustly in a variety of climates and areas, and are thus also usually quite affordable. For these reasons, they have been staple foods for the “masses” since ancient times. The chickpea is […]