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National Post

Cook This: 3 Middle Eastern recipes from Lugma, including springtime fattoush

Article content Murad has always seen herself as having one foot in the East and the other in the West. As a chef, she naturally likes to experiment with different foods. With each of Lugma's recipes, she asked herself, 'Does this fit? Should I change it? Should I tweak it? Should I keep it more traditional?' The answer wasn't always easy. Article content 'It really made me question, 'What are the recipes I want to put into this book?' And also, 'What do I want to say, and what do I want to showcase?' So I tried to balance traditional and reimagined dishes and then really hone into what it means to be a child of two cultures.' Article content Lugma means 'a bite' or 'a mouthful' in Arabic. Murad often thought of her grandfather while writing the book. He was skilled at eating with his hands, creating the perfect mouthful of rice, meat and chili sauce between his fingers. 'That's kind of what inspired the book,' says Murad. 'I love eating with my hands, and I think that making someone a bite of something is a way of showing them that you love them.' Article content Article content Murad didn't set out to write a Bahraini book, but as time passed, she realized how much the island had shaped her palate and made her who she was. At the heart of Lugma is the generosity of hospitality in her Bahraini home, just 50 kilometres long (the same size as Singapore), with a fascinating food culture. Article content 'I wanted to show how this small but mighty island pulls from so many different influences. Through history, it was a seaport and centre of trade. Because it was so small, it almost created its own identity by pulling on other identities. So this fusion of Arabic, Persian, Indian flavours all rolled into one is so unique. That's what I wanted to shout about from my corner of the Middle East.' Article content Article content Serves: 4 Article content For the salsa: 4 tbsp olive oil 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped 2 tsp coriander seeds, roughly crushed using a pestle and mortar 1 tsp Aleppo chili flakes 70 g (2 1/2 oz) jarred red (bell) peppers, very finely chopped 1 tbsp rose harissa 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar 2 tsp maple syrup 50 g (1 3/4 oz) walnuts, well toasted and roughly chopped into 1-cm (1/2-in) pieces 70 g (2 1/2 oz) pitted Nocellara (Castelvetrano) olives, roughly chopped 5 g (1/8 oz) mint leaves, roughly chopped 10 g (1/4 oz) parsley leaves, roughly chopped 2 tsp pomegranate molasses Article content Article content For the halloumi: 2 x 225 g (8 oz) blocks of halloumi, drained 2 tbsp olive oil 2 tsp maple syrup Article content Step 1 Article content Make the salsa by adding the oil and garlic to a small frying pan and placing it over a medium heat. Cook until beginning to bubble and smell fragrant, about 1 1/2 minutes, then add the coriander seeds and chili and cook for about 30 seconds more. Stir in the peppers, harissa, vinegar and maple syrup and cook for 5 minutes. Set aside to cool to room temperature, then transfer to a large bowl, add the remaining ingredients and mix to combine. Article content Step 2 Article content Preheat the oven to 180C convection (200C/400F). Article content Step 3 Article content Halve each of the halloumi blocks lengthways (so they are the same shape, but thinner now) to give you four rectangular pieces. Pat them well dry. Use a small sharp knife to make a crisscross pattern across one side of each piece, with incisions about 1.5-cm (5/8-in) deep. Article content Step 4 Article content Heat the oil in a medium frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the halloumi pieces and fry until nicely golden on both sides, about 4-5 minutes in total. Transfer to a small tray, crisscross side up, and pour over the excess oil left in the pan, followed by the maple syrup. Bake for 7 minutes, or until really nicely softened through the centre.