Middle Eastern Flavoured Party

Not a puff in sight! The gorgeous Robyn from Girl On Raw

Love you to meet Robyn, an Aussie gal living in Saudi Arabia, expert on all things healthy.

We met via Facebook where we bonded over puffy faced pregnancy fears. (Robyn is expecting first baby soon). I have since been awed and inspired by her amazing passion for healthy food while reading  her blog Girl on Raw.

She has jumped on board my running quest with a $50 pledged and scored herself a cookbook! How apt!

Recently on my Facebook page I asked if anybody knew any recipes for food one might eat in Afghanistan, I am contemplating a themed celebration when I conquer the 5kms.

Robyn said Afghanistan she can’t do, but she lives in the Middle East so could surely inspire me with flavours of the region. Hope you will enjoy what she came up with, I know I will! (if I can find all the ingredients in my One Horse Town!)

Hi, I’m Robyn, also known as Girl on Raw, and only this week I stumbled across Sharni’s blog and so glad I did. On reading even more of her blog, I can see why she would be such a favourite blogger for you too.

The AWWP Challenge that Sharni is embarking on, struck a chord with me for 2 reasons. One, I too am not a natural runner, and have had a love/hate relationship with running over the past couple of years, so I could relate to Sharni challenging herself to a 5km run for a wonderfully great cause.

Two, although I am an Aussie girl, born and bred, I live in Saudi Arabia, and the plight of the Afghan women is one I can totally stand behind, as I witness every day, the inequality of the genders, every time I step outside my compound gate, and I’d love to be involved in this cause anyway I can.

Sharni wants to celebrate the culmination of her run in January with a Middle Eastern party theme, and I thought I’d contribute with what I do best! FOOD & DRINK!

Like most Middle Eastern countries, the cuisine and flavours used are a real mix of all the different surrounding regions including Lebanese, Indian and African.

As a food hub of Asia, Europe and Africa, ingredients you are likely to see in Middle Eastern recipes include dates, mint, olives & olive oil, yoghurt, sumac, zaatar, chickpeas, rice & poultry.

The Quran forbids consumption of pork or alcohol so you will never see these appear in staple dishes.

When drinking the coffee, you should hold the cup in your right hand and when you have finished, if you give your cup back to the pourer you will continue to get refills unless you shake the cup from side to side before giving the cup back to your host.

Under no circumstances is sugar EVER added to Arabic coffee – that is what the dates that are usually served with it are for.

Ingredients

(recipe from Saudi Arabia Magazine)

3 tbsp. cardamom (coarsely ground)

2 tbsp. of Arabic coffee

1/4 teaspoon saffron (optional)

1 cup sesame seeds

Boil the water in a pot. Add the coffee to the water and bring to a boil over low heat. Remove from the heat for five minutes to allow the coffee to settle. Put the cardamom in the pot, strain the coffee into it and add the saffron. Bring back to boil once and serve. Serves 8-10 persons.

Food is traditionally eaten with hands, using only the right (as the left is for other less hygienic purposes) sometimes using arabic bread or naan as a scoop. Food is the way Arabs show their hospitality, so if you are a guest, you will never starve.

Fattouch Salad

Image from http://www.jerusalemrestaurant.com

Fattouch salad means ‘breaded salad’ and whilst the traditional recipe is not entirely raw, I’ll share with you both a raw bread and non raw bread version.

Ingredients

Raw Bread

2c almond flour click here to learn how to make it

1/4c olive oil

1/2c flax meal

1 1/2 cups of chopped & peeled zucchini

1T lemon juice

1T nutritional yeast (savoury yeast in Australia)

1/2t himalayan or sea salt

2T zaatar seasoning (Middle Eastern herb mix of oregano, thyme & basil mixed with sesame seeds and sumac) *available at ethnic supermarkets

Water as needed

Place all ingredients in a food processor or high speed blender to form a watery dough. Use extra water if required to blend thoroughly (it will be dehydrated afterwards anyway)

Place mixture on dehydrator tefflex sheets or baking sheets for about .5cm thickness and dehydrate on 140F for 1 hour, then score into crouton size shapes and turn down dehydrator to 115F until crunchy, moving to mesh sheet when pliable to crisp up.

Non Raw Bread

1 whole wheat arabic (pita) bread

zaatar for seasoning (Middle Eastern herb mix of oregano, thyme & basil mixed with sesame seeds and sumac) *available at ethnic supermarkets

olive oil for brushing

Cut bread into strips and brush with olive oil and sprinkle with Zaatar.  Place on baking tray and bake on 200C until crispy but not overdone. 5-10minutes should be enough. Set aside.

Salad

1 romaine lettuce chopped roughly

2 large tomatoes, diced

1 cucumber diced

half spanish/red onion diced

2-3 stalks of green onions/shallots, chopped

1/2 c coarsely chopped fresh mint leaves

1/2 c coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves

Optional: sliced and pitted black olives (I ALWAYS include these) or halloumi or feta cheese will make it more mediterranean.

Combine all ingredients in large salad bowl, with bread.

Dressing

1/2 c lemon juice

1 c extra virgin olive oil

3 cloves garlic

1T sumac (powdered reddish herb) *available from ethnic supermarkets

1t himalayan or sea salt (I used fine grind sea salt)

Use a mortal & pestle to smash the garlic with the salt to form a paste (or you can use a knife on a chopping board).

Place paste and remainder of dressing ingredients in a bowl and whisk.

When ready to serve, crumble with the raw or non raw bread onto salad and dress salad immediately before serving and not too much before as the salt will cause the ingredients to wilt if left too long. Garnish with extra sumac.

pic from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Arabsalad.jpg

Dates are a huge part of Middle Eastern flavours and desserts, and are even delicious eaten on their own. Not really a Saudi custom but I do love a date stuffed with either almond or cashew butter for a guilt free sweet indulgence. I always call dates, nature’s candy and they are a great wholefood substitute for sugar! Rosewater is also seen a great deal in Middle Eastern dishes and is sometimes used as a freshener (we used to spray it on hot towels on the aircraft before delivering them to passengers).

This recipe is not so much traditional but it does use very arabic flavours.

Raw Vegan Rosewater Ice-Cream with Date Custard

Ice Cream

1 cup of cashews soaked for 2 hours

1/2 cup of young thai coconut meat (how to open a young thai coconut here)

1 1/2 cups of water

1/2 cup of  agave or maple syrup

1T vanilla extract

1/2T rosewater *available at ethnic supermarkets

1/2T lemon juice

1t cardamom powder

Blend all ingredients in a high speed blender until very smooth. Pour into an ice-cream maker as directed. If you don’t have an ice-cream maker, you can place in container in the freezer and stir regularly to keep it from getting icy.

Date Custard

1 cup of young thai coconut meat

1/2 cup of packed pitted dates

1T coconut oil

1t lemon juice

Macadamia milk*

pinch of salt

* Blend 1 cup of macadamias to 3 cups of water

Place all ingredients except the macadamia milk in a high speed blender. Add macadamia milk gradually to desired consistency. I prefer a thicker custard so add it a little at a time.

Other foods you will see alot of in the Middle East are: zaatar bread, lemon & mint drink, hommus & tabouleh, chicken kabsa, arabic bread & lentil soup.

Robyn is an Aussie Raw Food Chef & former international flight attendant, based in Saudi Arabia, sharing the Raw and Wholesome lifestyle through her travels. You can read more about her and her food on her blog here.

You can read more about Robyn’s life in the Gulf here.