Fruit

The special feature of this dish is the exquisite mix of honeyed caramelized onions and raisins called tfaya which is served as a topping of the long-cooked, deliciously tender meat. The broth which moistens the grain is the meat broth. A sprinkling of fried or toasted almonds is an optional garnish.

This grand bulgur pilaf spread throughout the countries that were part of the Ottoman Empire. It is used as a side dish and a stuffing.

Serve with plain rice steamed in the Persian manner (page 338) or the quick and easy boiled and steamed rice (page 339).

Serve this Persian sauce, which has an unusual tart flavor, with plain rice steamed in the Persian manner (page 338) or the quick and easy boiled and steamed rice (page 339).

I was served this exciting dish by Iranian friends who live near me in London. As the golden crust was broken, the rice, stained patchily with red cherry juice, tumbled out with little meatballs and cooked cherries. Fresh sour cherries are used in Iran in their short season. They are pitted or not, and cooked with sugar until they are jammy. I use dried pitted sour cherries without sugar, with delicious results.

This Iranian rice, a festive dish served at weddings, is as sumptuous as you get. You can see by its appearance why it is called “jeweled.” Iranian and Middle Eastern stores sell barberries (sour berries called zereshk), sugared orange peel, and slivered almonds and pistachios. Dried pitted sour cherries and cranberries can be found in some supermarkets.

Apricots have a particular affinity with lamb. The early Arab Abbasid dynasty, centered in Baghdad, adopted the combination from the old Persian Empire that preceded it and created a series of dishes on the theme which they called mishmishiya (see page 255), mishmish being the Arab word for “apricot.” Apricot is still a favorite partner to lamb in modern Iran. The rest of the Middle East has adopted it to a lesser degree. You need a tart, natural variety of apricots, not a sweetened one.

Candied tangerine or orange peel is the sweet element in this festive Persian rice with carrots. Persian shops sell the candied peel, as well as slivered almonds and pistachios. To make the candied peel yourself, see the recipe that follows this one.

An Arab dish often served with grilled fish.

The success of this Turkish pilaf depends on the flavor of the orange-fleshed pumpkin, which varies. (It should be sweet-tasting.) I prefer the dish without the raisins.

Many dishes standardized in the courtly kitchens of Constantinople during Ottoman rule spread throughout the Empire. This is one of the classics that you find in all the cities that were once outposts of the Empire. It is good to serve with meat or chicken.

This is exquisite and also very easy. The quinces are hard and take a long time to cook before you can even cut them up and stuff them, but you can bake them hours—even a day—in advance. I use very large quinces, weighing a pound each. Serve as a hot first course.

This version of the Tunisian meshweya (page 85) can be served hot or cold. I prefer it cold.

A disadvantage of these root vegetables is that they provoke wind. But they do have a delicious flavor. Smoother, less knobbly varieties available today are easier to peel.

Cooked vegetables are not highly considered in Iraq, where they usually only find a place in a pot with meat, but turnips are treated with special respect. One way of dealing with young turnips is to peel and boil them in salted water, then press them under a weight to squeeze out some of the water, and serve them with a dusting of sugar. A special flavor is obtained when a little date syrup, called dibbis (see page 43), is stirred into the cooking water. Lately, I have tried sautéing sliced turnips with fresh dates and found it very pleasant to serve as a side dish with meat or chicken. You may use a moist variety of California dried dates.

This Turkish specialty, usually served hot, is also good cold. The only problem is the peeling, or, rather, the cutting away of the skin, which is covered in soil.

A Persian dish.

Chicory is one of the vegetables believed to have been eaten in ancient Egypt. It has a pleasant, slightly bitter taste when it is cooked. In this Lebanese mountain dish, wild chicory is used.

A delicious Turkish dish—the rich meat is offset by the cool yogurt.