Middle Eastern

Trid is described as the poor man’s bstilla. It is also said that the Prophet would have liked it best. He is known to have been fond of onions, and here a huge mass is reduced to a creamy sauce. I prefer it too.

Meat pies are traditionally little triangles. The classic Arab filling is called tatbila. In Turkey, where these are called börek, they use the thicker kind of fillo pastry for them. If your sheets are too thin and look likely to tear, use 2 strips together and brush with melted butter or oil in between.

These large individual pies with a Turkish filling make a wonderful first course. You need the sweet orange-fleshed pumpkin for this. It is sold in Middle Eastern and Oriental stores, almost all the year round, in large slices, with the seeds and stringy bits removed.

The traditional shape for eggplant pies is a coil or snail shape, but large square packets are simple to make and don’t tear as easily. And they are just as good. These pies can be served as a first course or a main dish. The Turkish eggplant filling is delicate in flavor and delicious. If you want to make them into a coil, use the method given above (“Making Fillo Coils,” page 119).

The large individual pies make a wonderful first course.

This is the most popular Turkish börek. The little rolls or “cigars” make ideal appetizers and canapés. It is best to use a thicker quality of fillo, which is not likely to tear during cooking. If the fillo sheets are too thin, use 2 strips together and brush with butter or oil in between. In this case you will need to double the number of sheets.

It’s the kind of cheese which you can’t stop eating. It is made with rennet, which contains rennin, from the stomach of the calf. This coagulates the milk proteins, and activates the curd. Use at least 2 1/2 quarts of milk, as the amount of cheese produced even from this quantity is really quite small.

Many Middle Eastern dishes call for yogurt as a cooking liquid or sauce which needs to be cooked—boiled or simmered—rather than just heated. Salted goat’s milk yogurt, which was used in similar recipes in olden times, can be cooked without curdling, which explains why medieval recipes do not give any indication of ways of preventing yogurt from curdling. Cooking, however, causes yogurt made with cow’s milk to curdle, and stabilizers such as cornstarch or egg white are required to prevent this.

Lamb’s liver is traditionally used, but calf’s liver is tastier and more tender. It is also more expensive.

Brains are considered a great delicacy in the Middle East. In some parts, it is believed that they feed one’s own brain and render one more intelligent. In other places, it is thought that eating brains reduces one’s intelligence to that of the animal, and people who hold such beliefs cannot be persuaded to touch them. I used to have to eat them in hiding from my children, who screamed when they saw me.

I like to make this Lebanese salad with basmati rice, because the grains stay very separate.

In Turkey, where this dish comes from, mussels are large and fat.

Rolled into marble-sized balls, they make a nice appetizer.

This is one of a few Turkish pilafs which are cooked in olive oil and eaten cold.

This is an instant salad to make with canned chickpeas, but they must be good-quality.

You need young fava beans, not tough old ones. Some supermarkets sell them shelled in the season. Good-quality frozen ones are also fine to use. An Iranian grocer near where I live sells frozen skinned ones from Iran which are exceptional. The dish can be served hot or cold. The yogurt can be poured over the rice or served in a separate bowl.