This week’s recipes come from Bethlehem, a city more famous for its long religious history than its culinary heritage. Even so, it’s one of the Middle East’s most important food hubs and home to some of the most celebrated Palestinian dishes.
Located 10km south of Jerusalem, Bethlehem is a green, fertile oasis on the edge of a desert that stretches all the way to the Dead Sea. Pilgrims throughout history have marvelled at the lushness of the land, with its fig and olive trees, herbs such as za’atar and sage, its wild wheat and greens. Even wine grapes are grown here: the only vineyard in Palestine, Cremisan, is in Bethlehem district.
Film-maker Leila Sansour, whogrew up in the city and runs the Open Bethlehem campaign, aimed at preserving the city’s identity and multi-faith heritage in the face of recent hardships (notably the wall Israel is erecting in the West Bank), has kindly shared with me some of her family recipes for this week’s column. Whole wheat, cracked wheat and flour products have always been staples for families such as Leila’s. Her great-grandmother, like generations of Palestinian women before her, used to make pasta (“raqaq” in Arabic) by hand, for adding to soups and stews such as today’s lentil and pasta dish. Freekeh (whole or cracked green wheat), as well as maftoul (a local couscous), have long been hugely popular in the city, even though wheat hasn’t been cultivated in serious quantities for many years.
Generally speaking, local agriculture is in decline due to the separation of the city from the surrounding countryside; but the diet is still very much based on traditional local ingredients – broad beans (a staple for millennia), olive oil, tomatoes and cucumbers, chickpeas, garlic and lemons.
Cooking with and in yoghurt is another Bethlehem trademark. Nomadic Bedouin would frequent the city market on their way to and from the desert, bringing with them sheep and sheep’s produce. One of my favourite dishes is mansaf, which is made by slow-cooking lamb in rehydrated dried yoghurt, then serving it on a bed of flatbread and rice or bulgur, and finishing off with ascattering of toasted almonds.
For me, the brilliance of these dishes lies in the way they take a few humble staples – wheat, rice, lentils, broad beans, chicken, chickpeas – and transform them intosomething fresh through theclever use of key aromatics – and, of course, liberal quantities ofolive oil.
Braised broad beans in their shells, with chilli and garlic
Normally, we pod broad beans andthrow away the skins, which can be tough and fibrous. But startwith beans that are fresh andtender, and there’s really noneed: when cooked, the contrastbetweenskin and bean isarevelation. A lemony tahini sauce would be a good condiment for this dish: drizzle some over the beans when serving. Or add a generous dollop of Greek yoghurt totemper the heat and add some welcome richness. Serves four, asamezze orside dish.
500g young broad beans in their pods
80ml olive oil
1 large chilli, cut in half lengthways, deseeded and finely chopped
10 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
Salt and black pepper
5g coriander leaves, roughly chopped
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and roughlycrushed
Top and tail the beans, then pull away the fibrous threads on the sides of the pod and chop into 5cm pieces.
Add the oil to a large saute pan for which you have a lid, and place on amedium-high heat. Once hot, add the chilli and garlic, and fry for two to three minutes, until the garlic starts to turn golden. Add the beans, half a teaspoon of salt and a good grind of black pepper, and stir through for a minute. Add 60ml water, turn down the heat to low, cover and leave to simmer slowly for 45 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir through the coriander, lemon juice and cumin seeds, and serve.
Raqaq u addas
This dish is like an old friend to me, and features two of the foods that comfort me most – lentils and pasta; the other ingredients are pretty much a roll call of my favourite things. This is a quick supper for twothat’s ideal for a school night.
200g green lentils
75ml olive oil
4 large cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1½ tsp organic vegetable stock powder
2 tbsp sumac
130g egg tagliatelle, broken up into smaller pieces with your hands
Salt and black pepper
1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and crushed
5g coriander, roughly chopped
½ lemon
80g Greek yoghurt
Bring a medium pan of water to aboil, add the lentils and cook, uncovered, for 15 minutes, until just cooked through. Drain, return the lentils to the pan and set aside.
Pour the oil into a small pan and place on a high heat. Once hot, add the garlic and fry for about 20 seconds, just until the garlic starts turning golden; make sure it doesn’t go brown. Pour the oil and garlic over the lentils, then stir in the stock powder, sumac, tagliatelle and half a teaspoon of salt.
Add 350ml of water, return the pan to a high heat and bring to a boil. Press down the lentils and pasta, so they’re just covered in liquid, turn the heat to low, cover and cook for seven minutes, until the pasta and lentils are both cooked through. Remove from the heat and set aside, covered, for five minutes, then stir in the cumin, coriander and a good grind of pepper. Serve warm with a squeeze of lemon juice and the yoghurt alongside.
Sweet spiced chicken stew withmaftoul
Maftoul is a super-sized Palestinian couscous. It’s becoming more widely available here, especially online. If you can’t find it, substitute with giant or even regular couscous. Serves four.
8 chicken drumsticks
Salt and black pepper
5 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
60ml olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped
¾ tsp ground allspice
15 cardamom pods, gently crushed
3 carrots, peeled, trimmed, quartered lengthways and cut on the diagonal into 0.5cm-wide slices
2 red peppers, core and seeds removed,flesh cut lengthways into 0.5cm-wide strips
7 large plum tomatoes, skinned andquartered
2 strips orange skin
250g maftoul (or giant couscous)
150g freshly cooked chickpeas, rinsed and dried (or tinned)
1 banana shallot, peeled and coarselygrated
5g parsley leaves, roughly chopped
Mix the chicken in a large bowl with half a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of nutmeg. Add two tablespoons of oil to a large saute pan and place onamedium-high heat. Once hot, add the chicken and fry for eight minutes, turning regularly until the drumsticks are golden-brown. Pour over 1.2litres of water and boil for 30 minutes, until there is about 350ml of liquid left in the pan. Take off the heat, lift out the chicken and set aside; reserve the stock.
Pour two tablespoons of oil into alarge saucepan for which you have a lid, and place on a medium heat. Once hot add the onion and fry for six minutes, stirring from time to time, until soft and golden-brown. Add the allspice, cardamom and three teaspoons of nutmeg, and cook for a minute. Add the carrots, peppers, tomatoes, orange skin, a teaspoon of salt and half a teaspoon of pepper. Fry for 15 minutes more, stirring from time to time, until the vegetables are starting to soften. Reduce the heat to medium-low, pour over 150ml water, cover and leave to simmer for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables have softened. Put the chicken in the sauce, stir, cover and simmer for another 20 minutes.
While the chicken is simmering, put a medium saucepan for which you have a lid on a medium-high heat. Once hot, add the maftoul andtoast for two minutes, until it starts to brown. Add the chickpeas and pour over the liquor from cooking the chicken and 300ml water (or 400ml, if using giant couscous) and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to medium and leave to bubble gently for 10 minutes, stirring every now and then. Stir in the shallot, remaining teaspoon of nutmeg, half a teaspoon of salt and agood grind of black pepper, and cook for three to four minutes, untilall the liquid has evaporated and the maftoul is cooked. Remove from the heat, cover and leave to stand for five minutes.
To serve, divide the maftoul between four plates, top with the chicken and tomato sauce, and sprinkle parsley on top.
