The Hackney Butchers Association

Eaten with some fried fish (Huss and Ling) yesterday, accompanied by piles of home-made flatbreads, Baba Ghanoush, Dukka, and Fennel/Feta Kofte.  Damn good it was too!  This tarator has got a lovely nutty/garlic and lemon/parsley flavour.  It's surprisingly light.  This recipe came from Silvena Rowe's awesome book "Purple Citrus and Sweet Perfume.  It came out a little dry, so I added a good drizzle of olive oil over the top just before serving to loosen it up.  It was loved by everyone. Tarators come in many varieties.  This one is Turkish.  In Albania it takes the form of a cold soup, in Iran there is a similar dish called the brilliant sounding "Ab-Doogh-Khiar" an iced yougurt soup with leek & mint (sounds interesting). Many countries use yogurt instead of water, and leave out the nuts.  In fact, it's hard to see what the common link is apart from the name! Takes 5mins, makes enough for eight decent portions. RECIPE BELOW:

This is brilliant with grilled fish or chicken. Pictures will follow when I next cook it (which will be very soon... It's very easy and makes a great side-dish of onions without the time of roasting. All in all about 15mins, so good for mid week meals. If you can't get pomegranate molases, you can add a teaspoon or two of brown sugar instead, just keep stirring or it will burn. RECIPE BELOW:

Dukka is a traditional Egyptian side-dish, but exists across many Arabic countries..  It's usually made from crushed dried spices, herbs & nuts.  It's often eaten with bread or raw vegetables, but can be used to flavour cooked foods too. The exact mixes vary enormously and can include sesame, nigella seeds, coriander seeds, cumin, marjoram, mint & a whole host of other spices.  The flavour can also therefore vary quite a bit!   They are simple to make.  Lightly toast whatever nut your using in a hot dry pan, then add your selection of spices for a minute.  (The smell coming off the pan will be incredible!).  Then blitz in a food processor until it goes to a light crunchy texture.  The whole procedure takes about 5-10mins. This would be something you could make in advance and sprinkle over all sorts of foods for a bit of wow factor. For a sweeter flavour, you can add desicated coconut & ground roasted almonds. The one I made here ...

Za'atar is an Arabic spice blend made with toasted sesame seeds.  There are many variations using cumin, savoury, caraway seeds, fennel seeds etc. The one given here is a lovely citrus mix, thanks to the addition of sumac. You can rub it on chickens or fish prior to roasting, add a small amount to vinaigrettes,  add to olive oil as dip for toasted bread, roll meatballs in it prior to sealing, sprinkle over hummous... There are hundreds of recipes using it, it's very easy to make, and keeps for months in a sealed jar. Gotta be done really... RECIPE BELOW :