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:

I was reminded recently about Beetroot Hummous (thanks Leila).  I had been meaning to make some for a while. A lot of recipes seem to mix roughly equal amounts of cooked beetroot and chick peas, with the usaual culprits, garlic, olive oil, tahini & lemon juice.  For maximum flavour use left-over roasted beetroot.  All well and good... but the recipe here is even better!  This recipe is quite different, the flavour comes from lots of toasted cumin & walnuts & garlic.  The slight bitterness of the walnuts with the sweetness of the beetroot makes a great balance.  This is rounded, delicious stuff. It looks amazing too.  It's insanely colorful as seen in the picture above. This has to be tried! RECIPE BELOW:

This is a great Turkish Meze dish that can be eaten with bread or other small dishes.  It's also perfect alongside some grilled fish or meat.  It's basically a salsa, but strong and fresh tasting thanks to the pomegranate and sumac. RECIPE BELOW:

This could be a great starter or just a fantastic dish to have alongside pitta bread, salads etc. It takes 20mins to do. RECIPE BELOW: