Okay. They’re not secrets. For for the most part, they are new, at least to me.
The program for yesterday’s Men’s Club Luncheon consisted of a Great Courses instructional video prepared in partnership with the Culinary Institute of America. The presenter, Chef Bill Briwa, gave a lecture/demonstration entitled Mediterranean Spices—Exotic Blends. The same guy, from the same video series, has constituted the program several times in the past and I’ve enjoyed every one. Yesterday’s program introduced me to a number of spice blends and other flavorings that I found really intriguing. Here are the bits and pieces I was able to reconstruct from my notes:
- Tabil is a Tunisian spice mix that includes corriander, cumin, and caraway seeds along with crushed red pepper flakes. It may include garlic, as well.
- Dukkah is an Egyptian blend of nuts, seeds, and spices used with olive oil as a dip for breads and vegetables.
- Charmoula is a north African (Tunisia, Morroco, etc.) marinade used primarily with seafood. Its ingredients include chopped cilantro and parsley, the chopped peel of preserved lemon (which I learned how to make), a variety of spices, and olive oil.
- Za’ atar, another Egyptian spice mix of herbs and spices (including thyme, sumac, salt, and sesame seeds). Like Dukkah, it is used as a dip for bread that’s soaked in olive oil. The sumac is used to make the mix sour; sumac is used in many places where alcohol is forbidden to add flavor.
- Baharat is a Turkish spice mix including corriander, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, cardamom, nutmeg, and paprika; typically, it is used with lamb.
In addition to the spice blends, we learned about how to preserve lemons. We also learned how to make fattoush salad. I say “learned.” Rather, we were exposed to how it’s done. I will have to look up a recipe for fattoush salad. As for the lemons, here’s what Chef Briwa said: cut deeply, but not all the way through, a lemon so that it’s almost quartered. Fill the wounds with salt. Place the wounded lemon in a glass container with a screw-on lid and the boil two parts water and one part salt and pour the mixture over the wounded lemon. Seal with the lid and let it sit at room temperature on the counter for six weeks. It will then be ready to use (the peel will be the most useful part to include in various recipes).
By the way, according to Chef Briwa, purslane is a good source of omega 3 oils, the only (or one of the only) plants that can make that claim (if a plant could make a claim).
