in ‘jerusalem: a cookbook,’ a world of contrasts in every dish (a giveaway)
I CRAVE A SALAD—but one with something more substantial, not just greens. I’d also love an escape (too many garden chores screaming for attention—get me out of here!), but then I remember: I hate to travel. Thankfully, I have found comforting solutions on both scores in a book I bought last fall, “Jerusalem: A Cookbook” by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamini, an intimate journey through a cultural fusion of traditions and tastes. I’m making fattoush for lunch–the recipe is on the jump–and offering you two “tickets” to “Jerusalem,” too, in the latest cookbook giveaway.
The book’s collaborators grew up in the city—Yotam in the Jewish west area, Sami in the Muslim east—though neither has lived there for 20-plus years.
“The flavors and smells of this city are our mother tongue,” the London-based pair says in the cookbook’s introduction, acknowledging that they include traditional recipes, interpretations of traditional recipes, and also concoctions that draw on the culture’s gestalt but are theirs alone.
What I love most: Through the lens of these two master foodies, I’m looking at familiar vegetables (though the book is rich with meats and fishes, too) as if they are completely new. Example: a Kohlrabi Salad (with mint and cress and garlic, and a dressing laced with mascarpone and sour cream). The most common Allium in my pantry could become Stuffed Onions (with rice, pine nuts, species and herbs, and a secret ingredient: pomegranate molasses). I have been waiting impatiently since I got the book late last fall till there are fresh figs to combine with sweet potatoes into Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Fresh Figs (one of the most popular dishes, apparently, at the Ottolenghi restaurants in London). And I am certain my first tomatoes will find their way into Tomato and Sourdough Soup—so brilliantly simple-sounding, I can’t resist. A whole condiment section at the back of the book includes pickles and sauces, from preserved lemons to tahini (which I plan to use on the “Jerusalem: A Cookbook” take on falafel.)
For now, though, while I wait for each harvest in its time—the spirit of the cookbook, like that of the city it honors, is to eat seasonally and locally—there is that more-than-a-salad salad I’ve been craving.
And here it is: Na’ama’s Fattoush, a chopped salad with bread and a yogurty-or-buttermilk dressing that could variously be called Arab salad or Israeli salad–like so many recipes in “Jerusalem,” the provenance is impossible to pin down. (Na’ama, whose influence is felt elsewhere in the book as well, is Sami’s mother.)
Na’ama’s fattoush
(recipe from “Jerusalem: A Cookbook,” copyright Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi; photos by Jonathan Lovekin.)
ingredients
- scant 1 cup / 200 g Greek yogurt and cup plus 2 tbsp / 200 ml whole milk, or 1 cups / 400 ml buttermilk (replacing both yogurt and milk)
- 2 large stale Turkish flatbread or naan (9 oz / 250 g in total)
- 3 large tomatoes (13 oz / 380 g in total), cut into -inch / 1.5cm dice
- 3 oz / 100 g radishes, thinly sliced
- 3 Lebanese or mini cucumbers (9 oz / 250 g in total), peeled and chopped into -inch / 1.5cm dice
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- oz / 15 g fresh mint
- scant 1 oz / 25 g flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
- 1 tbsp dried mint
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 3 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1/4 cup / 60 ml olive oil, plus extra to drizzle
- 2 tbsp cider or white wine vinegar
- tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp sumac or more to taste, to garnish
steps:
If using yogurt and milk, start at least 3 hours and up to a day in advance by placing both in a bowl. Whisk well and leave in a cool place or in the fridge until bubbles form on the surface. What you get is a kind of homemade buttermilk, but less sour.
Tear the bread into bite-size pieces and place in a large mixing bowl. Add your fermented yogurt mixture or commercial buttermilk, followed by the rest of the ingredients, mix well, and leave for 10 minutes for all the flavors to combine.
Spoon the fattoush into serving bowls, drizzle with some olive oil, and garnish generously with sumac.
how to win a copy of ‘jerusalem’
I PURCHASED two extra copies of “Jerusalem: A Cookbook,” to share with you. All you have to do to enter is answer this question in the comments below:
If the “Jerusalem” authors call that city’s flavors and traditions their “own culinary DNA,” what is the source of DNA that shows up in some favorite dishes from your kitchen? Any heritage in evidence—any hand-me-downs or traditions (even if they’re adopted ones)?
My answer is no literal DNA remains. My parents cooked—but from “The New York Times” cookbook, all aspirational-style things we two little girls turned our noses up at. My one grandmother was more “Joy of Cooking”-style. Nothing ethnic–unless you count kippered herrings for breakfast (ugh!) that my English-born grandfather who lived with us insisted upon once-weekly, a tradition I was happy to free myself from at the soonest opportunity to fly the coop.
Don’t worry if you’re feeling shy, or have no particular answer. Just say, “Count me in” or some such, and I will. Two winners will be chosen at random after entries close at midnight on Monday, April 15. Good luck to all.
(Disclosure: Purchases via Amazon affiliate links yield a small commission that I use to buy more books for future giveaways.)
Another ‘vote’ here for Polish DNA. All the traditional foods that others have written about here. Comfort foods for sure. I remember my aunt making Polish donuts — delicious. On my other side, my Irish grandmother made the best, buttery popovers.
It would definitely be southern cooking. I still use the recipes my great grandma used and passed down.
count me in , thanks
My DNA includes anything Scandinavian, especially smoked salmon. I love fish, cabbage dishes, and roasted root vegetables. I also love baking baking with all of the Scandinavian spices like cardamom and cumin, and lots of berries! At Christmas time I remember my Norwegian grandfather Alf baking yulekakka and krumkakka ,and always having lots of Aquavit on hand. Count me in!!!!!!!
My DNA, biological as well as culinary, is Italian, which to me means from scratch, fresh, and economical. My mother’s parents immigrated from Abruzzi, from which they brought home made pasta (ravioli is my personal fav), home made wine, and potato gnocchi, and lighter sauces. My father’s heritage was Calabria, where the heavier use of garlic and olive oil added another dimension to my culinary upbringing. Their peasant roots produced an abundance of dishes featuring dried beans and fresh vegetables. I try to keep it all alive with my own modern twists and more eclectic tastes.
That salad looks amazing. My culinary DNA is mostly German and Irish with a smattering of Appalachian, and I’ve but rarely met a potato or a cabbage I didn’t like.
I have to say that my culinary DNA is in the herbs from my grandmother’s kitchen – those that grew outside her kitchen door (the fresh mint that also graces my kitchen door) and those she pulled out of large jars (like zataar which is a staple in my own pantry). Each herb handled like a magic potion to add that special zing when you least expected it. I have heard of this book and love that the recipes enliven the common ground between the 2 cultures – may peace prevail in Jerusalem…’
Hi Margaret! Although I have branched out with my cooking, my DNA lies in Greco-Italian cooking from my immigrating grandparents to the lower east side of NYC. There my mother tasted my grandmother’s chicken soup with a tomato base, and I inherited my Grandmother’s penchant for making homemade gnocchi every Easter in my childhood kitchen in bethpage, ny. There’re Grandma would roll the dough into little “ears”‘, and lay them out (pre-boiling) on our kitchen table. And I loved the breads she made for Christmas and Easter, Koulache….and most especially the Greek influence of PAPRIKA!!!! Count me in!
Please count me in. Although my DNA is eastern European and Jewish, I crave and cook Italian – almost every day!
I’m half Italian and half assorted British-ness… but I have somehow adopted eastern Indian DNA in my cooking! I am almost a life-long vegetarian so I seem to have been able to cling to any culture that really doesn’t have to be all about meat. While we can make most things “vegetarian” or “vegan”… I really like anything with legumes.
Count me in! I’d like to try them.
Good morning,
I am from Krakow, Poland I always say the DNA of women in my family can be traced through Chicken Soup. I make my soup like my Mother who made it as her mother and Grandmother…etc.
But our neighbor and everyone I meet who cooks chicken soup, do it differently
They all are chicken soups but they taste differently, and an amazing thing is that none of them has more than 6 ingredients.
Heritage DNA – Blended!
My husband and I both love to cook, especially in the summer with produce from my Sol Flower Farm CSA. We also love cookbooks. I especially love Plenty and Jerusalem, so count me in please.
Count me in please!
I am English at my roots so LOVE Stilton Cheese, Liver & Onions, Beef & Kidney & Oyster pudding … all of which 2 out of 3 sons would not even look at!! However I rejected the English cupp-a-tea at a very early age … and am mostly vegetarian inclined now. The cookbook appeals to me greatly especially as my youngest son, daughter-in-law, 7 yr old grandson and 9 yr old granddaughter are all on a 10 day visit to Palestine with a church group as I write. I would love to surprise them with a copy!!
My culinary DNA is Eastern European with contributions from all over Europe and the Middle East. Give me a hazelnut torte over a Devil’s Food cake any day.
My culinary DNA included busy 50’s mom fare, a piece of meat, a potato and a canned vegetable with iceberg lettuce salad on the side. Thankfully, when I went out on my own, I happily discovered the early “health foods” – whole grains, fresh veggies and herbs and spices. Those influence my everyday cooking today.
French Canadian with vegetable garden in the backyard.
Tks
Although my husband is a retired rancher, he is leaning heavily towards vegetarianism! That makes me happy since I love to prepare and eat vegetables and salads. One of his (our) favorite meals is roasted vegetables! I’d love to win this book to help expand my choices. I grew up with Czech cooking but have evolved throughout my lifetime to include food from all over the globe.
When asked how I got into being such a ” really naturally inclined cook and baker” as folks tell me, I just say I got Mom’s” cooking gene”…..she was of Scots/English background but tried just about everything she came across in cookbooks that intrigued her. There were many “adventures” on the dinner table from far and away! And I do the same! In fact, my most favorite foods have continued to be, over all the years, Middle Eastern and Indian, with all the variety and complexities of flavors and colors. I would truly enjoy this book, since I feel especial “heart ties” to Jerusalem.
I was raised a true Southern girl, learning along side the fabulous women in my family, to make the three quintessential meal components – beans, greens and cornbread! My tastebuds were expanded at an early age, by my hard working, world traveling, culinary adventurous father – Who brought home menus with notes and recipes scribbled on them, to recreate fantastic meals that transported us across the globe. Then I fell in love and married a fabulous cook, a man born in Vietnam, and raised in three Asian countries before moving to the US. We have many good friends of different nationalities. Our food dna says – Southern + Asian meets World.
My mother was the world’s pickiest eater but a good cook. She made sure that I became an adventurous eater and encouraged me to try everything. And — so I have!
Not sure the connection of my very Americana white bread cooking upbringing to how I eat and cook today – maybe it was the catalyst for me to seek out a different option? I do have a few oddball and sentimental food favorites from growing up; grilled cheese, creamed chipped beef on toast (or creamed eggs), grilled peanut butter and jelly, lemon bars, and devilled eggs. A friend of mine once aptly coined this phrase referencing our similar suburban Midwest food backgrounds, and the food at holiday get togethers: “they consider jello a salad”. Hopefully my DNA has some slightly more interesting past than this!
The DNA in my kitchen definitely comes from the Norwegian maternal side and Eastern European Jewish from the paternal side…a fusion since childhood and now with a giant movement to vegetarian meals the herbs, spices and flavors from my DNA heritage often find their way into new recipes. Always interesting, mostly delicious meals at our home.
Wonderful cookbook. Unique, flavorful, and healthy recipes sure to impress friends and family alike. Count me in on this fantastic offer!