When Iranian writer and food photographer Saghar Setareh moved to Italy at the age of 22, she was enchanted by the rich food culture of her adopted country, and this inspired a curiosity in the cuisine of her homeland and the surrounding countries of the Levant and Eastern Mediterranean. Pomegranates and Artichokes is the story of Saghar's own culinary journey from Iran to Italy, in which she describes the many parallels that link Middle Eastern and Mediterranean food cultures, and shows how ingredients and recipes - unconstrained by borders - are shared and transformed through the immigrant experience.
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- Pomegranates & Artichokes: Recipes and memories of a journey from Iran to Italy, by Saghar Setareh. Murdoch Books. $49.99.
Filo triangles stuffed with feta
Tyropitkia
Tyropitkia, which means "small cheese pie"' in Greek, is the best airport food you will ever find if you're flying out of Greece or Turkey - which is probably a sad enough event for you to need an extra-tasty snack. Folding these triangles may look complicated, but in fact it's very easy. Just look for the right angle and keep folding the triangle in upon itself. These pies are a great way to use up any odd bits of cheese left in the fridge, so just use whatever you have - including small portions of cooked vegetables or roast meat. Remember to drip melted butter in between the pastry layers for extra crispy results. I do like to drizzle honey on the regular cheese ones.
Ingredients
- 150g feta cheese, finely crumbled
- 150g semi-hard cheese, such as gruyère, gouda, emmental or fontina, grated
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp milk
- 1 tbsp dried oregano, and/or a small bunch of dill, finely chopped
- 80g butter
- 9-10 filo pastry sheets; mine measured 25x37cm
- 2 tbsp runny honey, or to taste
- black and white sesame seeds, for sprinkling (optional)
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. Mix the cheeses, egg, milk and herbs together. Melt the butter and set aside.
3. Have a damp, clean tea towel ready before you open the packet of filo pastry, and work with one filo pastry sheet at a time, keeping the rest very well covered with the damp cloth so they don't dry out. I also like to cover my work surface with baking paper when making this recipe, so the dough doesn't stick to the bench, and to catch any drips from the melted butter.
4. Place one sheet of filo pastry on your work surface, with the short side facing you. Drizzle a little melted butter over it (drizzling supposedly gives a flakier pastry than brushing it with butter).
5. Fold the sheet in half lengthways, so that you have a long, narrow rectangle, with the short side facing you. Drizzle again with melted butter.
6. Put a spoonful or two of the cheese mixture near the bottom edge of the filo. Take the bottom left corner of the pastry and fold it over to the right, on a right angle, so that the filling is covered with a triangle of pastry. Now fold this triangle onto itself and away from you, so you're left with a rectangle again. Keep folding like this until you end up with a final triangle. Once you start folding, you'll get the hang of it, I promise. Place the tyropitkia on a baking tray and make the others in the same way. If any melted butter is left over, drizzle it over all of the little pies before baking.
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden and crisp.
8. To serve, arrange on a platter, drizzle lightly with honey, and sprinkle with sesame seeds, if desired. Serve warm, for breakfast, a snack or a light lunch with a bit of salad.
Makes 9-10 little pies.
Zucchini patties with feta and dill
Kolokythokeftédes
People used to make these patties only in summer, the season of zucchini abundance, when they hollowed out zucchini to make dolmas/dolmades; their name, kolokythokeftédes, literally means "kofta of courgettes". If you can resist eating all of them while making them, you could prepare the patties a day or two in advance to take on a summer picnic or barbecue.
Ingredients
- 500g zucchini
- 2-3 tsp salt, for salting the zucchini
- 200g feta cheese, crumbled
- a handful of chopped dill
- 1 spring onion, thinly sliced
- 2 eggs
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 75g plain flour, approximately
- 4 tbsp oil, for pan-frying, approximately
Method
1. Coarsely grate the courgettes into a bowl. Rub and squeeze the courgette with the salt, to help release its water, and leave for 15-30 minutes. Drain off the excess water, then squeeze the courgette pulp to make sure it's all quite dry, as this is the secret to delicious kolokythokeftédes.
2. In a clean dry bowl, mix the courgette pulp with the feta, dill, spring onion, eggs and a sprinkling of black pepper. Sprinkle the flour over and gently mix through until just combined; it's very important to not overwork the batter.
3. Heat two to three tablespoons of the oil in a frying pan. When sizzling hot, dollop in about two tablespoons of the batter and flatten it with the back of a spoon. Fry a few patties at a time over medium-high heat, flipping them midway to make sure both sides are golden; it only takes a few minutes for each batch to cook. Repeat with the remaining batter, adding more oil to the pan as needed.
4. Serve immediately, possibly with some fizzy (Greek) wine, and perhaps some tzatziki.
5. Alternatively, in a courageous attempt at self-control, you could prepare the patties a day or two in advance to take on a summer picnic or barbecue.
Makes about 12 patties.
Saffron roast chicken stuffed with dried fruit
Morgh-e shekam por
In all cultures, sitting down to feast on a whole roast chicken, stuffed or otherwise, brings about feelings of comfort and abundance. I am very fond of this filling for roast chicken, not only because of the richness of sweet and sour flavours from the dried fruit, but because it reminds me of the mehmooni (family gatherings) of my aunt. She snatched the Azeri-inspired recipe from my grandmother, of course.
Ingredients
For the chicken:
- 1 whole chicken, gutted, about 1.8kg
- 1 1/2 tbsp salt
- 1 lemon, halved
For the stuffing:
- 200g prunes, pitted
- 100g dried apricots, halved
- 100g dried barberries or cranberries
- 30g butter
- 80g walnuts, coarsely chopped
- 50g golden sultanas (optional)
- 1 tsp sugar (if using barberries)
- 2 tbsp golden onion (see below)
- 2 tbsp saffron infusion (see below)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
For the saffron butter:
- 100g butter
- 3 tbsp saffron infusion (see below)
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
Method
1. Several hours before cooking, or even the night before, pat the chicken dry with paper towel. Rub the salt on the chicken skin and in the cavity. Squeeze the lemon juice into the cavity of the chicken and leave the squeezed lemon inside the cavity. Leave to rest in the fridge, preferably uncovered.
2. About two hours before cooking, bring the chicken out of the fridge and let it reach room temperature. Discard the lemon.
3. For the stuffing, soak the prunes, apricots and cranberries in water in separate little bowls for 15-30 minutes. If using barberries, simply rinse them with water.
4. Melt most of the butter in a pan. Drain the prunes, apricots and cranberries, then add to the pan with the walnuts and sultanas.
5. Cook over a gentle heat for a few minutes. If you're using barberries, melt the remaining butter in a small pan, add the barberries and cook for a minute or two over low heat; add the sugar and keep stirring until it dissolves, then mix with the rest of the fruit. Add the golden onion, saffron infusion, salt and pepper. Give it a stir for two minutes, then take off the heat.
6. Preheat the oven to 220C.
7. For the saffron butter, melt the butter and mix well with the saffron infusion and salt.
8. To prepare the chicken for the saffron butter rub, first put it on one side, then use a sharp knife to score three deep incisions on one leg. Turn the chicken around and repeat with the other leg. This will allow the legs and breast to cook at the same time.
9. With the chicken legs facing you, gently pull the skin at the end of the breast towards you with one hand, then insert two fingers of the other hand between the breast and skin. Repeat this carefully and gently, as much as you can, to separate the skin from the meat without tearing it.
10. Fill the cavity with about half the stuffing, reserving the rest for serving. Tie the chicken legs together with butchers' twine and place it in a baking dish. Using a pastry brush, rub as much as the saffron butter as you can on all sides of the chicken, and under the skin.
11. Transfer to the oven and roast for about 1 hour 20 minutes, brushing the chicken with more saffron butter every 30 minutes. Once the chicken is cooked through, remove from the oven and leave to rest for at least 30 minutes.
12. To serve, strain the juices at the bottom of the dish, and use about 60ml to heat the remaining stuffing to use as a garnish. Pour the remaining juices into a gravy boat to serve alongside the chicken.
13. Serve with plain rice. You could also serve it with roast potatoes.
Serves 4-6.
Golden onion
Ingredients
- oil, for deep-frying (the quantity will depend on the size of your pan)
- 2 onions, halved, then sliced 5mm thick
- 1/4 tsp ground turmeric
Method
1. In a large pan suitable for frying, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Make sure the onion half-rings are separated from each other. When tiny bubbles appear in the oil, add one slice of onion to check the heat. If the oil around the onion bubbles and the onion comes to the surface, the oil is hot enough; otherwise, wait until this happens.
2. Usually, two sliced onions can be fried in two or three batches, in a 23cm pan. If your pan is smaller, you should fry the onions in more batches. This is actually time saving, contrary to what you may think, because one layer of onion fries more quickly, and piled-up onions become soggy and take more time to become golden and crunchy.
3. Fry each batch over medium-high heat for about eight to 12 minutes, or until the onion has shrunk down and is completely golden. At the last moment for the first batch, add all the turmeric, stir around a bit, then with a slotted spoon transfer the onion to a large dish lined with paper towel. The onion will darken once removed from the pan, turning golden brown on the paper. Add another batch of onion to the pan and repeat. For this amount of onion, the turmeric added to the oil at the end of the first batch is enough. (If you're making more than this amount, add a dash more turmeric each second or third batch.) You can keep the frying oil for a week for frying up more golden onion, or to use in dishes where a hint of onion and turmeric would be welcome.
Note: You can keep the golden onion in the fridge in an airtight container for three to four days, or freeze for up to three months. If using frozen golden onion, you won't need to thaw it - just break off a piece and add it to the hot pan. It will just take a little longer to cook as it thaws in the pan and the water evaporates.
Makes 2 tbsp.
Saffron infusion
Ingredients
- 1/2 tsp saffron threads, very loosely packed
- a good pinch of sugar
Method
1. Grind the saffron strands with the sugar in a small mortar. If you don't have a small mortar, you can put the saffron and sugar on a piece of baking paper, fold all the sides so the powder won't escape, then grind with a jam jar or rolling pin until you have a very fine powder.
2. Boil the kettle, then let it sit for a few minutes. Tip the powder very gently into a small glass teacup, then gently pour three tablespoons of the hot water over it. (Never use boiling water, or you'll "kill" the saffron.) Cover the cup with a lid or saucer and let the mixture "brew" for at least 10 minutes without removing the lid, to release the colour and aroma of the saffron. After this time your saffron infusion is ready to use.
Note: If you make a larger batch, store the leftovers in a clean sealed jar in the fridge for four to five days.
Makes 3 tbsp.
An orange-scented rice cake
Torta di riso al profumo d'arancio
There is something universal about cooking rice in milk that translates to instant comfort - a soothing embrace that goes beyond borders and cultures and unifies them in silky sweetness.
Ingredients
- 1.7 litres full-fat milk
- 180g sugar
- zest of 1/2 lemon, cut into large strips with a vegetable peeler
- 300g risotto rice, such as arborio, carnaroli or vialone nano
- 1/2 tsp salt
- butter, for greasing
- 5 eggs, separated
- 50ml orange liqueur (I use Cointreau)
- 3 tsp vanilla extract or paste
- zest of 1 orange, plus extra to garnish
- 40g candied orange zest, diced
- icing sugar, for dusting
Method
1. In a large saucepan, bring the milk, sugar and lemon zest to a moderate boil. Stir in the rice and salt. Cook over medium heat for 30-40 minutes, until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is sticky and creamy, stirring occasionally so the rice doesn't stick. Remember that the mixture will become thicker as it cools. If it looks like the liquid is being absorbed before the rice is completely cooked through, reduce the heat. Transfer to a large bowl and leave to cool completely.
2. Preheat the oven to 180C. Lightly grease a round 26cm cake tin with butter. Line the bottom and sides with baking paper, then rub a bit more butter onto the paper.
3. Remove as many lemon zest pieces from the cooled rice as you can find.
4. Using a hand whisk, beat the egg yolks with the liqueur, vanilla and orange zest, then add to the rice with the candied orange zest and mix well.
5. Using a clean whisk and a very clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff and smooth, then gently fold them through the batter.
6. Carefully pour the mixture into the cake tin and smooth the top with a knife.
7. Bake for about one hour, or until the top is golden.
8. Remove from the oven, then leave to cool completely in the tin for about an hour before unmoulding.
9. Before serving, dust with icing sugar, and garnish with extra orange zest. The cake will keep in an airtight container for a few days, refrigerated if the weather is hot.
Makes one 26cm cake.