RE CIPE S FR OM LEB ANON AND BEY OND RE CIPE S FR OM LEB ANON AND BEY OND R OSE PREVITE WITH MAR AH STETS PREVITE WITH STETS RECIPES FROM LEBANON AND BEYOND The debut cookbook from Rose Previte —creator of the Michelin -starred restaurant Maydān and Compass Rose —explores the overlapping flavors, recipes, and foodways from Lebanon to Morocco, from Iran to the Republic of Georgia. Seeking inspiration for her restaurants, Rose Previte traveled old spice trade routes, learning directly from home cooks to expand her knowledge of the most delicious regional traditions. The word maydān, which can be loosely translated as “gathering place,” has roots in a number of languages and has been crossing borders for generations, from Tangier to Tehran and from Beirut to Batumi—just like the food Previte cooks. The more than 150 recipes featured in this cookbook originate from her travels, the most popular dishes in the restaurants, as well as Previte’s home kitchen, taking cues from the way her Lebanese family ate growing up, with boldly flavorful food that brings people together and is meant to be shared. ROSE PREVITE is the owner of several of Washington, DC’s acclaimed restaurants: the Michelin-starred and James Beard Award finalist Maydān, Compass Rose, Kirby Club, and Medina. MARAH STETS is a bestselling cookbook writer and editor. U.S. $40.00 Can. $50.00 U.K. £30.00 ISBN: 978-1-4197-6313-7 COVER DESIGN BY DIANE SHAW / COVER PHOTOGRAPH BY JENNIFER CHASE RE CIPE S FR OM LEB ANON AND BEY OND RE CIPE S FR OM LEB ANON AND BEY OND R OSE PREVITE WITH MAR AH STETS PREVITE WITH STETS RECIPES FROM LEBANON AND BEYOND The debut cookbook from Rose Previte —creator of the Michelin -starred restaurant Maydān and Compass Rose —explores the overlapping flavors, recipes, and foodways from Lebanon to Morocco, from Iran to the Republic of Georgia. Seeking inspiration for her restaurants, Rose Previte traveled old spice trade routes, learning directly from home cooks to expand her knowledge of the most delicious regional traditions. The word maydān, which can be loosely translated as “gathering place,” has roots in a number of languages and has been crossing borders for generations, from Tangier to Tehran and from Batumi to Beirut—just like the food Previte cooks. The more than 100 recipes featured in this cookbook originate from her travels, the most popular dishes in the restaurants, as well as Previte’s home kitchen, taking cues from the way her Lebanese family ate growing up, with boldly flavorful food that brings people together and is meant to be shared. ROSE PREVITE is the owner of several of Washington, DC’s acclaimed restaurants: the Michelin-starred and James Beard Award finalist Maydān, Compass Rose, Kirby Club, and Medina. MARAH STETS is a bestselling cookbook writer and editor. U.S. $40.00 Can. $50.00 U.K. £30.00 ISBN: 978-1-4197-6313-7 COVER DESIGN BY DIANE SHAW / COVER PHOTOGRAPH BY JENNIFER CHASE11 IntroductIon Yet in spite of all of the focus on food in my house, until I went to college, I didn’t really eat at restaurants other than the casual Italian spots near where my dad’s family lived in New Jersey. I’d never had (or seen) okra, or truly fresh fish. We were Midwestern Middle Easterners. My first trip outside of the United States, for a college semester abroad in Granada, Spain, showed me that delicious food existed outside the walls of families’ homes and persuaded me that international travel was going to be a very important, even necessary, part of my life. I’d never been on my own before. I fell in love with a guy named Carlos, and I took a siesta every day at three o’clock so that I’d be ready to go out until long after dark. On those nights out in Granada—one of the most fun cities in the world for a college kid, in my opinion—everyone danced and drank on the streets until very late. Old, young, it didn’t matter. They really taught me to love life. And the patatas bravas! Many nights we would buy paper cups full of these hot, crispy little chunks of perfectly fried potatoes to eat on the way home. It was the first time food that wasn’t prepared by my family meant something special to me. From then on, I could connect everywhere I’d been to something I ate while there, and that ingredient or dish forever after reminded me of a specific place, person, or sometimes even a moment from a trip. To this day patatas bravas symbolize my first taste of freedom. What I didn’t—couldn’t—know at the time was that this love for travel and food memories would someday lead me to be slumped on a Trans- Siberian Railway train ten thousand miles from home, watching through the smudged window as one snow-and-soot-covered village after another wove in and out of focus, wondering gloomily what the hell I was doing there. If you’d asked me on one of those nights in Granada where I’d be in a decade or so, I would never in a million years have guessed that I’d be sitting on a shabby train car, feeling very empty. Nothing about most of my thirty-something years of life up until then hinted that anything about my current situation was likely. After graduating from college in the early 2000s, I moved to Washington, DC, where I soon began to pursue my master’s degree in public policy. I was preparing to help save the world. In the meantime I still had to eat, so between classes and interning at Human Rights Watch, I waited tables and slung cocktails at a bar in Southeast DC. One of my regular customers was a reporter for the Baltimore Sun named David Greene. We hit it off so well that we got engaged a few years later in Istanbul and then we ate delectable fish sandwiches (page 219) in celebration. New Frontiers Left: Visiting Muscat, OmanClockwise from top left: Tomato Jam (page 39), Ezme (page 37), Zhough (page 37), Red Shatta (page 38), Harissa (page 35), Tahina (page 34), Chermoula (page 36), Toum (page 34)91 From the Fields Prepare a hot grill. Meanwhile, in a pot with a steamer insert or in a covered sauté pan fitted with an expandable steamer basket, add water to a depth of 2 inches (5 cm) and a couple generous pinches of kosher salt. Bring the water to a boil. Add the carrots to the steamer insert or basket, cover, and steam until they’re just shy of being al dente, or tender but firm to the bite, about 20 minutes. Transfer the carrots to a rimmed baking sheet or platter. Drizzle with a bit of oil and salt them lightly. Grill the carrots, turning them a few times, until lightly browned on all sides. Transfer them to a serving platter. Squeeze the lemon juice over the carrots. Drizzle the harissa back and forth across the carrots—this is easiest to do if the harissa is in a squeeze bottle or piping bag. (Alternatively, put the harissa in a small dish to pass alongside the carrots.) Sprinkle with flaky salt and chives, and serve. Kosher salt 1½ pounds (680 g) carrots, preferably all roughly the same thickness, peeled, if desired Extra-virgin olive oil, preferably Lebanese unfiltered Juice of ½ lemon ¼ cup (60 ml) Harissa (page 35) Flaky sea salt (such as Maldon), for garnish Chopped chives, for garnish When we were developing the menu for Maydān, we wanted some vegetables that could really hold up to the fire for our vegetarian and vegan audience, and carrots were always high on our list of possibilities. At bars in Lebanon, a small dish of carrots soaking in fresh lemon juice is often served along with your drink. They are about as far from beer nuts as you can get, and still they absolutely deliver the crunch, tang, and sweetness of the best bar snacks. Add some smoke and heat and you’ve got a home run (when in a bar, sports metaphors work best), and that’s exactly what this dish is. The carrots’ natural sweetness is amplified when steamed and grilled, and the tart lemon counteracts the spice of the harissa and the char on the carrot. If you’re worried that not everyone will love the spiciness, serve the harissa on the side. One insider tip that I must share is that we like to put these carrots on the table at the same time as the cheesy, nutty, honeyed halloumi with dukkah (page 232) because the mix of flavors and textures is out of this world. Maydān’s Grilled Carrots with Harissa Serves 497 From the Fields In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, salt, turmeric, nigella seeds, and coriander. Add the cauliflower and gently turn until thoroughly coated. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour. Meanwhile, prepare a hot, two-zone fire in a charcoal grill with a lid: Light a hot fire. When the coals are covered with gray ash, rake them to one side of the grill, creating a cooler zone on the other side to use for indirect cooking. Put a couple chunks of smoking wood, if using, on top of the coals. Lightly grease the top grate with oil and put it in place. Place the cauliflower on the oiled grate over the side without coals, reserving any marinade. Cover the grill, arranging the lid so that the vent is directly over the cauliflower; open the vent. Grill, covered, until the cauliflower is tender and a skewer slides into the center with just a little resistance, about 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, brushing with any reserved marinade and rotating 180 degrees halfway through cook time. Add more charcoal to the fire as necessary to keep it hot and add smoking chunks, if using, to keep the smoke going. Transfer the cauliflower to the grate directly over the coals; grill, uncovered, turning occasionally, until golden brown and lightly charred, 5 to 10 minutes. Place the cauliflower heads on a serving platter. Drizzle the tahina and zhough over the cauliflower heads and top with the sumac onions. Sprinkle with flaky salt and herb leaves. Serve with bowls of tahina, zhough, and sumac onions. 1 cup grapeseed oil, plus more for grilling 1 tablespoon kosher salt 1 tablespoon ground turmeric 2 teaspoons nigella seeds 2 teaspoons ground coriander 2 medium to large heads cauliflower (2 to 2½ pounds / 910 g to 1.2 kg each), leaves and stems trimmed 1 cup (240 ml) Tahina (page 34), plus more for serving 1 cup (240 ml) Zhough (page 37), plus more for serving 1 cup (240 ml) Sumac Onions (page 79), plus more for serving Flaky sea salt (such as Maldon), for garnish ½ cup (20 g) loosely packed mixed fresh herb leaves (such as cilantro, parsley, and mint) Equipment: Smoking wood chunks, such as oak or apple (optional) I have nothing against the cauliflower “steaks” that at one point seemed to be the only alternative offered to vegetarians at restaurants across the nation. But at Maydān we wondered why anyone would stop at a slice of cauliflower when you could have the whole damn head? The chefs hang the marinated heads above the fire at the restaurant to slowly cook them. At home we get the smoky, roasty effect by grill-roasting them over indirect heat. Served with bright sauces and our tangy-sweet sumac onions and fresh herbs, it’s a hearty main dish for up to four people or a side for more. But please don’t hesitate to prepare this if you’re only feeding one or two people; it keeps beautifully in the refrigerator up to a week. Slow-Grilled Cauliflower with Tahina and Zhough Serves 4 as a main dish, 6 to 8 as a sideNext >