Tag Archives: pistachios

Pistachio chicken (Fustukiyyeh)

You are unlikely to find this dish in a contemporary Middle-Eastern cookbook; the recipe goes back to the 10th century. I read about it in La cuisine de Ziryab (Ziryab’s kitchen) by Farouk Mardam-Bey. The book is a collection of essays on traditional Arab ingredients such as figs, dates, olive, bulgur, chickpeas, artichoke, fava bean or saffron [...]
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Braided sole with pistachio pesto

This sole does not have to be braided; it can be served as a standard fillet; it is just more fun to braid it. The pistachio pesto lends itself well to the delicate taste of the sole, but any white fish fillet will work just fine. Making the pistachio pesto is a bit more time [...]
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Choco sticks

Ever tried the Cadbury fingers? They are long and thin cookies shaped like a skinny finger, coated in chocolate (a childhood favorite). These are made with some LU cookies, but any butter cookie will work. The cookies are crushed and the resulting “flour” is used in lieu of regular flour in this recipe. These are [...]
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Spiced brioche rolls

There is a very traditional sweet bread/cake in Lebanon that used to be sold in the streets of Beirut by cart vendors; this cake is called sfoof and has a very distinct bright yellow color due to turmeric in the batter. Apparently, turmeric is a very beneficial spice and I had been looking for ways [...]
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Sweet vermicelli pasta (Sh’ariyeh be-sukkar)

In the Lebanese kitchen, capellini or vermicelli pasta is used on a daily basis to make our rice and pasta pilaf. This is a sweet version I read about in Ina’am Atalla’s Simply Lebanese. Mrs Atalla recalls how this dessert used to be her mother’s standby when people would drop by for a visit (a [...]
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