Şiş kebap - Towards a dissertation on Kabab

In the summer of 1980 I holidayed on the Greek Island of Spetses. There, on the terrace of a 'village room', I spent several late afternoons in fits of giggles as a result of reading 'Dissertation sur le ou la Keftedes ...' a serious but hilarious essay by Daniel Spoerri - a late Fluxus artist best known for his 'Snare Pictures' or 'picture traps' - many involving food, eating and evidence left behind by gatherings of his friends. (Picture: Wikimedia Commons). His work is also in the Tate

Originhally written in 1970 Spoerri's essay tracks the meatball around Europe, the Balkans and the Mediterranean drawing out the differences and similarities as well as the cultural meaning of the meatball whilst recounting meals with friends and the recipes used.

Over the years I've eaten various Kebabs (کباب) in locations spanning Essoueria in the West to Muscat in the East and from Istanbul in the North to Jeddah in the South and collected recipes and notes along the way. I have often been tempted to undertake a similar study to Spoerri's but concerning the Kebab. But not tonight! I need to make the meshoui... عملنا حفل شواء اليوم

As the heatwave continues we need to keep it simple. Tonight's fare - şiş kebap - would be as at home on an Anatolian beach, a Bospherous Yali, a south London garden or on an allotment in East London bordered by the River Lea. I take my marinade from Sam & Sam Clarkes' third Moro book - Moro East
.

2 Garlic Cloves crushed
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tspn sweet paprika
2 tspn cumin seeds roughly ground
2 tspn coriander seeds roughly ground
Big pinch of Saffron soaked
3 tblspn fresh coriander - roughly chopped
150g whole Greek yoghurt
2 tblspn finely grated onion
Fresh black pepper ground

The Clarkes would use cubed leg but, as we are three, even half a leg is too much. I'm using neck fillet of Welsh Lamb from Waitrose. This is OK but not top knotch. Whizz all the marinade ingredients in the Magimix, cube the lamb and leave it in the marinade at room temperature for at least 2 hours. (Make sure the meat is at room temperature before it is grilled). Grill quickly so that the meat is slightly charred on the outside and still quite rare within.

We serve our şiş with grilled peppers, flat bread, more yoghurt - flavoured with garlic and salt, a pile of fresh mint chopped finely and a salad of whatever is fresh.

Mmmm..delicious!

The young man returns from a hard days shopping in KHS and Portobello with a surprise present for desert:







E471, E282, E466, E170, E339, E406, E410, E491, Sulphur Dioxide and Salt.

Mmmm..delicious!

Merguez, butchers & Soho in the 70s

I discovered Merguez in 1976 when, as a student, I began to explore the delights of Soho. At that time Brewer Street boasted three butchers. Randall and Aubin was a traditional butcher with a ceramic tiled interior and sawdust on the floor; (it later metamorphosed into a twee coffee shop of the same name and now, as a restraurant, bills itself as 'Soho's Hippest Eatery' - sigh!). Slater & Cook, Bisney and Jones was a more modern affair. Essentially up-market with stainless steel fittings behind the white tiled frontage and a substantial catering supply business. One could buy the best sweetbreads here. Alas this too was to disappear as leaseholds came up in the 80s. It became a Fresh & Wild.

But as a student, whilst I used these two from time to time, my everyday butcher was Dalli's - it was the cheapest of the three and always had the most interesting offal. J and J Dalli occupied the corner of Brewer Street and Lower John Street. The Dalli's were Tunisian and it was natural for them to make Merguez - though in the seventies these delicious sausages were not yet widely sold in the UK. They would use lamb shoulder as the base bulked with other lamb trimmings and fat and spiced with home-made harissa, sumac, garlic, paprika and fennel seed. Once coarsely ground and mixed they would stuff the paste into lamb intestine that they had cleaned and tie them off. The resulting sausage was a revelation to this young student and prompted my interest in the food of the Mahgreb. (Interestingly, Alan Davidson in the Oxford Companion, who is usually definitive on all things culinary has merguez made with beef. But I can find no other reference to this).

What with the predicted heat wave this week, we're going to start cooking outside on the charcoal stove. Whilst Merguez are often served with Cous Cous I also serve them with potato and that's the plan tonight. Grilled Merguez, cold boulangere potato, bread and a Mechouia (salad of peppers, onions, garlic cloves and tomatoes cooked in the embers) with a bottle of Twentyeight Road Mourvedre 2005 ...



Meanwhile Dalli's too has gone, superseded by another bland coffee shop. I guess Merguez production says it all. Producing the sausage is incredibly labour intensive, but it is sold at a raw material price. Coffee, sandwiches and prepared food can all be marked up by considerably more and that's why today there are no butchers in Soho.

Tabouna...Focaccia

Of course with Merguez we should really bake some Tabouna - but I don't have a reliable and authentic recipe. So we make foccacia. (Tabouna photo: Nafaar on Flickr)

Focaccia

8g dried yeast
280 ml luke warm water
7 Tblsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 tsp sea salt
2 Tblsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
500 g unbleached white bread flour
2 tsp coarse sea salt (I used Maldon)

Place half the flour in a large bowl, add the salt, chopped rosemary and mix briefly. Tip in the yeast and mix well. Pour in all the water and 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Mix until the flour is incorporated.

Gradually work in enough of the remaining flour to make a soft but not sticky dough. You may or may not need all the flour - depending on the flour and the kitchen conditions

Knead for 10 minutes until smooth or 5 minutes slowly in a mixer with dough hook.

Leave to rise in a lightly oiled mixing bowl covered with cling film until doubled in size. (About 2 hours).

Knock back and shape into a rectangle then press into a low baking tin (a swiss roll tin is perfect). Cover and let rise until doubled (about 45 minutes).

Make 1cm deep dimples in the dough at regular intervals with your finger. Cover and let double again. (About 45 minutes). While dough is rising again, preheat oven to 220C

Press rosemary leaves into the dimples and fill with the remainder of the olive oil. Sprinkle with Maldon sea salt and then bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Ready for the oven...

Cooked! On the rack and cooling.

'Rosbif'

Both the young man and the wife claim that Rosbif is their favourite. Of course, they also claim that numerous other things are their favourite when I cook these, but a rolled sirloin or (as tonight) a rib is always popular and a bit of a celebration.

I think I learned to roast beef from Jane Grigson's English Food" - one of the first recipe books that I ever bought. Just 23 minutes at 220 degrees on turbo fan setting are need to produce a pink and succulent 1 Kg roast rib...enough for the three of us and more.





I also use a recipe in English Food for the Yorkshires. Jane's recipe and the whole story of Prize-Winning Chinese Yorkshire pudding is recounted here. According to the Guardian, which covered the competition, 'his ingredients [were] oddly arranged, but his pudding swelled to the height of a coronation crown'

And they do!

The young man is back...

The young man is back from Winchester for the summer and (amazingly) is fourteen to boot. As the Headman explained in his talk at the beginning of the year, whilst food in the house is excellent, food at home is always better. So it will be this summer.

We'll be spending the first couple of weeks in London and then decamping to Devon for the remainder of the vacs. I'll be chronicling the food we prepare and the friends we entertain over the course of the summer...