My Favorite Snack of All time - Muhammara
Photo by The Mediterranean Dish
Muhammara
Today’s post is a quick one. I wanted to make sure that you all had my recipe for my absolute favorite snack! It is a smokey, tangy, perfectly-spicy dip hailing from the Middle East. It is called muhammara and beware- it is addictive!
Nearly ever client I have made it for has become obsessed with its blend of roasted sweet and hot peppers, tomato, garlic, acidic pomegranate molasses, cumin, lemon, walnuts, and olive oil. When blended, it becomes an emulsion between the peppers and olive oil through the walnuts, giving it a creamy yet bright viscosity. If you make this and you love these sour flavor of the pomegranate molasses, consider making the Persian dish fasenjan, a true labor-of-love and another favorite of my client’s.
WHY I LOVE THIS RECIPE:
Great as a dip, on sandwiches, served with eggs or meat, accompaniment to roasted vegetables
Full of healthy fats from walnuts and olive oil
Bright and acidic thanks to the pomegranate molasses
Antioxidant rich from polyphenols from the peppers, tomato, and olive oil
Immune boosting garlic
Smokey taste from roasted peppers and cumin
Use where you would a Spanish Romesco sauce for variety
ROOTS:
Interestingly, I am Middle Eastern - Lebanese via Palestine, to be exact - but I wasn’t aware of this until the last decade. I was adopted by a wonderful wonderful family and was unaware of my roots until meeting my birth parents when I was 21. I knew I was of Arab descent then but didn’t know I was specifically Palestinian until a few years ago.
A LOVE MEANT TO BE:
Muhammara is traditionally a Syrian dish but I wanted to link it to one of my favorite, heart-warming stories. Coincidentally, during the same time as my search for my roots, my incredibly talented best friend, Chef Taylor Cheney of Yalla Seattle, had become immersed in cooking Arabic food. She subsequently ran Arabesque pop-ups around Seattle and ultimately opening her own Middle Eastern restaurant, Yalla Seattle. Her favorite regional cuisine became that of Palestine as well as Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt. I slowly began learning how to prepare traditional Middle Eastern dishes from Taylor, especially after she returned from living in Egypt and traveling throughout the Middle East to learn ancient unwritten recipes of the Arab world. Within a short amount of time, it also became my favorite dishes to cook: fresh, nutrient-dense, bright, herbaceous, aromatic, a mix of simple and time-consuming; I cook it regularly. You can just imagine our delight upon learning that her favorite cuisine - that of Palestine - shared the roots of her best friend all these years.
Tif and Tay
So as you see, muhammara and other Arab dishes are very special to me. My recipe may not be 100% traditional but I love it so. You may adjust the seasoning as you like it to make it one of your favorites, too.
Happy Eating,
xoxo Tif
