Mark Hix recipes: Eastern Mediterranean cuisine revels in teasingly exotic combinations of fruits, seeds and spices

While holed up during a snowstorm in Lebanon, our chef got the chance to sample some of the region's fantastic fare

Saturday 20 February 2016 00:33 GMT
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Roast quails in pomegranate molasses and sumac
Roast quails in pomegranate molasses and sumac

On a wine trip to Lebanon you wouldn't expect to to be rescued from your hotel following a heavy snowstorm, but that's exactly what happened a few weeks back when I visited the Massaya winery in Zahle. Still though, while we were holed up it gave me a chance to sample some of the region's fantastic fare, in which all kinds of exotic flavours abound. These recipes feature characteristically sweet, earthy tastes.

Roast quails in pomegranate molasses and sumac

Serves 4

In Lebanon the traditional bird for this dish is a tiny little thing they call a fig bird. You aren't going to find them here so the nearest we have would be quail or poussin, which will both work well.

Salt and freshly ground black pepper
A couple knobs of butter, softened
8 oven-ready quail
6-7tbsp pomegranate molasses
The seeds from 1 pomegranate
1tbsp sumac

Preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. Season and butter the quails and roast in the oven in a baking tray for 15 minutes. Stir in the pomegranate molasses and continue cooking for another 10-15 minutes or so, stirring during cooking until the birds are nicely glazed. To serve, transfer to a warmed serving dish and scatter with the pomegranate seeds, then sprinkle over the sumac.

Saffron-and-pistachio bread and butter pudding

Serves 4-6

This is a take on our traditional bread and butter pudding with slightly more creaminess to it and the addition of saffron and pistachio. I used the pumpkins in sugar syrup (below) for the glaze here, with the bits of pumpkins chopped into small pieces, which worked really well as a topping with the pistachio.

30g raisins soaked in warm water for a couple hours
4 slices of bread with crusts removed
A good knob of butter, melted, plus extra butter for the oven dish
600ml single cream
A good pinch of saffron strands
3 whole eggs
6 egg yolks
60g caster sugar
3-4tbsp melted apricot jam to glaze (or the pumpkin in sugar syrup)
1-3tbsp shelled pistachios, lightly toasted

Saffron-and-pistachio bread and butter pudding

Preheat the oven to 175C/gas mark 4. Lightly butter an ovenproof dish measuring about 25 x 20 cm and roughly 5-6cm deep. Drain the raisins and scatter into the dish. Quarter the bread slices, brush with some melted butter and arrange over the raisins, overlapping and covering the whole thing.

Bring the cream and saffron to the boil. Mix the eggs, egg yolks and sugar together then pour over the cream and whisk until well mixed, then carefully pour over the bread, rearranging the slices in the dish if necessary.

For the cooking, you'll need to have a deep tray, such as a roasting pan, larger than the pudding dish. Stand the pudding dish in the tray and pour boiling water around the sides, three-quarters of the way up the dish. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the custard has just set. Remove from the tray and leave to cool for a short while. Finally, brush the bread slices with the jam and scatter over the pistachio nuts.

Pumpkin in sugar syrup

Makes a couple 1ltr Kilner or other such preserving jars

You can serve this as a dessert with yoghurt or it makes a great accompaniment to cheese. As you've already seen, I even used it chopped up to glaze bread and butter pudding. For variety, you could add a bit of spice such as cloves, cinnamon or dried chilli flakes, to this if you wish.

1kg of pumpkin or butternut squash flesh, cut into rough 2cm chunks
The juice of 4 limes
1.2 ltrs water
600g granulated or jam sugar
The juice of 1 lemon

Pumpkin in sugar syrup makes a great accompaniment to cheese

Put the pieces of pumpkin in a bowl with the lime juice and just cover with water, then leave overnight. When you are ready to begin cooking, drain and dry with kitchen paper.

Bring the water and sugar to a simmer until the sugar has dissolved, then add the pumpkin pieces and lemon juice and cook for about 40-45 minutes until the pumpkin is tender and the liquid is thick and syrupy. If the liquid hasn't thickened then simply drain it off and continue boiling until it does.

Transfer the hot pumpkin and syrup into sterilised preserving jars and seal the lids while still hot. Leave to cool, then you can store in a cool dry place for up to six months.

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