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52 recipes

Kebab khashkhash

In Aleppo's grill houses, kebab khashkhash comes to the table sizzling: long, juicy skewers of lamb mince with pepper paste and chilli, laid over flatbread and covered with a hot, chunky sauce of tomatoes, garlic, chilli and parsley that soaks into the bread. It is bold and fiery, eaten with grilled tomatoes and green chillies and a cold glass of ayran. Common mistake: using lean mince — kebabs need around 20% fat to stay juicy on the grill. Chef's tip: chill the shaped skewers for 30 minutes before grilling so the meat clings and doesn't slip off.

45 min

Syrian Meat

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Tamar hindi

During Ramadan in Damascus, street sellers in bright waistcoats pour tamar hindi from tall brass jugs on their backs, clinking cups to call buyers before iftar. The drink is a deep brown infusion of tamarind, sweetened and sharpened with lemon and a touch of rose or orange blossom, served ice cold to quench a day's thirst. It is fruity, tangy and refreshing, and made in a big batch to keep in the fridge. Common mistake: boiling the tamarind hard — gentle soaking gives a clean taste, while boiling makes it muddy. Chef's tip: strain twice, the second time through a cloth, for a clear, glossy drink.

15 min

Syrian Drinks

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Shakriyeh

In Damascus, shakriyeh is festive food, cooked for Eid and for welcoming guests because its creamy white sauce is considered a sign of good luck. Lamb on the bone is simmered until tender, then finished in yoghurt that has been stabilised and cooked down into a smooth, tangy sauce with garlic and dried mint. It is spooned over vermicelli rice and eaten piping hot. Common mistake: adding yoghurt straight from the fridge into boiling stock — it splits; cook the yoghurt separately first and stir in one direction. Chef's tip: keep half a cup of the meat broth to thin the sauce at the end — it should flow like single cream.

135 min

Syrian Meat

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Dawood basha

Named, so the story goes, after an Ottoman governor who loved it, dawood basha is a homely Damascus and Beirut supper of small spiced meatballs simmered with baby onions in tomato sauce, finished with pine nuts. Families serve it ladled over vermicelli rice, and it is one of the first dishes Syrian children learn to love. The sauce is lightly tangy from pomegranate molasses and fragrant with allspice and cinnamon. Common mistake: crowding the meatballs when browning — they steam instead of colouring; fry in batches. Chef's tip: grate a little onion into the meat and squeeze out the juice first; the meatballs stay tender without falling apart.

65 min

Syrian Meat

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Freekeh bil djaj

Freekeh — young green wheat harvested and roasted over fire in the fields of Hauran and the Syrian countryside — has a smoky, nutty taste that makes this dish special. Chicken is poached with whole spices, and its broth is used to cook the freekeh into a fluffy pilaf, then everything is topped with the browned chicken and toasted almonds. It is a dish for Sunday gatherings and Eid, served with yoghurt and cucumber. Common mistake: not picking over the freekeh; it often has tiny stones and husks, so spread it on a tray and check. Chef's tip: brown the poached chicken in butter or under the grill before serving for colour and crisp skin.

95 min

Syrian Chicken

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Kebab karaz

Kebab karaz is Aleppo's most celebrated dish, cooked in early summer when the small, sour cherries (wild mahaleb cherries in the old days) come into season. Little grilled or fried lamb meatballs are simmered briefly in a deep red, sweet-sour cherry sauce, then served on pieces of flatbread that soak up the juices, scattered with parsley and pine nuts. It is rich, fruity and quite unlike anything else in the Levant. Common mistake: using sweet cherries alone — the sauce turns jammy; you need sour cherries, or sweet ones sharpened with lemon and pomegranate molasses. Chef's tip: frozen pitted sour cherries work perfectly all year round.

60 min

Syrian Meat

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Qamar al-din

Damascus is famous for its apricots, and much of the summer harvest is pressed into thin orange sheets of apricot leather called qamar al-din. In Ramadan, almost every Syrian home soaks a sheet overnight and blends it into a thick, velvety drink to break the fast — it is sweet, slightly tart and full of energy after a long day. Serve it chilled, sometimes with a few soaked pine nuts on top. Common mistake: blending without soaking long enough; the leather needs time to soften or the drink is gritty. Chef's tip: add a splash of orange blossom water and a squeeze of lemon to wake up the apricot flavour.

10 min

Syrian Drinks

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Shaabiyat

Shaabiyat is one of the jewels of Aleppo's pastry shops, made in huge trays for weddings and for Eid visits: buttery filo folded into triangles around a cool, thick milk cream, baked until golden and shatteringly crisp, then splashed with syrup and topped with ground pistachio. The cream stays cool and soft inside the crackling layers. Serve within a few hours of baking. Common mistake: letting the filo dry out while you work — keep the sheets under a damp tea towel. Chef's tip: syrup must be cold and the pastry hot when they meet, so it soaks in without making the layers soggy.

65 min

Syrian Desserts

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Kibbeh safarjalieh

Aleppo is known as the city of a hundred kibbehs, and kibbeh safarjalieh is its autumn showpiece, made when quinces turn golden in the markets. Stuffed kibbeh are simmered with chunks of quince and a little lamb in a sauce sharpened with pomegranate molasses and lemon and scented with dried mint. The fruit softens and blushes pink, and the sauce is sweet, sour and fragrant all at once. Serve with plain rice or bread. Common mistake: cutting the quince too early; it browns fast, so drop each piece into lemon water as you go. Chef's tip: leave the quince skin on — it holds the pieces together and helps colour the sauce.

110 min

Syrian Meat

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Tabakh roho

Tabakh roho means 'it cooks itself', and this Damascus summer stew does just that: chunks of lamb, aubergine, courgette, potatoes, peppers and tomatoes are layered in a pot with garlic and dried mint and left to simmer quietly until everything is soft and the juices have mingled. Home cooks make it in July and August when the vegetables are cheapest, and it is eaten with rice or bread. Common mistake: stirring it — the layers should stay intact so each vegetable keeps its shape. Chef's tip: put the potatoes at the bottom where the heat is strongest and the tomatoes on top so their juices baste everything below.

115 min

Syrian Meat

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Sambousek bi jibneh

Hot sambousek bi jibneh are the first thing to vanish from a Syrian mezze spread or a Ramadan iftar table, where Damascene and Aleppan cooks fry dozens at a time. A tender olive-oil pastry is folded around white cheese, parsley and nigella seeds, then crimped with a fork or twisted into a rope edge and fried or baked until blistered and golden. Eat them warm, when the cheese is soft and stringy. Common mistake: using a salty cheese straight from the brine — soak akkawi or halloumi for an hour first. Chef's tip: mix a little mozzarella into the filling for that stretchy pull. Akkawi, halloumi and mozzarella are often made with animal rennet; use vegetarian-rennet versions if needed.

65 min

Syrian Snacks & Starters

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Harrak osbao

The name means 'he burnt his finger', and the Damascene story goes that it is so good people can't wait for it to cool. Brown lentils and fresh pasta are cooked together in a sour sauce of tamarind and pomegranate molasses, then topped with coriander, garlic, crisp fried onions and fried bread so every bite is soft, tangy and crunchy at once. It is a Lenten and summer favourite in Damascus, served at room temperature with flatbread. Common mistake: frying the croutons and onions too early; they go soft on top of the lentils, so add them just before serving. Chef's tip: use a mix of pomegranate molasses and tamarind for a rounder sourness than either alone.

80 min

Syrian Vegetarian

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Booza

In the covered Hamidiyeh souk in Damascus, men pound booza in frozen metal drums with long wooden pestles, and the thump of the mallets is part of the show. The ice cream is milky, chewy and elastic, thanks to sahlab (orchid-root flour) and mastic, then rolled in crushed pistachios. This home version thickens the milk with sahlab powder or cornflour and beats it as it freezes to get that stretch. Serve in scoops or slices, plain or with a spoon of rose syrup. Common mistake: grinding the mastic alone, which turns gummy; always pound it with a spoonful of sugar. Chef's tip: real sahlab gives the true chew, but a mix of cornflour and a pinch of guar gum gets very close.

35 min

Syrian Desserts

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Makdous

Every autumn, Damascus kitchens fill with jars of makdous as families preserve the last of the small aubergines for the winter breakfast table. The aubergines are boiled, salted and pressed for a day, then stuffed with walnuts, red pepper, garlic and chilli and packed under olive oil to cure until tangy and tender. A couple of them, split on a plate with bread, labneh and tea, is the classic Syrian morning. Common mistake: skipping the pressing — any water left in the aubergines can spoil the jar. Chef's tip: keep the jar in the fridge and always lift them out with a clean fork; homemade preserves in oil should be kept chilled and eaten within a month for safety.

55 min

Syrian Basics

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Ma'arouk

As soon as Ramadan begins, bakeries in Damascus and Aleppo stack up golden loaves of ma'arouk, a soft, slightly sweet brioche-like bread that people buy on the way home to break the fast. The dough is perfumed with mahlab (ground cherry stones), topped with nigella and sesame seeds, and is often braided or filled with date paste. Eat it warm with tea, or toasted the next morning with white cheese. Common mistake: adding too much flour while kneading; the dough should stay soft and a little tacky for a tender crumb. Chef's tip: brush with sugar syrup as soon as the loaves leave the oven — it gives the classic shine and keeps the crust soft.

55 min

Syrian Baking

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Ghraybeh

Across Syria, Lebanon and Palestine, trays of ghraybeh appear for Eid and weddings next to ma'amoul; in Aleppo they are often shaped into little bracelets with a pistachio at the join. Made from just ghee, icing sugar and flour, they are so tender they crumble as soon as you bite, and they should stay ivory-white, never brown. Serve with strong coffee or mint tea. Common mistake: baking until golden — they should come out pale and still soft, and firm up as they cool. Chef's tip: whip the ghee and sugar for a full 10 minutes until white and fluffy; that is what gives the melting texture.

40 min

Syrian Baking

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Erk sous

In the lanes of old Damascus and Aleppo, the erk sous seller is heard before he is seen, clacking brass cups as he walks with a great curved jug strapped to his back. His drink is liquorice root, slowly dripped through with cold water, dark, earthy, faintly bitter and naturally sweet, poured with a flourish over the shoulder during Ramadan iftars and hot afternoons. At home a sieve and a cloth do the job. The mistake people make is pouring boiling water over the root, which pulls out harsh bitterness; cold water and patience give a smooth, foamy drink. Liquorice root raises blood pressure if you drink a lot of it, so keep to a glass or two a day and skip it if you are pregnant or have high blood pressure. Chef's tip: a pinch of bicarbonate of soda in the damp root gives the drink its traditional thick, frothy head.

15 min

Syrian Drinks

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Barazek

Barazek are the cookies Damascene families bring out for Eid and to go with an afternoon glass of tea: thin, crisp and buttery, with a glassy crust of sesame seeds held on with honey on top and a scattering of chopped pistachios pressed into the bottom. They are made by the tin-load in Damascus sweet shops and keep for weeks. Common mistake: using untoasted sesame — they should be lightly toasted before going on, or the cookies taste raw. Chef's tip: dip the sesame side into the honey syrup and then the seeds, not the other way round; you get an even, shiny layer that bakes to amber.

50 min

Syrian Baking

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Mamounieh

In the old souks of Aleppo, mamounieh shops open at dawn, serving bowls of this hot, buttery semolina pudding to workers before the day starts. Semolina is toasted in butter, then cooked in a light syrup until it sets soft and spoonable, and dusted with cinnamon; Aleppans eat it with a slice of salty white cheese and warm bread on the side, which makes the sweetness sing. Common mistake: pouring cold syrup onto the hot semolina; use hot syrup so it doesn't seize into lumps. Chef's tip: toast the semolina only to pale straw colour — any darker and it loses its delicate milky flavour. Akkawi and halloumi are often made with animal rennet; choose a vegetarian white cheese if needed.

25 min

Syrian Breakfast & Brunch

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Kaassoufflé

Despite the French-sounding name, a Dutch kaassoufflé has nothing to do with a baked soufflé. It is a snack-bar classic, fried in the frituur of every cafetaria from Groningen to Maastricht: a rectangle of thin pastry wrapped around a slab of young Gouda, coated in breadcrumbs and deep-fried until the cheese inside goes molten. It is the vegetarian's answer to the kroket, eaten at lunch or on the way home from football, with a squeeze of mayonnaise or sweet chilli sauce. Chef's tip: chill the filled, breaded pockets for at least 30 minutes before frying; cold pastry and cheese stay sealed in the hot oil, while warm ones burst and leak.

40 min

Dutch Snacks & Starters

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Poffertjes

The smell of poffertjes drifts across every Dutch kermis (funfair), Christmas market and summer street festival, where they are flipped by the hundred on a cast-iron plate full of shallow hollows. They are tiny, puffy, yeasted pancakes made partly with buckwheat, served a dozen at a time on a cardboard dish with a slab of melting butter and a snowfall of icing sugar. At home you need a poffertjespan, a pan with small round dips; a Danish æbleskiver pan is too deep. Chef's tip: put the batter in a squeeze bottle or a piping bag; filling 30 hollows quickly by spoon is almost impossible, and the first ones burn while you fill the last.

45 min

Dutch Desserts

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Vegetarian erwtensoep

Erwtensoep, or snert, is the soup that Dutch skaters drink from paper cups at the koek-en-zopie stalls on frozen lakes, and that families leave to simmer on a Saturday in January. A proper snert is so thick that a spoon should stand upright in the pan, and it tastes better on the second day. The traditional pot is full of pork and smoked sausage; this version gets its depth from celeriac, leek, a little smoked paprika and a long, slow simmer. Serve it with dark rye bread (roggebrood), butter and mustard. Chef's tip: stir the bottom of the pan every 10 minutes in the last half hour; split peas settle as they thicken and catch easily, and a scorched taste spreads through the whole pot.

140 min

Dutch Soups

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Bitterballen

Order a round of drinks in an Amsterdam brown café and a plate of bitterballen will follow: small crumbed balls with a crackling shell and a molten centre of beef ragout, eaten with a dab of sharp mustard. They are the classic borrel snack across the Netherlands, served at parties and receptions as well as in bars. The filling is a thick roux sauce with slow-cooked shredded beef that has to set firm in the fridge before it can be rolled. The usual failure is a filling that is too soft, so the balls split open in the oil; cook the ragout until it is very thick and chill it for at least four hours. Chef's tip: crumb them twice (egg, crumbs, egg, crumbs) and freeze them for 20 minutes before frying for a shell that never bursts.

180 min

Dutch Snacks & Starters

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Hutspot

Every year on 3 October the city of Leiden celebrates Leidens Ontzet, the end of the Spanish siege of 1574, and the whole town eats hutspot. The story goes that a hungry boy found a pot of stewed root vegetables left behind in the abandoned Spanish camp. Today it is a rough, orange mash of winter carrots, onions and potatoes boiled together in one pot, then stamped coarsely with butter. In the rest of the Netherlands it turns up all autumn and winter as a weekday supper. It is traditionally served with slow-braised beef (klapstuk); here it goes with a fried egg or a spoon of piccalilli, which suits it just as well. Chef's tip: layer the vegetables with the potatoes on top and the carrots at the bottom, in just enough water to reach the potatoes; the potatoes steam, the carrots soak up the flavour of the onions, and nothing turns watery.

45 min

Dutch Vegetarian

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