Middle Eastern recipes, a pan - Middle Eastern thread

Level of cooking considered “correct” has everything to do with cultural conditioning.

“Overcooked” applied to seafood, liver, steak, and so on are rarely if ever descriptors found in non-western cultures.

I don’t like pink liver at all. Definitely not for me. More for the other ppl who like it like that.

The last time I got sick after a really nice dinner was probably a combination of the richness of some rather pink foie Gras (the fattiness being the culprit, not the colour) and some generous pours of wine for this lightweight on my last trip to Montreal in 2019. At one of my favourite restaurants, Maison Publique, which has since closed.

I’ll probably avoid all pinkish liver moving fwd.

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Sorpotel is a thing of beauty! My mother ‘s version was wonderful! I’ve never made it because of all the work involved. It’s been decades since I last had it.

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Foie gras and sauternes are a delicious combination that have been the source of repeated regret :joy::yum:

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My dad’s favorite Goan dish. A family friend used to make it, as did he from their recipe every now and then. (My mom would later seek it out for him from home cooks who sold small batches at church fairs.)

Not my thing, even though he always made us taste, as with everything :joy: (neither was real deal Goa sausage). I think the vinegar was too strong for my palate as a child, in conjunction with the gaminess of the liver and probably the blood.

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I picked this post at random to reply to. I do like rare meat and pink liver. But I also like well cooked meat. It all depends on the technique of the cook. My Mom served liver (probably beef not calf) to us when I was a child, it was horrible, tough as shoe leather, you had to chew and chew. Bacon did not redeem it. Miraculously, in my first legal job I took a business trip to LA on a big contested takeover. All first class, etc. We went out the first night to a Michelin level French resto in Beverley Hills, maybe Mq Maison ( a long time ago) There was all sorts of wonderful stuff on offer and for some reason I decided to order their liver, reasoning that if I was ever going to like liver, I would have a chance to appreciate it there. The liver was med rare, seared, exquisitely sauced and scrumptious. i have been a liver fancier ever since. Love italian liver dishes with sage as in tuscany or onions (as in venice), pork liver grilled with bay leaves “in the net”, turkish liver meze (very good in my hotel resto in Istanbul last year. I have tried to cook in indian style chicken liver curry but failed to produce an enjoyable dish. They are not always rare tho usually, but good versions seem always to be cooked with attention to the sear and not cooked til the liquid starts running out. I think keeping the liver from drying out is the critical factor I still cant figure out how mom ate that awful liver she served us (and I had pretty bad liver in Nova Scotia a couple of years ago) rued ordering it. So I think I agree that cultural conditioning and expectation has a lot to do with how the liver is cooked and appreciated

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I grew up eating chicken liver pâté that was cooked in a water bath, that’s a little more beige than pink. I don’t really appreciate most liver dishes, apart from pâté, liverwurst, Vietnamese pâté used in some Banh Mis, and Sarge’s chopped liver.

I liked Sarge’s chopped liver so much that I thought that meant I would like other chopped liver. I ordered a chopped liver bagel sandwich at an appetizing shop in Toronto that is a knock-off of Russ & Daughters. I took a bite, didn’t like the liver. Tried again with a second bite. Really did not like it. Tried a third bite. Ultimately, I scraped the liver off the bagel and ate the bagel. I would eat Sarge’s chopped liver again. I haven’t felt the urge to try any others. LOL.

Also like a Jacques Pepin recipe I do, come to think of it. I should just deglaze with Pom molasses the next time. I like his home cooking recipes as they’re generally simple and fast.

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My favorite cookie is Gribee (Lebanese pistachio shortbread), from Nancy Bagett’s “International Cookie cookbook”. I couldn’t find the recipe online to post a link here. If there’s any interest, I can post the recipe here. Picture attached. I don’t have the patience to roll the dough, chill (the dough), use a cutter, etc, so I make cylinders that I chill and cut. That’s the reason they are not uniform.

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Lambs liver with bacon and onions is a classic British dish. It used to appear for dinner every couple of weeks when I was a child. And Mum cooked it exactly as your Mom cooked it - tough as shoe leather. It was horrible. No wonder folk now cook it less.

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@BarneyGrubble I found this recipe for Lebanese pistachio shortbread / “Gribee” from Nancy Baggett’s International Cookie cookbook (the cookie / biscuit seems to be called Ghraybeh more broadly).

Reminds me of Indian Nankhatai (which is eggless).

https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19921202/1527786/todays-recipes-shortbread----pistachio-shortbread

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That’s exactly it! Very highly recommended! Thanks for posting the link.

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