Middle Eastern Spicing.

I am confident that I am at a point in my culinary career where I understand how Indian and sub-Indian spices are used.  Where I am not quite so brazen is with middle eastern spices.  I am not the worlds biggest fan of cinnamon - I don't mind some whole stick used to temper a curry, but I find the powdered stuff too sweet and obnoxious.  I put it down to having had to walk around "Mall of America" some years ago, with a searing hangover and having to smell the onslaught of cinnamon bagels from every angle.

Another frequent component of middle-eastern cooking are pine nuts - an additional ingredient I am not a huge proponent of.  Whenever I eat them their creamy consistency makes me think I am eating insect larvae.


Having said that, I do love the cuisine from this area.  I have eaten a lot of Lebanese food (in London) and we have travelled as a family around Jordan - I adore fuul.  


Two of my favourite cookbooks in the world are "Moro" and "Casa Moro" - the dynamic spread of Iberian and Middle eastern cooking in both of those books have been catalytic in my comprehension and appreciation from this region of the world.

One recipe in particular I come back to time and time again.  It is a recipe that is rather simple to make, but you can use it to show-off with your friends - it's rather theatrical.

Potato cakes stuffed with lamb

•     Boil 700g of peeled potatoes.  When they are soft, remove from the heat and mash.  
•  In a frying pan add some butter and a little oil.  Finely chop an onion and add it to the pan.
•  Casa Moro recipe does not call for garlic, but I think it is essential in this dish.  Add 2 finely chopped garlic cloves.
•  When the onions have softened and browned a little add:
•   3 cloves, ground to powder
•   The ground black seeds of 3 (Moro says green, I prefer black) cardamoms
•   A healthy pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
•   A tiny amount, 1/5 tsp ground cinnamon (Moro says more, but I think it overpowers)
•   Some ground black pepper
•   I add a finely ground hot red chilli - I think it needs it, though this is omitted by Moro

•  Fry the spices in the onions for 1 minute
•  Add 250g minced lamb.  Don't stir fry it, try to get a caramelized crust on the lamb.  This takes 10 minutes or so on a medium heat
•  Add a teaspoon of tomato puree
•  Add one teaspoon of salt (or to taste)
•  Add a bunch of finely chopped fresh parsley
•  Moro requests pine nuts, but I don't like them
•  Stir the mixture and remove from the heat
•  Add a tablespoon of flour to the mashed potatoes and mix.
•  Take a quarter of the potato mixture.  Flatten into a disc about the diameter of the palm of your hand.
•  Take a nice heaped tablespoon of the lamb mixture. Place in the centre of the potato disc.
•  Slowly, by cupping your hands bring the sides of the potato up around the mixture.  You will get to the point where there is just a little hole at the top, where the lamb mixture is.
•  Sometimes I try to cram as much spiced lamb as I can in.  Seal the hole.
•   You should have a hearty-sized potato cake.  Repeat for the other remaining 3 cakes.
•   Add some olive oil to a decent frying pan.  Medium heat.
•   Put the cakes in, 2 at a time and fry.  Do not be tempted to turn them too early.  You need to build up a golden crust.
•   Repeat for the other 2 cakes.

If you look at my picture you will see one perfectly formed, golden-crusted cake, and one that looks a bit "mish-mash".  Last night I cooked 4 at a time, 2 in 2 different pans.  One pan was a well known, orange French manufacturer, the other a cheap frying pan.  It just goes to show how a decent frying pan is such a worthwhile investment.  The cheap pan did not conduct the heat as effectively, and consequently the cakes were a bit mushy.