In June this year, the cookbook author Anissa Helou received a prestigious lifetime achievement award from the Guild of Food Writers, adding her name to a stellar list that includes Delia Smith, Rick Stein and Mary Berry. Her book Feast (2018) was chosen by the New Yorker as one of the 10 best cookbooks of the century so far.
Anissa, whose father was Syrian and mother was Lebanese, lived for the first 21 years of her life in Beirut. After studying in London, she worked for two decades in the art world before turning to food writing. Leafing through her lavish new book, Lebanon – in which she explores that country’s culinary diversity – it is impossible not to see the pastoral images of sea, boats and souks in the context of a country where the area south of Beirut is being bombarded by rounds of Israeli strikes.
Anissa’s journey across the country was undertaken in more peaceful times. “There aren’t very many places where you can have fish on the street unless you are in the Mina [fishing port] in Tripoli, where small fishing boats are moored just below the pavement,” she writes. “Across the road and slightly set back is a cluster of gorgeous old houses, sadly falling into ruin. And not too far from there, you will find a row of modest-looking cafes where you can enjoy two of the best sandwiches in the country: samkeh harrah [spicy fish] and akhtabūt [octopus].”
Here she shares a recipe given to her by Maher Jaber, the third-generation owner of the Mat’am Jaber restaurant in the Mina. “At Jaber, they use grey mullet, but you can also use cod fillet, or any other white sea fish that takes your fancy.
Words by Jane Ferguson
Anissa’s spicy fish wrap
Serves 6
Ingredients
1kg cod fillets, or your choice of fish
3 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, peeled, minced to a fine paste
½ bunch coriander (about 100g on the stalk), most of the stalks discarded, finely chopped
½ tsp ground coriander
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Tarator (lemon tahini dip – see below)
Sea salt
For the sandwiches4 medium pita breads, opened at the seam to have 8 layers
Garlic sauce (see below)
1 medium tomato, thinly sliced
75g shredded lettuce
Sea salt
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/Gas Mark 4.
Lay the cod fillets, skin side down, on a wire rack over a baking sheet. Bake the fish for 15 to 20 mins, until just done – this timing is for a fish brought to room temperature. You do not want to overcook the fish or it will be rubbery. Leave to cool. Flake into small pieces. Cover and set aside.
Put the olive oil, garlic, and fresh and ground coriander in a medium frying pan and place over medium heat. Cook, stirring all the time, until the smell rises. Then add the cumin and crushed red pepper flakes. Mix well and take off the heat. Set aside.
Make the tarator (see recipe below) using 125ml water. Pour into a small saucepan. Place over medium heat and bring to the boil, stirring regularly. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let the pan bubble gently, stirring every now and then, until a little oil (known as srijeh) rises to the surface. Add the sauteed coriander and simmer for a few more minutes. Take off the heat. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave to cool.
Drain any excess liquid from the fish and add it to the tahini sauce. Mix well. Taste and add salt if needed.
Lay two layers of pita, one on top of the other, rough side up, and spread a little garlic sauce down the middle, then spoon a generous amount of the fish mixture over the garlic sauce. Add a little tomato and lettuce and sprinkle with a little salt. Roll the bread over the filling and place the wrap in a preheated sandwich press to crisp it up a little. Half-wrap the sandwich in paper and serve immediately. If you don’t have a sandwich/panini press at home, you can create the same effect by lightly toasting the sandwich in a frying pan.
Tarator
Tarator is a lemony tahini dip that is served with falafel, fried cauliflower and fried fish. If you are going to use it as a dressing, you may want to thin it down with a little more water or lemon juice, depending on your preference, until it is the consistency of double cream. As a dip, you can vary it by adding very finely chopped herbs, such as parsley, coriander or tarragon, or spices such as Aleppo pepper, pepper paste, or any other flavouring at the end after you finish mixing the dip.
Ingredients
160g tahini
Juice of 1½ lemons, or to taste
100ml water (or 125ml if making as an accompaniment to the wrap)
1 to 2 cloves garlic, peeled, minced to a fine paste (omit for the fish wrap recipe)
Sea salt
Method
Put the tahini in a small mixing bowl and gradually add the lemon juice, stirring constantly. The tahini will thicken at first before it starts diluting again as you start adding the water. Taste the dip to adjust the tartness to your liking. If you think it needs more lemon juice, add the juice of another ½ lemon. Keep stirring until the sauce has the consistency of creamy yoghurt.
Add the garlic (when applicable) and salt to taste and mix well.
Garlic dip
Ingredients
20 large cloves garlic, peeled, brown ends sliced off and discarded
½ tsp fine sea salt, or to taste
250ml extra virgin olive or vegetable oil, or a mix of both, plus more if needed
Juice of ½ lemon, or to taste
1 or 2 ice cubes
Labneh to taste, to soften the sharpness of the dip, if needed
Method
Put the garlic and salt in a food processor and process until as smooth as you can get it, scraping the sides with a spatula every now and then.
Slowly drizzle the oil through the open part of the lid while still processing, as if you are making mayonnaise. The garlic paste will eventually emulsify with the oil to become fluffy without the need to add an egg yolk – some chefs add a little whipped egg white to make the dip whiter and fluffier. Once you have used up all the oil and the dip is completely fluffy, drizzle in the lemon juice, with the blade still turning. Finish with one or two ice cubes with the blade still turning. Taste and adjust the sharpness if needed – if it’s too pungent, drizzle in up to an extra 4 tbsps oil and whisk in a little labneh.
It will keep for a few days in the fridge in an airtight container.
Lebanon by Anissa Helou is published by Bloomsbury (RRP £30; buy it at a discount at the Nerve Bookshop)
Photography © Kristin Perers, Dalia Khamissy