1,000 Foods To Eat Before You Die: A Food Lover's Life List (125 page)

Far more subtle, tender, and silky than our cherished calf’s liver, the lamb’s liver bears the meat’s same earthy, edgy meatiness. Often grilled over charcoal or wood along with lamb meat, the cubed liver is run onto skewers, alternating with bits of ivory fat and plenty of salt and pepper, to char lightly while remaining deliciously rose-pink within.

The Lebanese serve cubed lamb’s liver raw, sprinkled with only a bit of lemon juice, salt, and olive oil, as part of the awesome meze appetizer spread. Or they prepare it as
mi’laaq mashwi bi toum
, in which cubes of liver are spread with a paste of crushed garlic, salt, black pepper, olive oil, and dried mint and either run onto skewers and broiled or lightly sautéed in unsalted butter. Served with fresh lemon, this dazzling and simple appetizer can also be a garnish for roasted lamb.

Not to be outdone, the Turks and Albanians have their own tempting way with lamb’s liver. In
arnavut ciğeri
, the mildly anise-flavored liquor raki is the secret ingredient—used here
as an astringent seasoning and marinade for the cubed meat. Drained and lightly dredged in flour, the aromatic liver is given a two-minute toss in hot olive oil and served on platters ringed with slivers of salt-wilted onions and medium-hot red chile peppers, the latter offering a sprightly, crunchy contrast to the silky meat.

Mail order:
grassfedlamb.net
(when available).
Further information and recipes:
The Food and Wine of Greece
by Diane Kochilas (1993);
The Glorious Foods of Greece
by Diane Kochilas (2001);
Secrets of Cooking: Armenian, Lebanese, Persian
by Linda Chirinian (1986);
saveur.com
(search lamb’s liver with whiskey and cream);
epicurious.com
(search easter lamb soup).
Tip:
If you can find lamb’s liver and wish to prepare it simply at home, the rare treat shines when sliced and sautéed in butter with lemon juice, chopped parsley, and a good sprinkling of pungent capers. Lamb’s liver can also be substituted for calf’s liver in all recipes.

An array of mezze adorns a table fit for a feast.

What constitutes
mazzat
for the Lebanese, mezes for the Greeks, and
mezze
for the Turks (as well as
qimiyya
in Algeria and
ādū
in Tunisia, for the completists) is an often extensive collection of the small temptations we have come to think of as appetizers. Yet their traditional function is as nibbles that accompany drinks and wind up standing in for dinner, in the manner of Spanish tapas or American bar food. In all of these cultures, the mezes are served communally, with guests dipping into serving bowls with pieces of bread, most often pita or the thin, crisp
lavash.
(It is said that this communal dipping implies mutual trust between guests and hosts, assuring that none need fear being poisoned—and thus the spread fulfills its role as a comforting ice-breaker and mood builder.)

The array of mezes can be almost stupefying, at its most extensive veering upward of forty small plates per outing. Such a large assortment will include varieties of olives, chunks or slices of ripe tomatoes flecked with parsley, several legume salads, snowy white cubes of earthy goat feta tossed with oily black olives and thyme, and fresh, seasonal vegetables simply presented with a bit of oil and lemon. And then there are the meats, ranging from the usual suspects like
kibbeh
(see
following
) and various sausages to more unique offerings like boiled sheeps’ feet or diced raw lamb’s liver.

While each region has meze specialties of its own, some dishes are virtually universal, albeit with slight differences in seasoning. The following are a few of the most recognizable members of the array.

Tabbouleh.
Foremost among mezes is the sprightly, phenomenally healthful salad most closely associated with Lebanon but with a verdant appeal that has made it an international favorite. Best in its most classic form, it should involve lots of coarsely chopped Italian parsley leaves tossed with nutlike grains of the soaked, whole wheat kernels known as bulgur, all given perky flavors and textural contrast with minced new white onions or scallions, fresh mint leaves, and sunny glossings of lemon juice and olive oil. (See
listing
.)

Hummus.
Formally known as
hummus bi tahini
, this healthful puree of cooked chickpeas mixed with fragrantly sweet tahini (an oily sesame cream) and seasoned with hints of garlic and lemon juice is now virtually a worldwide staple. (See
listing
.)

Tahini.
The pure, creamy sesame paste, thinned with lemon juice and just enough water to make a mayonnaise-like consistency, may be enhanced with crushed garlic and salt to become a seductive dip on its own. It is also served as a sauce for grilled fish or for falafel in pita sandwiches.

Baba ghanoush.
This satiny, celadon-colored puree gets its distinctive character from smoked eggplants that are preferably cooked over a wood-fired grill or open flame. Grilled whole until their insides collapse, the eggplants are peeled and their flesh is whipped into light cloudlets with salt, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, and an enrichment of tahini. (See
listing
.)

Cacık.
Slivers of icy cucumber enfolded in a cool, creamy mix of yogurt, a little bit of water, and a heady pinch of crushed garlic and dried mint,
cacık
appears in various thicknesses—serving as salad, dip, or even soup.

Börek.
Tiny, flaky phyllo turnovers filled with meat, cheese, or spinach are crunchy regulars on meze platters.

Kibbeh.
A Lebanese specialty that has become a standard meze throughout the Middle East,
kibbeh
takes many forms. A soft, pasty blend of oniony lamb and whole wheat bulgur, it is made as authentically and as silkily as possible when tender raw lamb loin is pounded with coarse salt in a stone mortar with a wooden pestle.

Fritters and other fried foods.
A range of fritters, from cheese and zucchini to even calves’ or lambs’ brains, are significant parts of the meze. (In cultures where alcohol is permitted, the meze is traditionally served alongside copious amounts of alcohol, and so heavier foods tend to reign.)

Fish.
From fresh sardines and stuffed or fried mussels to fish smoked or marinated and grilled, the ocean lends a pungent depth to the meze (see
Midye Dolmasi and Midye Tava
).

To further compound the profusion of choices among such gastronomic riches, Iranian entries in the meze canon include
nan-o panir-o-gerdu
, a savory feta cheese and walnut dip made fragrant with basil, tarragon, mint, and garlic; the lentil dip called
adasi
, scented with orange and lime juices and angelica powder; and
kuku sabzi
, an aromatic, emerald-green herb frittata.

Other meze offerings may include slices of cold spicy sausages and pastirma (see
listing
), glistening meat aspics, vegetables such as string beans or okra stewed with tomatoes, and miniature dolmas (see
listing
), most especially those made with grape leaves.

The drink to pair with all of these enticements is an anise-flavored spirit that turns translucently milky when diluted with ice water—ouzo
to the Greeks, raki to the Turks, and arak in Lebanon and its environs. For observant Muslims, spring water, soft drinks, or fresh juices are the beverages of choice.

Where:
In Beirut
, for kibbeh, Al-Halabi, tel 961/452-3555;
in Brooklyn
, Tanoreen, tel 718-748-5600,
tanoreen.com
;
in Chicago
, The Parthenon, tel 312-546-3751,
theparthenon.reachlocal.net
;
in Houston
, Yia Yia Mary’s, tel 713-840-8665,
yiayiamarys.com
; Mary’z Lebanese Cuisine, tel 832-251-1955,
maryzcuisine.com
;
in Glendale, CA
, Phoenicia, tel 818-956-7800,
phoeniciala.com
;
in Montreal
, Barbounya, tel 514-439-8858,
barbounya.com
.
Further information and recipes:
A Mediterranean Feast
by Clifford A. Wright (1999);
A Taste of Persia
by Najmieh Batmanglij;
Arabesque
by Claudia Roden (2005);
The Glorious Foods of Greece
by Diane Kochilas (2001);
The Cuisine of Armenia
by Sonia Uvezian (2004).

Ana Sortun, Oleana’s chef.

Cambridge, Massachusetts, is rightly known as a place of learning—but for those with an adventurous palate and a taste for the exotic, its most valuable lessons may be those taught by Ana Sortun. Whether in her glowingly romantic but informal restaurant Oleana, or in Sofra, her bustling bakery-café, she puts together an entrancing curriculum based on the spices that have been her passion ever since her first experiences of Turkey and its cuisine.

Just about all of the Middle Eastern and Mediterranean herbs and spices are featured in her dishes—sometimes flavoring the fresh produce she and her husband grow on their farm—to captivating results. At Oleana, that might mean fried mussels graced with the Turkish
tarator
sauce that blends almonds and garlic, or spring’s first wild green nettles laced with Armenian halloumi string cheese and the sorrel-zapped yogurt cheese called
labneh
(see
listing
). Escargots are enfolded in the same shredded-wheat-like pastry used for the dessert
kadayıf
, and served with smoked hummus and tabbouleh based on nicely peppery watercress instead of the usual parsley.

Whether you try lamb with Turkish spices, fried, flattened lemon chicken enlivened by the spice mix
za’atar
, or a frothy lamb and eggplant moussaka, you will be plagued with regret when you see all the many other enticing dishes alighting around you.

Solution: Keep going back until you have tried them all, and take friends along for shared tastings.

No matter when you go to the small, lively bakery-café that is Sofra, be prepared to wait your turn, most especially for weekend
brunch. Homey, traditional dishes are the thing here, among them many soft, engaging mezes (see
listing
) and egg numbers—a wonderful version of the egg-green-pepper-onion-tomato mix that is
chakchouka
(see
listing
) stands out. With your cup of Turkish coffee, you can munch on a sesame-covered bagel-shaped
simit
(see
listing
), an array of lusciously stuffed flatbreads, or cakes whose spices would seduce a sultan.

Where:
In Cambridge, MA
, Oleana, 134 Hampshire St., tel 617-661-0505,
oleanarestaurant.com
; Sofra Bakery and Café, 1 Belmont St., tel 617-661-3161,
sofrabakery.com
.
Further information and recipes:
Spice: Flavors of the Eastern Mediterranean
by Ana Sortun (2006).