This Christmas, be inspired by the hottest do-good food movement that has taken over the UK. #CookforSyria was born from a collaboration between Serena Guen, the founder of Suitcase Magazine and Unicef project NextGen London and London’s foodie superhero known to most by his Instagram moniker, Clerkenwell Boy.
With more than 150,000 followers on Instagram and another 17,000 plus on Twitter, he is one of UK’s most influential culinary tastemakers. The secretive influencer, known to a select few as Tim recently received the “Best Instagram Feed for Food Lovers” accolade at the Observer Food Monthly Awards in London.
“Serena asked if I could curate a one-off charity dinner with a chef in London in order to raise awareness and additional funds for Unicef UK’s Children of Syria appeal,” he exclusively told Gulf News tabloid! of the origins of the pop-up dinner phenomenon that culminated in the recently published book #CookforSyria. Eventually, the duo felt that creating something with wider reaching, longer lasting impact would be more effective. “The various #PrayFor campaigns on social media inspired the name and we decided that a campaign related to cooking iconic dishes with a Syrian-inspired twist would be a great way to introduce people to the unique flavours of Syrian cuisine as well as its rich history and culture, plus help to put a spotlight on the generation we are at risk of losing due to the ongoing crisis.”
Some of the UK’s top chefs came on board, cooking at the charity’s launch night and donating the recipes online to encourage others to #CookForSyria by hosting their own charity supper clubs or bake sales. As the word began to spread, the duo requested their favourite restaurants to put a #CookForSyria inspired dish on their menu for the month of November with a portion of the proceeds to be donated to the charity. In October, Dubai based culinary expert Dalia Dogmoch Soubra hosted a pop-up at Jamie Oliver’s restaurant, Fifteen, in London.
“#PrayFor… is a good sentiment but this movement put that spirit into action,” said Soubra. “As a Syrian, whose family is impacted by the devastation and more so as a human being, I felt it was my moral responsibility to help shed light on the cause.”
Looking for better opportunities, Soubra’s father moved from conflict-ridden Syria to Germany in 1970. Born in London and raised in Paris, she had the best of world cuisine at her doorstep and heirloom Syrian recipes, courtesy her mum, to come home to.
“Growing up in Paris really impacted my relationship with food,” she recalls. “In France, good food is a right and knowing how to cook is a must. My mum taught me how to cook traditional Syrian recipes the way her mum taught her.” College years in New York lent an appreciation for the simplicity of American comfort food. From New York to Beirut and finally in Dubai since 2007, Soubra’s knack for seeking inspiration from the cultures that surround her and manifesting that through food has seen her rise to the ranks of the region’s most influential culinary personalities. Her blog (daliaskitchen.com) lead to book deals with BBC Good Food; she recently launched her Youtube channel.
“Throughout my nomadic life, food been the one constant, the one thing that connects both my worlds, the East and the West,” she says. Sharing traditional Syrian recipes in #CookForSyria, Soubra wanted to showcase the nuances of her native cuisine that often gets lost in the crowd of other more commercialised Levant cookery schools such as Lebanese and Moroccan. “To partake in someone else’s homecooking has the power to build bridges, and create a deeper appreciation of our diverse cultures.” In putting Syria inspired dishes front and centre of a movement that gained traction on social media, #CookForSyria does just that.
#Cookforsyria is available in hardback on Amazon.co.uk for £17.00
Recipes from #Cookforsyria
Harak osbao by Yotam Ottolenghi (Serves 8-10)
Ingredients
40g tamarind, soaked in 200ml boiling water
250g fettuccine, broken up roughly
6tbs olive oil
2 red onions, thinly sliced (350g)
350g brown lentils
1 1/2 litre chicken stock
150ml water
2tbs pomegranate molasses
6 garlic cloves, crushed
30g coriander, roughly chopped
20g parsley, roughly chopped
90g pomegranate seeds
2 tsp sumac
2 lemons, cut into wedges
Flaky sea salt
Black pepper
Method
1. Separate pips from soaked tamarind. Strain the liquid into a small bowl and set aside.
2. Heat a large saucepan on medium-high heat. Toast fettuccine for 1-2 minutes until the pasta starts to brown. Keep aside.
3. Heat two tablespoons of oil in the same pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and fry for eight minutes, stirring frequently until golden. Remove and keep aside.
4. Bring chicken stock to a boil in the same pan on high heat. Add the lentils, reduce the heat to medium and cook for 20 minutes or until soft.
5. Add the toasted fettuccine, tamarind water, water, pomegranate molasses, salt (about 2 TBS) and lots of pepper.
6. Continue to cook for 8-9 minutes until almost all of the liquid has been absorbed and the pasta is done. Set aside for 10 minutes. The liquid will continue to be absorbed; the lentils and pasta should remain moist.
7. Heat a small saucepan on medium-high heat with two tablespoons of oil. Add the garlic and fry for 1-2 minutes, until just golden brown. Remove from the heat and stir in the coriander.
8. Spoon the lentils and pasta into a large, shallow serving bowl. Garnish with the garlic, coriander, parsley, pomegranate seeds, sumac and lemon wedges.
Shakriyeh by Dalia Dogmoch Soubra (Serves 6)
This lamb shank and hot yoghurt stew is a festive favourite of Syrians. For this dish, lamb is simmered until tender in aromatic spices. Note: Use a newly opened container of yoghurt and stir it in one direction only, on low heat, to ensure it doesn’t split.
Ingredients
6 lamb shanks, trimmed of excess fat
3 litres hot water
2 onions, peeled and quartered
3 bay leaves
2 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp cardamom seeds
1/2 tsp cloves, powdered
2 tsp salt
2 tsp white pepper
2 litre yoghurt
1 egg
2 TBS cornflour
175g vermicelli
375g short-grain rice, rinsed
50g pine nuts
cracked black pepper
5 spring onions
12 radishes
Method
1. Place the lamb shanks in a large pot filled with boiling water. Add the onions, bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, cardamom, cloves, half the salt and half the pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for about 2-2 ½ hours or until the lamb is tender. Skim the fat that surfaces to leave a clear broth for the end.
2. In the meantime, make the rice by adding a little butter and vegetable oil to a pot. Add the vermicelli and fry until golden brown. Add the rice, stir to combine then fill with water and cook the rice as directed on the pack, about 20 minutes, on low heat. Keep the rice warm once it is cooked.
3. Heat another frying pan over a medium heat, add a little oil and butter. Fry the pine nuts until golden brown.
4. Once ready, remove the shanks from the pot and keep them warm. You can take the meat off the bones or serve them whole.
5. Pour the cooking liquid through a sieve and discard the onions and spices. Set the strained broth aside.
6. In a large pot, whisk the yoghurt with the egg, cornflour, remaining salt and pepper and 250ml of the strained cooking liquid (add more if you desire). 7. Stirring constantly, cook the yoghurt over low heat until it comes to a simmer. Cook for another two minutes.
8. Place the lamb shanks in a large and deep serving dish, cover with the hot yoghurt, pine nuts and finish with cracked black pepper on top. Serve the shakriyeh with rice, fresh spring onions and radish on the side.
Ricotta and date atayef with cardamom honey by John Waite
(Makes 20-25)
These Arabic pancakes make a rich festive dessert when served soaked in flavoured honey or with a honey dip on the side.
Ingredients
For the batter
55g plain flour
A pinch of salt
2 large eggs
115g full-fat milk
750ml sunflower oil for frying
For the filling
175g stoned dates
175g ricotta
Zest of 1 small orange
For the honey
200g runny honey
3 cardamom pods, bruised
50g pistachio nuts, roughly crushed
Method
1. To make the batter, mix together the flour and salt in a bowl. Make a well in the centre, add eggs and a good splash of milk. Whisk to form a smooth, thick batter. Slowly add the rest of the milk while whisking.
2. Before cooking them, dampen a clean tea towel to cover the pancakes — it’s important that they don’t dry out.
3. In a non-stick frying pan, heat a small amount of oil on high heat. Once the pan starts to haze, reduce the heat to medium/low.
4. Add a tablespoon of batter, spread as a disc of about four inches in diameter, and allow to cook just until the upper surface becomes bubbly, about 30 seconds. Using a palette knife, lift the pancake onto a large plate — cooked side down — and cover with the tea towel. Repeat until you have used all the batter. You may need to add a little more oil to the pan after cooking every five or six pancakes.
5. To make the filling, chop the dates as finely as possible. (You may use a food processor.) Mix with the ricotta and zest to form a thick paste.
6. Take a pancake in your hand, cooked-side down in the palm, and place a heaped teaspoon of the filling on to the centre. Fold the pancake in half, encasing the filling, and pinch the edges together firmly — like a pixie-sized pasty.
7. To fry, heat the oil in a heavy-based saucepan or wok until it reaches 180-degrees centigrade or until a cube of bread sizzles frantically when dropped in.
8. Add the atayef, four at a time, and fry until golden brown. Drain onto a piece of kitchen towel.
9. For the honey drizzle, heat the honey and cardamom in a small saucepan until runny.
10. To serve, dredge the atayef in the honey garnished with pistachio.
