Moorish: Vibrant recipes from the Mediterranean

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Radish, cucumber and red onion salad with mint and orange blossom dressing. Photograph: Liz & Max Haarala Hamilton Grind the saffron (if using) with a pestle and mortar, then pour over the 2 tbsp of boiling water and leave to infuse.

Add the rice, spices, butter and a generous amount of salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until the vermicelli is evenly coated in the melted butter and spices. Pour in 600ml/21fl oz cold water and stir again, then cover the pan with the lid, reduce to a very gentle simmer and cook for 30–35 minutes, or until the rice on top is cooked and fluffy. To make the crispy cod wraps, mix the eggs with a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix the flour, garlic granules, mustard powder and spices into a separate small shallow bowl, and season very generously with salt and pepper. Toast the breadcrumbs – either in the oven for 8 minutes at 180C/350F/gas mark 4, or in a preheated frying pan until they are golden brown. Then set them aside.Sabrina’s third and final Residency column takes the international meatball as its theme. She’ll be rustling up Middle Eastern lamb kofta with cranberries, cumin and pine nuts.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they reach the stiff-peak stage. Gently fold the beaten egg whites into the chocolate mixture until evenly combined. Combine the toasted hazelnuts with the breadcrumbs and chopped parsley, sprinkle the mixture over the stew and serve with rice, flatbread or potatoes. Sabrina Ghayour (born 5 January 1976 in Tehran, Iran) is a British-Iranian chef, food writer and author. [1] She is the host of the supper club ‘Sabrina's Kitchen’ and released her first cookbook, Persiana, in May 2014. [2] Early life [ edit ] Using a pastry brush, brush the exposed flesh sides of each aubergine wedge with a good amount of olive oil. Arrange the wedges, skin-sides down, on the prepared baking tray, then sprinkle liberally with the cumin seeds, ensuring some seeds land on the exposed flesh of the wedges. Roast for 45-60 minutes or until the aubergine wedges are golden brown, with dark, burnished edges. Arrange the wedges on a large, flat platter and season well with salt and pepper. I am not a natural baker, so I work hard to perfect foolproof, crowd-pleasing recipes that work with my style of cooking. Iran has a huge nut-producing trade and pistachios are the king of Persian nuts. I first made this cake when I started doing supper clubs – we don't really have puddings in Iran.

Beetroot and feta lattice

Sabrina, who specializes in teaching Persian and Middle Eastern culinary classes across the country, has become the "go-to" girl for Persian and Middle Eastern recipes, history, and ingredient knowledge and is frequently called upon for her skill and understanding of the field. To make the fatteh, heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the minced beef and immediately break it up as finely as you can to prevent it cooking in clumps, adding the spices and garlic granules as you do so. Season generously with salt and pepper and cook until the meat is well browned, then set aside. Heat a griddle pan or a heavy-based saucepan over a high heat. Dry the octopus pieces using kitchen paper (don’t worry if some of the skin begins to rub away) and cut them into manageable lengths that will easily fit on your griddle pan. Rub all the octopus pieces with olive oil to coat them well. Cooking in batches, sear the octopus on the hot griddle for 1-2 minutes (depending on the size of the pieces) or until char marks appear. Transfer to a plate. After spending the majority of her life in London (she fled Tehran after the Iranian revolution in 1979), the 45-year-old cook now lives in Yorkshire with her husband Stephen and stepsons Olly, nine, and Connor, thirteen, who is a man of few words but equally sneaky. To cook the lamb mince, heat a large frying pan over a high heat and drizzle in enough vegetable oil to coat the base of the pan. Fry the onion until golden brown, then add the minced lamb and mix well to break down the meat and combine it with the onion. Add the turmeric, cumin and cinnamon and mix well until the spices evenly coat the meat. Cook for 8-10 minutes until the meat is brown and cooked through, then take off the heat and set aside.

Preheat two large saucepans or deep frying pans over a medium heat. Put the oil for cooking the chips into one pan, and the oil for frying the fish into the other. Bring the oil up to frying temperature, but do not allow it to smoke. Place the potatoes in one pan and begin to cook them.Add the garlic, harissa, sugar and cinnamon and mix until combined. Add the tomatoes, mix everything together and cook for 20 minutes.

Whereas Persiana focused on modern and accessible Middle Eastern recipes, Sirocco (meaning “a hot, dry wind blowing from east to west”), “is not specifically Middle Eastern food,” Ghayour says. “It’s just my style: food with full-on flavour.” The recipes are inspired by the flavours of the east, but the produce and cooking styles come from the west. Convenience and making the most of what’s in your store cupboard are major themes. Far from being fazed by the idea of substituting ingredients, Ghayour encourages it. “I’m unafraid to [experiment], because I’m self-taught. Recipes that give a little bit of leeway make you a more confident cook.” Pour the cake mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven - it will be quite gooey - and allow to cool in the tin before serving. Note that the cake will collapse slightly around the edges, but this is perfectly normal. After the 1½ hours has elapsed, add the preserved lemons and apricots to the stew, stir well and leave it all to cook slowly with the lid off for a further 30 minutes. Add the paprika, garlic granules and a generous amount of salt and pepper, then pour over the cream. When I was a kid, my grandma’s sister, who we called Mama Gohar, was the best cook I knew. Actually, she may well have been the only cook I knew, as my Mum didn’t cook and my grandmother never quite took to domesticity in the way her sister did. Colourful, hilarious, inappropriate and lovable she was; a cook she was not. But Mama Gohar’s mind-blowing cooking made up for it. Like us, she was Persian, but was married to an Iraqi man, which meant I got to try a whole load of other stuff too, like kibbeh halab (crunchy rice-based meatballs with spiced lamb and pine nuts) and dolmeh (meat‑stuffed vine leaves poached slowly in pomegranate molasses). Their busy household was always brimming with food to feed the masses – their five children, numerous grandkids and all the little gate crashers (like myself) who pilfered kibbeh and crispy fried onions from the stovetop, or pinched mini meatballs from the fridge.Meanwhile, put the beaten eggs into a small, shallow bowl and season with salt and pepper. Put the flour and all the spices into another shallow bowl, season generously with salt and pepper and mix until evenly combined. Coat each piece of fish evenly in the seasoned flour, shaking off any excess, then dip it into the egg mixture until fully coated, and finish by dredging it in the flour mixture again, ensuring each piece is well coated. Repeat until all the pieces are coated. Fry the fish in the second pan of oil until the batter is crispy and a deep golden brown.