Go into any restaurant in Palestine, any fast food place, any falafel or shawarma shack and you will find deep-fried vegetables; carrots, potatoes, cauliflower, aubergines, courgettes. For me the courgette and cauliflower are the kings of these. I as once staying at a hotel in Nablus while supporting local farmers to convert to organic farming and for breakfast at this hotel they were serving huge trays of these deep-fried vegetables. I mean, the farmers were lucky to see me at all that day. Luckily I was heavily pregnant with my second son Rupert at the time so I was able to blame my aubergine belly on the baby.
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Mama’s OG Fattet Hummus
This is the second fattet hummus recipe on our blog and to Mama it is ‘Original Gransta’; authentic, old school and exceptional. ‘now this is the way to make it…and eat it!’ says Mama narrowing her lips into anticipation as she scatters beef and nuts over the layered hummus, chickpeas and toasted bread.
‘on special holidays we were allowed home from our boarding school in Jerusalem. It was just a 10 minute walk from the convent to our home in the old city and my brothers and sisters and I- dressed in crusader tabards with the Jerusalem cross on them- I mean honestly!- would walk home together hand in hand and my Mama would have this waiting for us. Still warm and it was delicious. We were always so happy to be back home.’ Mama tells me. I have similar home-coming dishes that would always be waiting for me when I got back from university or foreign travels and those memories are just perfect, aren’t they?
Read MoreHerby Feta
My mother didn’t really teach me recipes, she taught me how to cook. How to have an instinct for flavours, consistencies to achieve and methods of preparation. and i suppose that is what this herby feta is. It isn’t really a recipe, its a way of eating.
Read MoreKousa Nuggets
when you have a three year old, a lot of food starts being referred to as a ‘nugget’. We always make these a day or two after we make mahshi with the pulp of the courgettes that have been cored out. they are utterly delicious and make a great lunch with a nice fil-fil dip and salad.
Read MoreFul Falasteeni
This simple ful is Mama’s favourite. The only thing you cook is the fava beans in this recipe, and everything else goes on raw, which gives you a wonderful fresh summery ful.
Read MorePita Bread
Every summer growing up, my mother was sent to stay with her Aunt Rifkah in Taybeh (yes, the same Taybeh that makes he delicious beer…. and the one Jesus stayed in). She says that her aunt would wake up in the early hours of the morning to make fresh pita bread. she would then wake up her rabble of visiting nieces and nephews and as the sun began to rise they would all set off down the road out of town to my Aunt’s lands. Once there they would be put to work climbing fig trees to collect the fruit and collecting vine leaves from the grape vines that used to snake along the floor- a traditional practice which decades later i would be training women how to build frames to grow their grapes along! (life can be so odd…..) . After a good few hours of work in the sun, Rifkah would unload a basket that she can carried on her head and out would come the freshly made pita breads, boiled eggs, freshly made cheese, tomatoes and cucumbers, zayt and za’atar; in the shade of the trees protecting them from the hotting sun, they would have their breakfast.
Read MoreLabaneh Balls
You may have already dried our Labaneh dip with chili and walnuts. its delicious. its not hard to make labaneh, you just hang up some yoghurt in a muslin and go to sleep. Despite it being very easy, its even easier to just get some out of your fridge in the morning. So if you make a lot you can preserve some and they will last you months.
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Sumac Eggs
Believe it or not this is basically a weekday breakfast in Palestine. Its simple enough if you aren’t making the labaneh and bread from scratch and you already have them in your fridge/ freezer. Just fry up some eggs and chop some tomatoes. this is a good breakfast for 4.
Read MoreWhipped Feta Yoghurt with garlic roast aubergines
This dish is one of my mother’s favourites. The garlic, aubergine, parsley and olive oil combination is a traditional and classic combination in Palestine. We have added the feta yoghurt to this traditional dish to make it a whole lunch that you only need mint tea and warm bread to make perfect. the aubergines are traditionally deep-fried, but we increasingly bake in the oven- its easier and healthier as i work to shift the baby weight!
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The Olive Tree Kitchen 