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Recipes

Page 7

Recipes

Where Shakshuka Actually Comes From

Tunisia has the strongest claim, the name means roughly a mixture, and no version of the dish can be older than the sixteenth century. The argument about who owns it is really about something else.

Aug 14, 2026/4 min read

A pan of shakshuka with eggs set in a deep red pepper and tomato sauce

Recipes

Baklava: Forty Sheets of Filo and One Rule About Temperature

Layered filo, clarified butter, crushed nuts and syrup. It is not a difficult dessert, it is a patient one, and the single thing that decides crisp or soggy happens in the last thirty seconds.

Aug 13, 2026/6 min read

A tray of baklava cut into diamonds, glossy with syrup and topped with crushed green pistachio

Recipes

Za'atar Is a Herb, a Blend and an Argument About Land

The same word means a wild hillside herb and the sesame-and-sumac mixture made from it. Knowing which one a recipe means is the difference between a good jar and a disappointing one.

Aug 13, 2026/5 min read

A bowl of za'atar showing distinct green herb, toasted sesame seeds and dark red sumac

Recipes

Cheese Manakish, and the Salt Problem Nobody Warns You About

Akkawi is brined hard enough to be inedible straight from the packet. Soak it, and you get the stretchy, mild, faintly squeaky cheese bread that half the Levant eats for breakfast.

Aug 13, 2026/5 min read

A hand scattering shredded white cheese over raw discs of flatbread dough on a floured wooden board

Recipes

The Manakish Dough, and Why Yours Comes Out Like a Cracker

A soft, oil-enriched bread dough that stays tender under a hot oven. The hydration and the resting matter more than the recipe, and both are where home versions go wrong.

Aug 13, 2026/5 min read

Six balls of soft flatbread dough resting under a cloth on a lightly floured tray

Recipes

Manakish: The Za'atar Flatbread That Starts the Day

Dough pressed flat with the fingertips, spread with za'atar loosened in olive oil, baked hot and fast. The Levantine breakfast that a whole region eats standing up.

Aug 13, 2026/6 min read

Round za'atar flatbreads fresh from the oven, the dark green herb paste glossy across the dimpled dough

Recipes

Dairy-Free Labneh: Cashews, Culture and Actual Tang

Most dairy-free labneh recipes are blended cashews with lemon juice, which tastes like nut paste. Culturing it properly is what produces the sourness, and it takes one extra day of doing nothing.

Aug 13, 2026/3 min read

A bowl of thick white labneh with olive oil and za'atar

Recipes

Low FODMAP Lemon Chicken and Rice, With Garlic Flavour and No Garlic

The hardest part of eating low FODMAP is that onion and garlic start almost every savoury dish on earth. Infused oil solves it, because the troublesome part does not dissolve in fat.

Aug 12, 2026/3 min read

A pan of lemon chicken and rice scattered with herbs

Recipes

Knafeh Without Semolina or Kataifi: A Gluten-Free Version Worth Making

Both classic knafeh shells are wheat. Rebuilding the dish gluten free means rethinking the top layer entirely, and rice-based kataifi plus a coarse cornmeal crust gets remarkably close.

Aug 11, 2026/3 min read

A round of knafeh topped with crushed pistachios, one slice lifted to show the cheese

Recipes

A Gluten-Free Sourdough Loaf That Is Actually Bread

Wild fermentation does something for gluten-free bread that yeast cannot: flavour, a softer crumb, and a loaf that keeps. It takes five days to start and about twenty minutes of work a day after that.

Aug 11, 2026/3 min read

A dark round sourdough loaf cut open on a board to show an even crumb

Recipes

Kibbeh Without Bulgur: The Potato and Rice Version Levantine Kitchens Already Make

Kibbeh is defined by bulgur, which is cracked wheat, so the gluten-free version has to be rebuilt rather than substituted. The good news is that the rebuild already exists in the region's own repertoire.

Aug 11, 2026/3 min read

A baked tray of kibbeh scored into diamonds, deep gold on top