Middle Eastern

I like using Israeli couscous for this dish, although pearl barley may be substituted. This couscous is quite starchy and should be rinsed after cooking.

Gouvej Claire S. Kedeshian of New York, New York, writes: "I am Armenian-American, and I would love to share a recipe of mine with you and your readers. It's for a traditional vegetable stew that has been made by my family for over three generations."

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

While this recipe isn't terribly difficult, it is labor-intensive. We recommend you break it up into a couple of steps: Make the filling, then enlist a friend or two to help you do the rolling the following day.

Variations of this seasoning are found all over the Middle East. It's used to flavor eggs and is also served with pita—dunk warm flatbread in good olive oil and then the spice dip. The kind sold dried (with dried thyme) in Middle Eastern stores just doesn't compare to za'atar made fresh.

This recipe for breiks comes from Kitty Morse, the celebrated expert on North African cuisine. She serves them with lemon and harissa paste, available at Middle Eastern Markets.

Koosa Claritas — pale green, slightly rounded zucchini — are traditionally used in this dish, but we find that yellow zucchini make for a more attractive presentation because they don't discolor when cooked in tomato sauce.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Manti The lamb will be easier to cut if it has been well chilled. Adding the salt to the filling just before forming the manti prevents the meat from curing.

Salatat Baqduness wa Bassal This salad is common throughout the eastern and southern Mediterranean from Turkey to Egypt. It is always laid on the bread on which grilled meat and poultry are served. In Turkey the salad is seasoned with only sumac; in Egypt, with lemon juice; and in Syria, Lebanon, and Israel it is seasoned with both. A chef friend of mine, Sami Tamimi, whose recipe this is, taught me to soak the sliced onions in boiling water for a few minutes before using. This softens them slightly and, more significantly, takes away some of the sharpness. Be sure to dry the onions well before adding the seasonings.

Joan Nathan's The Foods of Israel Today is full of intensely flavored recipes, such as this salad. Grab a copy now, while so many fresh vegetables are available.

Lavash, a Middle Eastern flatbread, comes in a variety of sizes and textures, from crisp rectangular crackers to large folded pliable rounds. It is the latter called for here. To form the lavash into cups, you'll need a pan with 12 mini-muffin (1/8-cup) molds, each about 1 3/4 inches across the top and 3/4 inch deep. Caponata is a piquant Sicilian dish of eggplant, onions, tomatoes, anchovies, olives, and capers, generously laced with olive oil; this variation is much lighter-and contains no added fat-because it omits the oil, anchovies, and olives.

(Ghotab) After trying several kinds, we concluded that Iranian and Turkish pistachios* have the best flavor. Active time: 1 1/4 hr Start to finish: 4 hr

Market Tip: Avoid packaged ground lamb, which can be extremely fatty. Instead, buy shoulder meat or lamb stew meat, which has some fat, and ask the butcher to grind it.

This version of the Greek and Turkish dessert features dates instead of nuts. Date palms flourish in the hot climate of the Middle East.