Arabic

Date cardamom cookies are of course available on every street corner throughout the Middle East. From Lebanon to Morocco (that’s North Africa idd) and back. And in any form, they are delightful. These ones too. We also use them as a starter in the menu. With a dip. Divinely delicious and surprising at the same time.

Fennel, not many people immediately are taken by it. Unless you let the fennel stew for so long that it loses everything that doesn’t make it tasty and magnifies everything that makes it very tasty. The spinach sauce is the star in the firmament.

Frying pointed cabbage is of course a very good idea anyway. Along with pieces of dried fig, a mixture of coriander powder/coriander seed/sumac does the rest. It turns pointed cabbage into the attention-grabber of your menu. The hummus is a nice extra that brings everything together.

Kibbeh is to the Middle East what stampot is to the Netherlands. It is a dish with which you make a kind of ‘cake’ of bulgur with (sweet) potato or pumpkin for example and an intermediate layer of fried vegetables, nuts, herbs, spices. Here is a delicious hearty version with leeks and potato. Very surprising in taste. You could almost eat it as a pancake.