A Jordanian feast

I needed to create a meal-like vehicle to legitimise the intense number of Jordanian biscuits that my sister and I were eating following her recent trip to Amman. Non-Arabic websites seem to clump all Middle Eastern food together, but we found a twist on a hummus recipe that my sister thought looked similar to something she’d eaten in Amman.

Msabaha
This recipe involves making hummus, then layering it with hot chickpeas, yoghurt, oil and an extra dressing. Nothing beats homemade hummus, but this was extra yummy.

Falafel
I made this recipe, and, as it wasn’t brilliant, I won’t write it out here. The seasoning was nice, but it fell apart when I fried it so I wouldn’t do this again. I don’t like deep frying and suspect the oil wasn’t hot enough. I might try an oven-baked falafel recipe next time (no, I’ll probably just buy ready made)

We had salad, flatbread with za’atar (a herb and spice mixture) and a spicy, garlicky dressing too, washed down with many biscuits, savoury and sweet. An Arabian night of delights.

Jordanian delights

My sister has just come back from 12 days in Jordan, and all I’ve heard about is the food. She unpacked her case directly into my bed, piling my sheets high with sesame-seed-coated baked goods. She’s been staying with me for three days, providing different biscuits for every occasion: for breakfast, with tea, with coffee, before dinner, with hummus, after dinner, and because Don’t Tell The Bride was on. Yes, those Middle Easterners really understand the importance of biscuits.

I’m going to try making some of the flat, seeded biscuits. They’re only just sweet and packed with seeds and bits of pistachio. They’re called ka’ak, which is the Arabic word for cake. Finding a recipe isn’t going to be easy with a name that generic. The small pastries, ma’amoul, are incredible – melt-in-the-mouth, buttery pastry stuffed with date paste – but I’m no pastry chef, so that’s not going to happen. I’m addicted to the many varieties of breadstick, too – za’atar and salt flavour, epecially. They’ve got to be easy to make too, right?

Biscuits on their own don’t really constitute a meal, so, with my sister’s expert knowledge, we put together a Jordanian spread for dinner. I’ll blog it tomorrow!