Middle East Flavours

This morning I visited Diera Souk with my son. He’s visiting Riyadh at the moment and our sunny winter days have made getting out and about very pleasant. First, we walked to Al Zel Souk, the older part of Diera where more traditional Arabic merchandise is sold. We spent a happy couple of hours meandering past shops selling long fur-lined Arabic cloaks or bisht, and tailors stitching cross-legged on the ground. 

We passed trays laid out with oud, the resin embedded wood that Saudis burn for its distinctive perfume.  

There were carpet shops where I browsed briefly for a carpet with a tree of life design, something I’ve always wanted, as well as shops stocked with antiquities from Afghanistan. That was where three small porcelain dishes decorated with farsi inspired calligraphy caught my eye.

Then it was home and time to think of dinner.  Something with a middle eastern flavour: fish with a coating of almonds, sesame seeds and sumac.  Sumac is a powder that comes from the bright red berries of the Sumac bush.  I like its tangy citrus flavour and eye catching brightness.

The inspiration for this recipe came from a Turkish cookbook, Turquoise by Greg and Lucy Malouf. I  must admit that I bought this book as we were leaving Istanbul airport a few years ago. It's now one of my favourites, both for the recipes as well as the accompanying photographs and travelogue.  

Here’s what I made.

Almond, Sumac and Sesame Crumbs

150 g blanched almonds

2 small cloves garlic

½ cup homemade wholemeal breadcrumbs

¼ c toasted sesame seeds

zest of  two oranges

1 tbsp ground sumac

Gently brown the almonds in a small amount of olive oil.  Add the garlic and fry until it begins to colour. Fry the breadcrumbs until they are lightly toasted. Put all these ingredients into a food processor. Add the orange zest and sesame seeds and blitz until it turns into crumbs.

I used this crumb mixture to coat fish which I then oven roasted.