Saffron in the Souks

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 3 JUNI 2019

Gregory-Smith expands his Middle Eastern and North African oeuvre (after Orange Blossom & Honey) with an enticing take on the food of Lebanon. There's no ignoring Lebanon's civil war "it hangs over everything," the author acknowledges but there's much to explore and lots of heady flavors. Many savory dishes, such as beef skewers inspired by the "hole-in-the-wall stalls" found in Tripoli (in northern Lebanon), are scented with a seven-spice mixture that contains cinnamon, black pepper, and cilantro. A brick of halloumi cheese is roasted until "gooey" and served on a bed of orange, grapefruit, and arugula. Whole mackerel is marinated in a mix of garlic, tahini, and lemon juice, then grilled and served with a sumac-parsley dipping sauce; and chicken shawarma bakes atop roasted fries that absorb juices. Smith adopts the tone of an enthusiastic amateur, which is mostly charming (a small breakfast flatbread topped with ground lamb and an egg is "essentially a Druze McMuffin"), but occasionally misfires, as when he refers to lamb-stuffed dumplings in yogurt sauce as "tortellini" and fried pastries as "cannoli." That said, a "Syrian spaghetti" dish made with fettuccine and topped with pomegranate seeds, walnuts, and slivers of fried onion sounds delicious no matter the name. Gregory-Smith tantalizes with this appealing, accessible collection.