This recipe is dedicated to my lovely mum, firstly because I think she would really like the taste of this dip (in fact, I’m going to make it for her when I visit in August). And secondly, because my mum is the person who instilled the love of vegetables in me and my brother, for which I’m forever grateful.
Despite having a full time job when we were little, she always made sure we had AT LEAST one vibrant salad with all our suppers, which we had to eat. She was renowned in our family for snacking on what some people would refer to as ‘rabbit food’ – pieces of raw carrot, peppers, raddishes, kohlrabi, cucumber and even cauliflower and that’s way before it became a common health trend and dietary advice. Even though we were not that keen on crudités back then (candies were more to our taste), it has definitely rubbed off on us both and we never found eating greens a chore. Muhammara is a Syrian dish and, like many dishes from that region, it is to die for. It comes together very easily and it’s a flavour sensation, in my books. It gets a bit of sweetness from oven-roasted peppers, a bit of earthiness from walnuts and a touch of tanginess from pomegranate molasses. Please excuse me for there being an oven involved, especially if you happen to attempt this on an extremely hot day, but there is no way round it unless you want to fire off a BBQ. Actually, there is – you can buy ready roasted peppers, I suppose, but really…don’t. Make them yourself – not only will they taste better, it will also save you money. The best way to enjoy this dip is to have it with toasted pita bread and a few other mezze dishes. To my mind, mezze is the best thing in the world. It gives you a chance to have a truly varied meal, to experience small amounts of different flavours or textures in a good company.
