I’ve been ogling sabih in Yotam Ottolenghi’s book Jerusalem for a while now, but I was missing some ingredients and so I never got round to making it.
Then a few weeks ago I got a message from one of my readers (I cannot believe anyone reads my stream of consciousness 😉 ), Golan, who was visiting Paros. Duncan and I met up for coffee with him and his partner, Danny, and that meeting put a big simile on my face. They were both very nice and easy to talk to and they were into good food so we had plenty to talk about. They were also so kind that they brought me a huge jar of delicious tahini straight from Israel. I can easily get tahini here, but the one I got from them was so much more delicate and creamier than any of the Greek ones I’ve tried. Frankly, I am happy to eat it with a spoon with a touch of maple syrup or pomegranate molasses mixed in. So now that I have this luscious tahini and the savoury mango pickle, which I managed to get my hands on while in Athens, I’ve had to put both of them to a good use, quick! My thoughts turned to a sabih… To me, this sandwich feels like such a perfect metaphor for Israeli food. Each group of Israeli immigrants brought something to the table – fried aubergine and hard boiled egg (which I substituted with spicy chickpeas), came from Iraqi immigrants. Fragrant, herbaceous and very spicy zhoug sauce, which Ottolenghi explains as Middle-Eastern ketchup, was brought by Yemenite Jews. Salty and vinegary mango pickle was also introduced by Iraqi Jews but it is derived from Indian cuisine, with its classic flavours of mango, turmeric, mustard and fenugreek. Finally, a simple chopped salad (a version of which is found pretty much everywhere around the Mediterranean Sea) and tahini sauce are Israeli staples. This melting pot of a sandwich is a bit of revelation in my books. The simple components come together in a meal bursting with flavour! It’s so easy to make too! Granted, it does require quite a few ingredients and processes, BUT you can make pretty much each component in advance and assemble the sandwich on each day of the week. There are so many palate-tingling flavours in there that you won’t get bored.
2 cups cooked chickpeas, drained well 2 tbsp olive oil 1 tsp cumin 1 tsp smoked paprika ½ tsp chilli powder, adjust to taste fine sea salt, to taste
ZHOUG (spicy herb condiment)
35 g / 1 cup packed fresh coriander leaves 20 g / ½ cup packed fresh parsley leaves 1-2 hot green chillies ½ tsp ground cumin ¼ tsp ground cardamom ¼ tsp ground cloves a pinch of sugar ½ tsp salt black pepper, to taste 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 2 tbsp lemon juice 2 tbsp water
TAHINI SAUCE
60 ml / 4 tbsp tahini 2 tbsp lemon juice ½ large garlic clove, grated 1 tsp maple syrup salt & pepper, to taste
ISRAELI SALAD
1 Lebanese cucumber 2 ripe tomatoes 1 medium spring onion, sliced a few stalks of parsley, chopped finely 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil lemon juice, to taste
REMAINING INGREDIENTS
savoury mango pickle (also known as amba) 4 round pitas (GF if necessary) classic hummus (recipe here), optional
TAHINI SAUCE ZHOUG ISRAELI SALAD ASSEMBLY
