THE SPECKLED BIRD: MIDDLE EASTERN COOKING IN EAST CORK

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                     RORY O'CONNELL PREPARES A MIDDLE EASTERN FEAST

Interested in Middle Eastern food?  The name to be familiar with is
Ottolenghi or so I was informed on a recent visit to Ballymaloe Cookery School to attend a Middle Eastern cookery course.   Yotum Ottolenghi is an Israeli-born cookery writer and chef-patron based in London. Ottolenghi’s style is rooted in, but not confined to his Middle Eastern upbringing. His particular skill is in marrying the food of his native Israel with a wider range of incredible textures and flavours from Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, Iran and Armenia - but with a western twist. Born in Jerusalem he moved to London in 1997 to train at Le Cordon Bleu culinary school for six months. He worked in London as a pastry chef for a few years before setting up his first gourmet deli in 2002 aiming to sell the best take away food in London both sweet and savoury. Three more delis followed and one formal restaurant Nopi opened in 2011.

TWO PLATTERS OF OTTOLENGHI'S ROAST CHICKEN
WITH SAFFRON, HAZELNUTS AND
HONEY GARNISHED WITH CHOPPED
SPRING ONION

My first introduction to an Ottolenghi recipe was by Rory O'Connell on the first day of the course. Darina Allen and her daughter-in-law Rachel Allen are the public faces of Ballymaloe Cookery School but Darina’s brother Rory is the hidden gem. He has just published an excellent cookery book 'Master It' and is an inspiring teacher and chef. Precise and informative he imparts knowledge to students with passion and enthusiasm. He taught us how to fillet a whole chicken and then demonstrated how to cook Ottolenghi’s roast chicken with saffron, hazelnuts and honey. I was transported from East Cork to the Middle East as the spices sizzled and exotic aromas filled the air. Rory prepared dishes from around the Mediterranean, from Moroccan Harira Soup to Hummus Bi Tahina, from radish and broad bean salad with green tahini sauce to roast peppers with chickpeas and fresh goat’s cheese.

BAKLAVA

APRICOTS, ALMONDS AND PISTACHIOS

Desserts in the Middle East are extremely sweet. Rory prepared a Baklava which is a rich sweet pastry made with layers of filo pastry filled with chopped nuts, sweetened with syrup or honey. It is characteristic of the cuisines of the former Ottomon Empire but is also found in Asia.

Darina Allen and Rachel Allen provided subsequent demonstrations. Darina prepared a Syrian dessert of apricots, almonds and pistachios in sweet syrup. It was intensely sweet and Darina advised to serve it with a rich chocolate cake. A Tunisian orange cake was popular with the students and many of them recreated their own versions in the kitchen during practical work. I cooked mostly savoury dishes including Ottolenghi's roast chicken, lamb Shawarma and Moroccan Harira soup.

MOROCCAN HARIRA SOUP WITH LAMB, LENTILS AND CHICKPEAS

FRAGRANT SALADS

The exotic dishes included fragrant salads decorated with fresh flowers, dressed with pomegranate and molasses dressing. Darina produced a cool refreshing mint lemonade and a Lebanese cold cucumber soup. I learned names of many new dishes and ingredients including sumac which consists of crushed red berries from the sumac plant and za'atar which is prepared using ground thyme, oregano, marjoram mixed with toasted sesame seed and salt.

KITCHEN GARDEN AND ORCHARD

It was delightful to get outside to the cool kitchen garden and orchard for a break after a morning of frenetic activity in the kitchen. All the produce grown there is organic and is used by the cookery school. I visited the small dairy where the cookery school's five Jersey cows are milked each day. They provide the milk and cheese for the school. Huge hen houses contained a myriad of hens and chickens producing hundreds of eggs. The fish for the school is caught in nearby Ballycotton and is fresh and delicious. All ingredients used by students at the school are totally organic.

CLAUDIA RODEN'S KATAIFI PIE WITH CREAM FILLING

Fun was had on the second day of the course when Darina and Rachel recreated Claudia Roden’s (see previous Ballymaloe Litfest post) tasty dessert recipe Kataifi Pie with a cream filling. Kataifi pastry, an ingredient in this recipe, is spun pastry and needs to be teased and each strand coated in butter. Darina and Rachel started the teasing process and when Darina tired Sorcha, one of the excellent teaching assistants took over. It took three of them to get the pastry to the required texture before cooking. Needless to say I did not try to recreate this dessert in the kitchen. Two brave men attempted it and succeeded admirably. It is a delicious dessert but I think I will stick to baking something simpler. Ballymaloe Cookery School provides courses to suit everybody. From beginners to advanced there is a course to suit all pockets and timetables. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and would highly recommend it.