Suzy Karadsheh - The Mediterranean Dish: 120 Bold and Healthy Recipes Youll Make on Repeat: A Mediterranean Cookbook

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

To my late Baba, I have known no heart more generous than yours. Your words continue to echo in my ears compelling me to do my best to put a smile on someones face. There is no greater honor than to be called my fathers daughter.

My husband, Saba, my steady rock, my love. As with everything I have done since we met more than twenty-one years ago, this project would not have been possible without you, habibi.

Dara and Hannah, the two halves of my heart. I never thought that a recipe website I started for your sakeso you will know the sunshine and flavors of my beloved Mediterraneanwould lead us here. My biggest critics and cheerleaders, thank you for inspiring me to be the mama I am.

My Mama, a teacher with the kindest of souls and the greatest cook I know. Thank you for your love and for your nafas for cooking and always sharing with joy. I hope to pass just a bit of your hospitality on. I love you deeply.

And my mother-in-law, Mama Dina, who has influenced the second half of my life in many delicious ways. Who knew a plate of tabbouleh from your Michigan restaurants kitchen would change the course of my life?!

My brother, Maged, my favorite cup-half-full guy whose entrepreneurial spirit is simply contagious. Thank you for your unwavering love and support through the years, habibi.

Liz Hazlem and Lauren Allen, you believed in this cookbook before anyone else. Thank you for planting the seed and for gently pushing me to pursue it.

Janis Donnaud, my agent and a force of nature in the best way. You held my hand through a lot! For everything you have done to bring my debut book to light, I am beyond grateful.

Susan Puckett, my collaborator, for asking the questions and encouraging me to share my voice in a way I had not before.

My editor, Raquel Pelzel; it took but three minutes of a Zoom call for me to know you were the person to guide this book. That a friendship began in the process is a huge bonus for me. I am grateful to work with everyone at Clarkson Potter, including Francis Lam, Bianca Cruz, and publisher Aaron Wehner; creative director Marysarah Quinn and designer Robert Diaz; the production team, Mark McCauslin and Jessica Heim; and publicity and marketings Erica Gelbard, Kate Tyler, Allison Renzulli, and Windy Dorresteyn. How did I get so lucky?!

Caitlin Bensel, Christine Keely, and M. M. McLean, not only did you produce beautiful, drool-worthy photos, but youve captured the very soul of this bookbright and joyful throughout.

My friends who are family: Lisa McCullar, who stood long hours with me in the kitchen, and Kate Kardel, Molly and Charlie Darwin, Matt and Marsha Janofsky, Rosanne Patton, and Alex Curtis, who tirelessly tested each recipe for months on end. You are my heroes.

Last but never least, the dear readers and followers of The Mediterranean Dish (the site and the book). Here is to each person who asked me, when will you publish a cookbook? I am so humbled by your love and encouragement throughout the years. It is first because of you that I penned these pages. And I know I can count on you to bring this book to life through cooking and sharing the recipes with your loved ones. To your joy and your health!

SUZY KARADSHEH is the founder of The Mediterranean Dish, the leading online source for modern Mediterranean cooking. She was born and raised in Port Said, Egypt, and now lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband, two daughters, and their dog.

mezze

SALADS, SPREADS, SMALL PLATES, AND SAVORY NIBBLES

MEZZE:
THE UNOFFICIAL WELCOME MEAL

If you come to my house for dinner, I wont greet you with a handshake. You may get a tight hug or, if were really close, a proper Egyptian kiss on each cheek. While I tend to the stove, youll take a seat at my kitchen counter and immediately roll up your sleeves to dig into my bowl of The Smoothest, Fluffiest Hummus (), using warm pita as a utensil.

Eventually well wander over to the table, and as we play catch-up, a little dish will appear, then another, and another, until the table is filled end to end with dips, bright salads, olives, pickles with just the right zing, maybe a plate of zucchini rounds sprinkled with dukkah, a few savory hand pies pulled from the freezer and quickly warmed up, and maybe an impromptu saut of garlicky shrimp and bits of chorizo I just happen to have on hand. There is always a bottle of extra-virgin olive oil (the good stuff) close by for drizzling and dipping and small bowls of zaatar to sprinkle on things (zaatar makes everything better!).

This is mezze: small plates, shared in the most informal and unfussy way. It is the unofficial welcome meal.

While any of the mezze dishes in this chapter would make a fine appetizer before a main course, much as hors doeuvre do in other cultures, that is not the way we eat at my house. There are no separate courses or pauses. Even if the menu includes a leg of lamb or a whole roasted fish at a later point, everything just blurs together in one delicious, casual, rowdy spread filled with chatter and laughter, with everyone furiously scooping and reaching over one another and passing plates and diving in.

In some ways, mezze is a metaphor for the Mediterranean way of life: It is about breaking bread without an agenda or expectation. There is a certain intimacy, and a sense of ceasing and savoring the moment.

Thats why Im devoting the first, and largest, chapter of this book to the concept of mezze and how I carry it with me in my daily life wherever I happen to be.

Here you will find both cold salads and hot dishes to be eaten with a fork, your hands, or scooped with breadsome, like Tangy Marinated Eggplant (), are inspired by influences and ingredients that surround me today. Any combination of these dishes can turn into a big buffet spread, but they can also serve simpler purposes throughout the dayas snacks, a light meal, or to complement a larger dish.

Once you embrace the spirit of mezze, there is no going back, my friend. I guarantee, you will find many ways to infuse your life with a little mezze. So, lets dig in!

everyday tomato and cucumber salad with dads salad whisky

SERVES 4 TO 6

For most meals at my parents house, my dad was in charge of the extras: the salad, the feta plate, the pickles or olivesall the things he loved that made the meal a little more special. His three-ingredient Mediterranean salad literally had chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, and parsley. He seasoned it simply with salt and pepper, lime juice or vinegar, and a good drizzle of olive oil. Baba loved it when the salad sat long enough for all the juices to concentrate in the bowl. He called this delicious liquid salad whisky because once everyone was served and the bowl was empty, he collected the liquid in a small glass and drank it like a shot of whisky!

I inherited my love for salad whisky from Baba and passed it on to my girls, who now fight over who gets to drink it.

There are as many versions of this Middle Eastern salad as there are households. I like to embellish Babas simple formula with the peppery crunch of radishes. And I load up on the fresh herbs whenever I can. To harness the salad whisky deliciousness, allow the salad to rest 10 minutes or so before serving. If you have any leftovers, keep in the fridge in a tightly covered container for up to one night (it gets nicely marinated, but it may lose a bit of its crunch).