{"id":11081,"date":"2013-07-22T21:55:32","date_gmt":"2013-07-23T04:55:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailywaffle.com\/stage1\/?p=11081"},"modified":"2016-10-13T13:56:49","modified_gmt":"2016-10-13T20:56:49","slug":"tasting-jerusalem-with-naamas-fattoush-its-all-about-the-details","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailywaffle.com\/stage1\/tasting-jerusalem-with-naamas-fattoush-its-all-about-the-details\/","title":{"rendered":"Tasting Jerusalem: With Naama’s Fattoush, It’s All About the Details"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/a> \"naama's<\/a><\/p>\n

A couple of weeks ago on the Splendid Table, LA Times Food Editor Russ Parsons\u00a0wrote<\/a>, \u201cThe thing that’s really great about this book is that he takes what might seem familiar and just throws a twist on it. When you cook it, it’s an act of exploration because you’re doing things that you know, the ingredients are fairly familiar, the techniques are fairly familiar, and then boom, there’s this very new and exciting result that really makes you want to cook more into it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was talking about\u00a0< Ottolenghi’s Plenty\"\", but he hit it on the head for\u00a0<\/a>Jerusalem<\/a>\"\",too.\u00a0 It\u2019s the twists that set these recipes apart.\u00a0 And it’s never more true than with Naama\u2019s Fattoush, the marquee recipe for this month’s salad theme for Tasting Jerusalem.<\/a><\/p>\n

As you flip through the Jerusalem cookbook, Naama\u2019s Fattoush is one of the first dishes that really grabs you. Sourced from co-author Sami Tamimi\u2019s mother, it\u2019s a gorgeous bread salad version of the cucumber-tomato-onion<\/a> combo I talked about last week. It\u2019s familiar, but it’s the twists that make it different \u2013 dried mint, the pita, yogurt or buttermilk dressing and a sprinkling of sumac.\u00a0 The details are not optional.\u00a0 They take that basic cucumber-tomato-onion combo to another level, one that’ll put this salad in regular rotation for the rest of the summer.<\/p>\n

\"naama's<\/a><\/p>\n

The devil really is in the details here, so a few tips:<\/p>\n

If your pita aren\u2019t truly stale, they’ll sog out. I decided I only had time to stop at one store so I picked up a fresh bag of Orowheat flatbreads, rather than true pita, and even after sitting out on the counter most the day, they weren’t quite dried out enough. \u00a0Take a tip from Carol at In Medias Recipe<\/a> (thanks, Carol!) \u2013 tear up the pita and toast them in pan.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re using standard American grocery store low-fat buttermilk, the 1 2\/3 cup called for in the original recipe as documented below will be way too much and your pita will for sure sog out.\u00a0 Start with \u00be cup and go with what looks best to you. After two rounds of salad, I think the right texture and tang for us is going to be yogurt cut with buttermilk. I also preferred cherry tomatoes to regular, especially since I’ve got a hanging basket of them just coming on.<\/p>\n

BTW, if you haven’t joined us already, Tasting Jerusalem is a virtual cooking community exploring the vibrant flavors and cuisine of the Middle East through the lens of\u00a0\u201cJerusalem: A Cookbook\u201d<\/a>\u00a0by Ottolenghi and Tamimi published by Ten Speed Press. You can follow along and cook with us by subscribing to\u00a0omgyummy.com<\/a>, following the hashtag #TastingJrslm on Twitter and Instagram, liking our\u00a0Facebook page<\/a>\u00a0or joining the\u00a0Google+ Community<\/a>\u00a0and finally checking out all of our groups\u2019 dishes on\u00a0Pinterest<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Reprinted with permission from Jerusalem: A Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi, copyright \u00a9 2012. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House, Inc.<\/em><\/p>\n\t\r\n\t

\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i> Print Recipe<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Ottolenghi and Tamimi from Jerusalem: The Cookbook<\/h2>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i>\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tServes: 6<\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t \r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t

Ingredients<\/h3>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t