Barbecued Tomato Salad Bethlehem: A Celebration of Palestinian Food by Fadi Kattan. Photography copyright © 2024 by Ashley Lima.
Bethlehem is a celebration of Palestinian food and culture from one of the area’s most dynamic chefs and a portrait of one of the most storied cities in the world.
Franco-Palestinian chef Fadi Kattan celebrates the hidden parts of Bethlehem, his home, conjuring the colours and smells of its market and spice shops and introducing readers to the local farmers and artisans with whom he works to find the perfect ingredients and shares his love of culinary experimentation. Fadi’s inspiration comes from these food artisans, who grow the grapes, mill the wheat, make the olive oil, and most importantly, pass down the generational food knowledge.
His loving profiles of these people are accompanied by his own recipes, some passed down, some from his restaurants in Bethlehem and London. Learn to stuff grape leaves with Nabulsi cheese, slow roast lamb seasoned with fenugreek and cardamom, roll labaneh in nigella seeds, and make Mouhalabieh, a milky pudding scented with mastic and pistachios. Bright and bold flavours and the stories of their origins await readers in Bethlehem.
Amidst growing chaos and strife, these stories, recipes, and the legacy of this ancient city, Bethlehem, endure.
Barbecued Tomato Salad
On a palestinian barbecue, of course, there are the classics: kebabs, lamb chops, pork chops, chicken, and marinated chicken skewers. But we also grill whole small onions, tomatoes, and chilli peppers. The heat from a barbecue is fantastic if you manage it correctly. Start off with things like sujuk sausages (spicy, dry fermented sausages), then move to chicken, lamb, and vegetables. This tomato salad is easy and delicious, the ideal accompaniment to whatever you have on the barbecue.
700 g / 1½ pounds ripe tomatoes
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1½ teaspoons dried zaatar leaves, chopped
½ teaspoon coarse sea salt
2 tablespoons fresh spearmint leaves, chopped
1 tablespoon peppermint leaves, chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon crumbled laban jameed (see page 33)
SERVES 6
Prepare a gas or charcoal fire in the barbecue to be flaming hot.
In a bowl, toss the tomatoes with the olive oil, zaatar leaves, and salt. Place the tomatoes directly on the barbecue grill. Reserve the oil remaining in the bowl.
Turn the tomatoes on the grill, until they are nicely charred on all sides; this should take about 3 minutes. Move the tomatoes to the higher shelf of the barbecue or to the side of the barbecue away from the direct heat if a shelf isn’t available. Cook for another 2 to 3 minutes, until cooked through without charring more. Remove from the heat.
Add both types of mint to the flavored oil that remains in the bowl. Add the lemon juice and mix well.
Cut the cooked tomatoes into quarters with a very sharp knife so they’re not damaged or squashed and transfer to a serving dish. Drizzle the herbed oil on top. Sprinkle the laban jameed on top to finish.
Recipe reprinted with permission from Hardie Grant.