Journey into the cuisines of the Arab world: delicacies of the sea and freshwater

Red mullet, Halfway.

© FVeigas

By: Clémence Denavit Follow

7 mins

A journey through the countries of the Arab world from the Levant to Mauritania, with the common thread: a totem food carrying history, cultures, know-how.

Second trip around seafood and rivers.

Fish is not the first that comes to mind and yet, from rice to fish, couscous bel hout in fried sardines and small mullet, the peach and the proteins that it provides logically gives it a preponderance in the kitchens of 'Oman at Banc d'Arguin in Mauritania.

Publicity

With Karim Haïdar, Lebanese cook, chef of the restaurant "Les mots et le Ciel", rue Olivier de Serres, in the 15th arrondissement of Paris, Karim is the author of several books including "The cuttlefish ink, 10 ways of prepare ”, with other Lebanese cooks he has just created“ A taste of Lebanon ”to share and tell the story of the cuisine of their roots.

On Instagram:

Karim Haïdar chef 

and 

Les mots et le Ciel.

Nordine Labiadh is the Franco-Tunisian chef of the

restaurant À mi-Chemin

, which he runs with his wife at 31 rue Boulard, in the 14th arrondissement in Paris, author of “Paris-Tunis”, and of “Couscous pour tous”, at Solar editions.

In images, in pictures

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For further

-

 Bread, in the Arab world

- Sinbad the sailor, tale of a thousand and one nights.

 The thousand and one nights

, an approach

-

 The Thousand and One Nights at the Theater

Fish and seafood

, published by the Institut du monde arabe.

Musical programming

-

Sunrise

of Ravel

-

Taralgate

.

Oum

-

Oma

by Daby Touré

Recipe

Couscous with octopus and pumpkin from Nordine Labiadh

For 6 people, preparation 30 minutes, cooking 1h50

1 octopus of 1 k / 4 onions, 8 cloves of garlic, 1/2 bunch of parsley, 4 ripe tomatoes, 2 stalks of celery, 1 pumpkin, 6 cl of olive oil, 2 tbsp.

tomato paste, 2 tbsp.

of ral-el-hanout, 200 g of chickpeas, 300 g of semolina, 1 tbsp.

to c.

turmeric, 1/4 tsp

pepper, 1/4 tsp.

to c.

salt.

1. Clean the octopus, separate the tentacles and cut the head into 4. Peel and finely chop the onions.

Peel and crush the garlic cloves.

Wash, hull, finely chop the parsley.

Clean and cut the tomatoes into quarters.

Remove the leaves and cut the celery stalks into small pieces.

Peel the pumpkin and cut it into large pieces.

2. In a Dutch oven, brown the onions with a little olive oil.

After 10 minutes of cooking, add the tomato paste, the chopped tomatoes, and the octopus.

Mix well then add the ral-el-hanout and the garlic.

Wet with 2 glasses of water and let stew for 10 minutes on very low heat.

3. Add twice the volume of the contents of the pot in water and celery.

Cook for one hour over low heat, watching the octopus cook, then add the pumpkin and cook again for 30 minutes.

4. As soon as the octopus is tender, stop cooking.

If the preparation is too dry, add a ladle of water, then the chickpeas and parsley.

5. In a salad bowl, pour the semolina with the remaining olive oil.

Salt and pepper, then sprinkle with turmeric.

Completely cover the semolina with the equivalent of 2 glasses of boiling water.

Film the salad bowl, and set aside for a few minutes.

6. Using a fork, separate the semolina grains.

Sprinkle the broth generously.

Mix well.

Place all the vegetables on the surface of the bowl.

Layer the octopus pieces.

7. Enjoy… piping hot!

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  • Gastronomy

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