This is a very traditional Arabic salad, originating from the Levant area and known to almost everyone – the delicious Fattoush. While so many people know how to make Fattoush, many still regularly request a recipe. So here it is 🙂 This Recipe is one of the Recipes that Tala shared with me as we spoke about Ramadan in Lebanon (post on this link). Enjoy and remember, fattoush is never proper, complete or is simply never “Fattoush” without using proper pure sumac! Sumac is really the heart of fattoush.
Sumac is the spirit of this salad
Ingredients
- 4 Tomatoes
- 2 Cumbers
- ¼ cup fresh parsley leaves
- ¼ cup fresh mint leaves
- 1/8 cup sliced radish
- 1 juice of a lemon
- ¼ cup DS Premium Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 small Pita bread
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tablespoons DS Sumac
- 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
Place the Pita bread in the oven and bake until it becomes toasted, around 5 minutes.
Chop the tomatoes and cucumbers and place them in a large bowl. Add the parsley, mint leaves and sliced radish.
In a small bowl, mix together the lemon, oil, salt and sumac and then pour over the vegetables in the bowl. Toss everything together.
Right before serving, break the toasted pita bread into pieces and sprinkle over the top of the fattouche. Serve cold.
A small Narrative
Do you know that the Arabic word Fattoush (also spelled Fattouche) refers to the breaking of bread. Very similar to the English word ‘Sop’, derived from the Latin word ‘Sup’ which is the root for the word supper, as back in the day supper was the breaking of bread that is then soaked in broth. This supper using ‘sop’ (the broken bread soaked in broth) has become to be known as soup. Can you see the connection between ‘sup’ and soup? Similarly the concept of Fattoush relies on the use of broken bread which is then dressed with the Salad dressing (thus the name of the salad) and back in the day, food was simpler than it is today and most likely reliable on the mixing of simple ingredients to make up the full supper. Fascinating how all foods and cuisines are essentially so similar. Looking back in time, puts it all into perspective. More on this in the Understanding Soups Post on this link
