Arabic Barbecue

Who doesn’t love a good barbecue? Living in the Middle East I have learned that Arabs LOVE barbecuing!! And, I might add, the food is amazing. In fact, we have now permanently styled our own BBQ’s after a more traditional Arabic BBQ.

So, what does an Arabic BBQ entail?

CHARCOAL. The REAL stuff. Not this chemically enhanced perfectly shaped rounded square. Nope. This is NOT chemically treated at all. NOT cut into nice little squares.  It gives the food an amazing flavor.

MEAT.  The chickens come from local farmers. That means… organic-ish (I’m certain it is not certified).  But it is the spices that the meat marinates in that makes the chicken so amazing.

GRILLED VEGGIES.  Incredible flavor packed vegetables cut into slices, drizzled with olive oil and salt and grilled to perfection.  One vegetable in particular I would like to highlight – grilled eggplant.  Click here for the recipe.  It is phenomenal.  There are no words to describe it!

SALADS.  Salads here are hearty.  None of this chopped lettuce and one cucumber and tomato slice sort of deal.  Give me a hearty Arabic Salad any day of the week over the “American” stuff.  Chopped tomatos and cucumbers, olive oil, juice from a freshly sqeezed lemon ONLY (two if needed) and salt.  Voila.  Perfection.  Feel free to add a bit of freshly chopped mint or parsley (an onion, blech), bit of chopped cabbage… lots of options for variations.  There are a million other types of salads that are common… this is just one and it is known as an Arabic Salad.

RICE.  A staple.  Nothing more to say except it MUST be topped with yogurt (read below).

YOGURT.  I buy plain fat (3%) yogurt here by the half/full gallon.  You can put that stuff on EVERYTHING.  In fact, I have loads of recipes, dressings, etc… for amazing foods using yogurt.  I digress… Try to buy as large a container of plain FAT yogurt as possible (avoid non-fat at all costs!) and put a massive dolop of it on top of your rice.  Mixed with some chicken and salad… there are no words.

HOT PITA.  The joke is, pita is your napkin… you can wipe the juice of the meal off your mouth and eat it.

HUMMUS.  No meal is complete without hummus.  Enough said.

AND… lest I forget… FRIENDS AND FAMILY!

Sahtein!