ZHOUG

Last Sunday in the midst of a hazy post service slipstream (where I pull up a chair and plonk myself down at an unsuspecting table of friends enjoying the aftermath of their lunch), I was chatting to my pal Eddie; he was musing on the joys of cooking during lock down and the space it gave him and his waistline to indulge in the daily practice of cooking for pleasure. Hours in the day devoted to flavours of the exotica, exploring foreign climbs through the written word and the guiltless pleasure of standing over a slowly simmering pot, nostrils akimbo, nowhere else you would rather/ could rather be.

Eddies love and now total reliance on a jar of zhoug living bouncily at the forefront of his fridge and mind, lock down discovery and now life long companion, sparked a little Google mine of my own.

Zhoug is a spicy Middle Eastern salsa, a green and zesty taste-bud tickler with an underground warren of flavour. It’s a combination of fresh coriander, jalapeno chillis, cumin seeds, cardamom, garlic, salt, olive oil and lemon juice briefly blitzed and bottled; ready to be called on daily, and I had a calling….

The farmer in Santa Maria who supplies us with the very finest herbs I’ve ever known, by the grace of the lords grows coriander so I knew my foundation was strong, only a small margin for error with the smoothest take off in the world of ingredients. I whizzed up a batch first thing on a baking hot morning in the kitchen, the heat of the sun so low that it dives horizontally into the kitchen illuminating everything and sending their colours into a neighbouring strata-sphere - I too was in possession of an emerald green jar of flavour punch and man oh man it felt good.

 There had been a lot of chat surrounding the fruition of Jaimes aubergine plantlets so Id been wandering where to include them on the menu when the moment arrived. Being such fine sponges of flavour, I thought these timely aubergines and my introduction to zhoug was most likely fated, the two calling to be celebrated side by side as a dish.

I roasted and layered squishy roast aubergine with smears of labneh, slowly roast fennel laced plum tomatoes, and a sprinkle of toasted sesame, all married together with a river of Zhoug weaving in and around every inch of its cobbled together landscape. It seems love and reliance is now mine also…….