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Lebanon
Fattoush salad with pomegranate
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How is your recipe representative of this cuisine?
Fattoush salad is a traditional and popular dish of Lebanon. It makes a great accompaniment to all sorts of other Lebanese food. It is also terrific served on its own on a long, hot and dry summer's day as is often experienced during summer in Lebanon. It is a modern take on an old time classic. The sweetness of the pomegranate offsets the bitterness of the sumac and the sourness of the lemon and lime. Along with salt, pepper and olive oil they make a perfectly flavoursome combination.
What makes this cuisine special?
Pomegranate in particular is not something that many Australians use very readily. Once you cut one open and see how easy they are to use and how the sweet juice just drips from the sacs of the seeds you will immediately begin to think about what else you can do with pomegranate.
Why is this cuisine important to Australia?
Australians love to eat! We love to try new and interesting meals and ingredients. This fattoush salad demonstrates how we can be creative with our salads whilst remaining healthy. Like Lebanon, Australia endures a climate that includes long, hot and dry summer days and the fattoush and pomegrante salad is an option that is fresh, light and full of nutritional goodness.
Ingredients
1 piece pita bread
1 carrot
Quarter Spanish onion (or to taste)
100g goat's milk feta cheese
Handful of flat-leaf parsley
Handful of mint
Quarter iceberg lettuce
1 small Lebanese cucumber
20g slivered almonds
Seeds of 1/2 a pomegranate
Juice of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 lime
8 tbps of olive oil
Pinch of sea salt
Pinch of coarse black pepper
2 tablespoons sumac
Preparation
Serves 4.
Lightly brush pita bread with olive oil on both sides and tear into smallish pieces (5cm x 5cm).
Heat fry pan on a low heat. Before adding the olive oil and pitta bread for frying, lightly toast the almond slivers. When they are a light golden brown, set aside for later.
Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to fry pan and put pita bread in on a medium-high heat. Once the pita begins to turn golden brown and become more of a 'chip' than a 'bread', turn heat off and leave in the frying pan to stay warm.
In a large in salad bowl, assemble the various herbs and vegetables.
Coarsely chop the parsley, mint and lettuce. Grate the carrot. Cut the Lebanese cucumber into 1cm x 1cm pieces, leaving the skin on. Finely slice the Spanish onion.
Add the seeds from the pomegranate. Crumble the feta into the mixture.
Dressing
Combine the sumac, salt, pepper, the juice of the lemon and lime and the remaining olive oil into a small bowl.
Add salad dressing to salad bowl and lightly toss the salad.
Finally, top with pita chips and toasted almonds. (If serving later keep pita chips separate to avoid sogginess).
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About the Culinary World Cup
The Culinary World Cup explores how the cooking traditions of Australian migrants have shaped Australia's food scene. We asked you to submit your favourite multicultural recipes we received more than 250 submissions. We chose the best 12 and you voted for the final six. Now it's up to you to decide which recipe you think should win the major prize. You can vote once a day so tell your friends and get voting!
The Prize
The person whose recipe receives the most votes in the Culinary World Cup will win a trip for them and five friends to Sydney for dinner at Astral Restaurant, hosted by Sean Connolly, and overnight accommodation at Star City.
