The Secret for the Best Yalanji

The best recipes I learned in Aleppo were from home cooks. They have all the secrets. They taught me how to touch and feel food. They chided me for measuring ingredients. They always had the best stories.

Before the internet, this is how secrets were passed around. Person-to-person. Only the best tricks survived the test of time. During Lent, my grandmother’s sister, Aunt Kiki, invited me to prepare yalanji with her. She explained that Yalanji is a Turkish word. It means “liar” or “fake.” In the food world, yalanji refers to vegetarian variation of stuffed vegetables or dolmas. Since dolmas typically call for minced meat in the stuffing, the vegetarian version is often called yalanji or “lying” dolmas.

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Teta’s Kibbeh Nayyeh

Kibbeh nayyeh, the Middle Eastern version of lamb tartare, is a festive dish steeped in culinary tradition. Before refrigeration, you used to prepare kibbeh nayyeh the day a lamb was slaughtered. This was standard for weddings or holidays. The entire village used to come together. There would be more food than anyone could possibly eat. There was music and dancing. It was a production.

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In Defense of Local Butchery

The first time I visited an actual butcher — the kind not inside a grocery store — was when I lived in Aleppo. I was 24. It took traveling halfway around the world to watch a professional meticulously break down an animal. It was both horrifying and intriguing. There were meat carcasses hanging around me while I struck up a conversation with Yasser, the head butcher, over a cup of freshly brewed Turkish coffee. It was such a surreal experience that I wrote about it on my blog. The irony, of course, is that this approach to butchery is much closer to the actual source of meat than anything we’re used to finding at a grocery store.

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Abu Abdo’s April “Ful”

One of the most popular and iconic restaurants in all of Aleppo was Abu Abdo’s— a tiny fava bean parlor tucked away in the city’s historic Jdaydeh district. There was only one item on the menu: ful (fava beans). Fava beans for breakfast is to Arabs what steak and eggs is to Americana. It’s the beloved breakfast of champions. One bowl of fava beans packs enough fuel to keep you going all day.

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In Syria, Aleppo Pepper is King

One of the ingredients I miss the most from Syria is the famous Aleppo pepper. It’s the culinary ambassador to Aleppo around the world— a relatively long and slender pepper with bright, fruity flavor. It packs moderate heat: less than cayenne, but more than jalapeño. It’s the goldilocks of peppers. You can usually find dried and ground in most speciality spice stores or Mediterranean markets, but finding fresh is almost impossible.

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